How To Bulletproof Your Immune System During COVID-19

There has never been a time when it has become more important to look after your immune system with the current pandemic. With the Novel Coronavirus has having spread to almost every country in the world due to it being highly contagious, it's now common knowledge that the people with the highest risk of mortality are the elderly or those with underlying health conditions. It was initially believed that the 'fit and healthy' were at less risk of severe symptoms which I still believe to be true but we need to remember that the absence of being elderly or having an underlying disease does not mean we are fit and healthy.

We still don't know a lot about the virus and I am far from an expert in viral immunology but I am an expert in the human body so I would like to share with you some of the experience and knowledge I do have of the immune system in general which will give you some insight on how to keep your body as healthy as possible throughout this time. Below are 10 ways we can bulletproof our immune system:

1. Regular cardiovascular exercise

It is well know that one of the outcomes of the coronavirus is viral pneumonia which causes the individual to struggle with breathing which inevitably increases the risk of mortality. This is because complications have occurred in the lungs and circulatory system making it harder for oxygen to transport around the body which is why individuals with cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure are the two groups with the highest risk of severe symptoms according to the World Health Organisation.

Based on this, it is vitally important for us to keep on top of our cardiovascular health. Coronavirus aside, the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines state that cardiovascular work is highly beneficial at 150 minutes of accumulative exercise per week. This is typically to be done in 3-5 sessions e.g. 5 sessions x 30 minutes x 5 days. The intensity of this work should still be aerobic, in other words - in the presence of oxygen so that in effect, your body gets better at transporting oxygen around the body and our breathing muscles get stronger. On top of this, regular cardiovascular work reduces the risk of Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD), it increases our levels of High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) / good cholesterol as well improving as our lung capacity and Tidal Volume (TV)- the amount of oxygen we can uptake in one breath.

In essence, cardiovascular work allows us to take in more oxygen, more effectively and improves our breathing which give our bodies the best fighting chance they can against any external threat to our cardiovascular system. The good news with this is that for now in the UK, we are still able to run or cycle outside but if you do find yourself confined to your own home then you could look at skipping or renting/buying a home cardiovascular piece of kit.

If you don't feel up to meeting the ACSM guidelines then do what you can do consistently and get into a routine that you can manage for weeks ahead so that your body has some chance to adapt to a new stimulus and see some benefit. What you are able to do consistently will serve you better than what you ideally should do, when it comes to exercise.

2. Keep on top of your 10,000 steps a day

This is one is a little bit easier now because we have the time to do it and it's a sensible option for our mental health, joint health and overall wellbeing as long as we are abiding by the social distancing rules that have been put in place. A number of studies done in the last decade have shown that it's not necessarily a lack of exercise that is a key contributor to sedentary based health issues but more so, sitting down for long periods of time (more than four hours) too often. This is a key leading factor to ill health in office based jobs as an example. This essentially suggests that even if we get 3-5 hours per week of exercise but we are still sedentary for the majority of the week, that there is still some risk of hypo kinetic disease.

This is why it's vital to move often, even if it's little and often alongside any exercise you do. Most smart watches or smart phones now have built in pedometers to count your steps which is very handy right about now but if you don't have a smart phone, don't worry - try and break up walking into at least 3 x 30 minute blocks throughout the day to still meet your target. If 10,000 is too much to start with then start smaller at 5,000 then next week build it up to 7,000 and so on - the key here is the target being manageable but aiming for at least 10,000 in short to mid term provides enough volume to see a better benefit. Start where you can but progress as you go.

3. Eat at least ten portions of fruit and vegetables

We've all heard the old adage, "eat your five a day and it'll keep the doctor away" but during these events, to be on the safe side we ought to aim for double that. Fruit and vegetables are vital for a number of reasons such as fibre for our digestive system and providing vitamins and minerals for our immune system but also for unlocking key ingredients from our food. Fruit and vegetables also provide a number of phytonutrients and anti-oxidants which are key factors for building a healthy immune system.

Generally speaking, our vegetable intake would be better off being higher than our fruit. This is due to things like more fibre, less sugar and providing more bulk to our meals. Eating enough fibre and a diet rich in fruit and vegetables also means we are going to feel fuller and less likely to want to snack on junk food. We will often tend to feel better in our digestive system and have more energy because of the vitamins and minerals that they provide. A diet prioritising high amounts of greens is key but adding in a wide range of different colours to our plate will give us a wider array of tools to keep ourselves healthy.

It's also very difficult (although possible) to overeat vegetables and the health benefits significantly outweigh the small downsides that might come from excessive vitamin and fibre intake. Consider that 97% of American's are said to be deficient in fibre, overdosing isn't something most people ought to worry about. More health, more energy and more immunity - fruit and vegetables are a winner all round. The more variety you can get the better, whilst aiming for purer colours when buying your stock as this is said to be healthier with a higher nutrient content.

4. Create a sterile home environment

We all know by now that personal hygiene is paramount when it comes to staying healthy during the coronavirus epidemic. Washing hands every time we return home or before every time we feel the need to touch our face, mouth and eyes and wiping things down when we've used them is key.

An important thing to note here is also wiping your clothes and shoes down when you re enter your home because if droplets can live on surfaces for several hours or days then your clothes still act as a surface and therefore act as a place of transmission, especially if you have coughed or sneezed on them. It also means cleaning up after yourself in the household especially if you live with other people as kitchen's are one of the rifest places for transmitting diseases, viruses and bacteria.

Now's also a good time to deep clean your home and give everything a thorough run through to ensure any excessive germs are dealt with. Although these may not be directly related to the coronavirus, we need to remember that there are still other viruses out there that are still transmittable through daily activity so being extra thorough can only be a good thing.

5. Incorporate breath work into your daily routine.

Breath work is an overlooked component of health with current events going on. Breathing efficiency can be trained just like anything else can and now is just as an important time as ever. There are several ways to work on your breath, one of the most common ways is to train your body to exhale for longer periods than you inhale. Do this well for a few minutes and this puts your body into a parasympathetic state where your nervous system starts to slow down. This also forces out any residual air out from deep in your lungs, clearing the way for new air to come in.

Most people breath ineffectively from a young age, sometimes birth and we end up breathing either from our chest or throat rather than from our diaphragm, with the latter being the most effective. This deeper type of breathing allows us to get more out of each breath which in turn, improves our circulation and oxygen transportation which gives us more energy and better breathing patterns which are good for our health. Regular practise also allows us to train ourselves to manage our breath in times of stress or when oxygen may be in shorter supply with things like chronic viral pneumonia or other respiratory diseases.

If you're unsure where to start, work on breathing in for a count of 4 and aim for an out count of 7 for at least two minutes and if done correctly, you will instantly start to feel the difference - as you may not be used to the new way of breathing, it's normal to feel a little light headed at first so I recommend starting off practising any drills you do sitting down. If you prefer to work with meditative focused breathing techniques, this can also be beneficial. I have found the work of Wim Hof particularly interesting when it comes to improving breathing capacity.

6. Increase the quality and quantity of your sleep

There is endless research out in the world that shows that high quality sleep is a vital component of a strong immune system. This is because your body uses sleep to repair itself, to grow and to recover from the daily stresses we put it under. It's a way of recharging our batteries but also putting our central nervous system into a decelerated / parasympathetic state whilst we do so. Most importantly it allows our lymphatic system to do it's job properly, which is in essence to trap viruses and bacteria so our body can create the antibodies and other components needed to fight of foreign invaders.

So, if good quality and quantity of sleep has been shown to improve our immunity, increase our energy levels, improve our memory, physical performance and help us to grow and repair our bodies. By contrast, a sleep deprived person is more susceptible to stress, to getting sick and when they are sick, they are more prone to being sick for longer - chronic lack of sleep has been proven to render some flu vaccines useless or less effective. There are five stages of sleep (see diagram below) and although there is no set amount that a person should sleep, due to genetics, train lifestyle and differences in needs based on an individuals lifestyle, most people will need anywhere between 7-9 hours on average. If you're one of the few people in the world that has a sleeping disorder like myself, you may need longer as being a chronic long sleeper, I often need in excess of 10 hours at a time to function optimally. The upside of this is that, this along with the other factors in the article mean I very rarely get sick and if I do, it doesn't last very long but I am well aware that everyone is different.

If you fancy some further reading, here's an interesting piece on the subject, particularly section 3 on The Bidirectional Relationship between Sleep and Immunity against Infection- click here to read. Hopefully by the end of this read, you'll have a clearer understanding as to why sleep is an important tool to have in your toolbox when it comes to building a rock solid immune system.

7. Remove junk food from your diet

This one probably sounds like common sense to most people but then again, they say common sense isn't so common.

Junk food is a fast way to hamper your immune system because not only is it harder to digest and therefore puts a strain on your digestive system, it also means you are putting in unwanted chemicals and properties into your body which can reduce the health and efficiency of your various bodily systems. If we took some of the common diseases in the western world such as diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia then we know that these are all partly related to the food we put into our body, with the other main factor being lack of exercise.

Any unwanted properties we ingest, are harder for our bodies to break down and in some cases of diabetes it means our pancreas has to work overtime to produce insulin to allow us to regulate our blood sugar levels to a health level. When our pancreas can no longer do this, we end up with diabetes type 2 which we commonly know as a lifestyle disease, most of the time. In the case of high cholesterol and subsequently atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis which are diseases of harden of the arteries - we essentially block or clog our arteries with plaque, which in turn restricts our blood flow, making it harder for our body to circulate blood and oxygen which in turn causes our heart to work harder which forces our blood pressure up. (Blood pressure is defined as the pressure on the artery walls when the heart contracts and relaxes in the forms of systolic and diastolic pressure.)

If our circulatory system and pulmonary systems are working overtime as a result of the above then one of the things we will find is that we will find it harder to breathe which is why these groups are at the highest risk of complications from the coronavirus. We have to remember here that filling our bodies with junk will only contribute to those factors, especially if we aren't able to exercises as well as we'd like due to being restricted with our movements so filling our bodies with healthy, immune system building foods is crucial in the midst of current events. Eat enough junk food over time in connection with other poor habits and we leave our immune system susceptible to infections, which right now in particular we want to avoid and keep on top of our health.

8. Improve the state of your gut health

This point follows on quite well from the point above. You may have heard the term that our gut is 'our second brain' and essentially gut health has often been found to be the number one indicator for overall health and that most if not all illnesses that aren't contracted, can be traced back to poor gut health so therefore healthy gut = healthy mind and body.

Our digestive system is key for breaking down food and assimilating the nutrients we need from them in order to function on a daily basis but it's also key for filtering out bad bacteria and unwanted foreign bodies in the digestive tract. This is the reason why our guts are filled with millions of good bacteria to allow us to stay healthy and protect ourselves from intolerances, indigestion, parasites and other foreign bodies but we need to remember that as good as our guts naturally are, they still sometimes need a helping hand from us in terms of taking care of what we feed ourselves and sometimes assistance in the form of good probiotic (good gut bacteria) and prebiotics (the food/fuel for the good bacteria).

These can come in the form of foods such as (kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi) for probiotics and in the form of garlic, leek, asparagus, onions, apples and blueberries to name a few for probiotics. These things not only help with our digestion but help with keep our insides clean and clear from unwanted bacteria which in turn allows the rest of the body to work more optimally, keeping you healthy. Essentially, a good amount of prebiotics in your diet allow the probiotic cultures to multiply exponentially, giving you more bang for your buck.

There are also various supplements out of the market with various strains of probiotic with the most common one available being Acidophilus however before jumping in and buying a supplement its worth knowing that it's very difficult to know which strains your body will need more than others to to save you diving in and wasting your money, it may be worth trying a few different ones in smaller doses to give you a wider array of good bacteria. I have found Udos Super 8 to be a very effective brand as well as Nutri and these have been popular with my clients off the back of lab driven food intolerance tests over the last few years.

It is said that 93% of the serotonin (a happy chemical) is actually produced in a our guts, rather than our brain and is one of the key components mental health. An SSRI (Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors) are often prescribed to people with depression but what is sometimes missed is that only around 7% of the serotonin we produce is produced in the brain so cleaning up our digestive systems first is a good idea. This doesn't mean to say that these don't work or you should stop taking them if you're on them (only your doctor can tell you to do that) but making these positive lifestyle changes to complement them will only help and this is more apparent and important now due to the understandable worry about people who suffer from mental health related issues in this current time. If we tidy up our digestive systems then we are giving ourselves more of a fighting chance of staving off the symptoms of some mental health issues and we will improve our only improve our overall health.

9. Reframe your thinking.

This is easier said than done and I appreciate this is a difficult time for everyone but what I will add to that is that a negative attitude won't get you anywhere. There is some anecdotal evidence out there that suggests that the quality of your thoughts, is directly related to the quality of your health and immune system and that if we are constantly negative about the things that happen to us then we are in effect, hampering our immune system and reducing the amount of endorphins (happy chemicals). I'm not going to go as far as saying things are black and white and that if you think you're sick then you're going to get sick and if you don't think you are you aren't because anyone with common sense would know that's not the case however I will say that if you choose to find ways to be negative and self defeating, your issues may well end up becoming a self fulfilling prophecy as you are effectively, attracting what you put out there.

Instead, I prefer to look at this as rather than being part of the problem, train yourself to be part of the solution. This is an unfortunate situation all round but we can only focus on what we can control and let go of what we can't. What we can't control is the virus but what we can control is how we respond to it. Look for ways to be more positive about the situation and I would hedge my bets that your situation improves in some way. This isn't wishy washy thinking, it's about becoming solution orientated and when you focus on the solutions, your brain is more likely to find them, more specifically your Reticular Activating System which is a bundle of nerve cells that filters out unnecessary information so the important information gets through, in the same manner your RAS looks for information to validate your beliefs by focusing on finding it. If you train your RAS to find solutions, it will do just that.

10. Minimise social contact

I left this one until last because I didn't want to state the obvious first but this one is very important. As well all know the government has enforced social distancing measures and told us to keep contact to a minimum, this is vitally important for spreading the virus as even if we feel fit, healthy and asymptomatic - we can still be a carrier of the virus and pass it onto someone else who is more vulnerable. This is why it's vitally important to keep our distance from people to slow down the spread of the virus and flatten the curve. It's also important because we may have been fortunate enough to not come into contact with the virus but we may still pick it up from someone who is infectious so one of the sure-fire ways to prevent a virus is to stay away from it in the first place.

I get that this is easier said than done and for a lot of people, we may well be past that point now but the quicker we abide by this, the quicker things can move forward. This is a hard one to enforce if you're a very social person but use the time productively and work from home where you can. If you can't work from home, I suggest finding something to study, catching up with friends, colleagues and family over social media or take the time to rest while you've got it. If you can and you can mitigate the risk, volunteer to help the NHS in a support role as they need people now more than ever. I'm personally using the time to write more content like this and I'm working on my second book Thought of The Day: 365 Ways To Elevate Your Life which will be out by the end of the year, should things go back to normal by then.

Whatever it is you decide to do with your time, use it well because when things recover, we won't have free time like this again, unless a similarly bizarre situation occurs. If you have contracted the virus then I wish you well in your recovery and hope we can all move forward sooner than later but most importantly, unless there's a good reason not to then heed the governments advice and stay inside.

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My names Christian Roach. I'm a UK based Fitness Educator, Exercise Specialist, Personal Development Coach and the Author of Becoming Superhuman: 99 Ways To Become Your Own Superhero

To date I've trained and coached hundreds of clients, taught over 2000 students through their personal training qualifications and have contributed content to numerous personal development platforms.

I'm known for transforming clients lives, leaving them feeling superhuman.