Food and Lifestyle Actions to Support Your Immune System

We are all waking up daily to a new normal as we face the coronavirus and possible COVID-19 infection. One way to minimize stress and feel empowered is to take positive action. Read on if you are interested in knowing, based on both past and emerging research, steps you can take to support your immune system.

These suggestions are no guarantee that you will avoid infection or severe infection with coronavirus, but are reasonable steps you can safely take to support general immune system health. This information is especially important for those with a compromised immune system such as mold toxicity, Lyme or Lyme Co-infections Disease, obesity, blood sugar dysregulation and hypertension.

Eating to Support Your Immune System

We are learning about how to fight against the coronavirus as we go. As we are gaining a better understanding of how coronavirus affects the immune system we are able to advise how you can support your body best. Be aware that some traditional nutrients or supplements may upregulate certain arms of the immune system that may assist coronavirus in causing more damage to your lungs and body. Two examples are vitamin A and vitamin D. They both may cause more harm than good with this virus so mega-dosing is not recommended at this time, but ensuring that you get adequate RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) or just slightly more of these two specific nutrients. Here are some food (or supplement considerations).

1. Stay well-hydrated; preferable with filtered water. A general rule is to consume half your body weight in ounces of water each day. For example; if you weigh 150 pounds aim to drink 75 ounces of filtered water/day. You can include low or no-caffeine tea in your total water intake such as organic regular or decaffeinated green tea or red tea. I like and recommend Yogi Brand. These types of tea have added benefits of antioxidants to help lower oxidative stress in your body.

2. Consume adequate vitamin C from food. The RDA for vitamin C is 75 mg/day for females and 90 mg/day for males (adults 19 years and older). See the link below to the Linus Pauling Institute and search specific nutrients to learn about values for other age categories such as children. (1) The tolerable upper limit of vitamin C (where gut distress is most likely to occur in the form of diarrhea or other problems such as excess iron absorption, vitamin B12 deficiency and erosion of dental enamel is 2,000 mg/day for adults; lower for children. That said, current trials are underway to see if very high dose vitamin C, via IV, might be a solution for COVID-19 infections. Watch for more on this as the trials are completed.

For now, realize that during times of added stress or infection, the body likely needs more than the RDA of nutrients. I recommend you consider increasing your intake beyond the current RDA just a bit to about 150-400 mg/day. Vitamin C has a short half-life in the human body so ensuring a serving of a vitamin C rich food in the morning and evening is ideal. Here is a list of foods and their vitamin C content to help you decide what to eat:

If you decide to supplement with vitamin C; for instance, if you are having a hard time finding adequate food sources, you can take 200 mg am and pm.

3. Ensure adequate zinc via food and/or supplements. Zinc is thought to enter the cell and help prohibit viral replication. This is how it may help with knocking down the coronavirus. The RDA for zinc for adults 19 years and older is 8 mg/day for women and 11 mg/day for men. Again, when the body might be under additional stress the RDA may be insufficient. The tolerable upper limit of zinc for adults is 40 mg/day. Excess zinc can cause copper deficiency since these two important minerals are antagonistic. If you are consuming additional zinc you also need to be supportive of copper needs for balance.

If you want to take a food-first approach to your zinc intake here is a list of foods and zinc content. It is important to be aware of this list as nutrient toxicity is possible if an individual is eating a lot of zinc-rich foods and supplementing. This list is to help you determine if you can meet your needs via food or possibly also benefit from some supplementation. Due to possible poor digestion and absorption and binding some zinc with ingested fiber I recommend you consume 30-45 mg zinc/day; but be sure to read the next section below on copper so your zinc and copper intake is balanced.

*Serving about the size of a deck of cards

^Nuts and seeds are high in phytic acid (fiber) that binds minerals making them less available. Eating nuts and seeds that are soaked and sprouted and dried helps reduce phytic acid so the minerals are more available for absorption. I use and recommend Go Raw sprouted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds for this reason. Look for them at health food stores and on-online at stores such as Thrive Market and Vitacost.

Realize that zinc from food assumes that everyone has optimal gastrointestinal ability to absorb and digest nutrients. Also note that fiber in foods can bind minerals such as zinc and copper; lowering the bioavailability of these nutrients. So, supplementing is a reasonable idea with zinc. You might consider a 15 mg zinc supplement in the morning and rely in food in the evening as an example. I commonly recommend Jarrow Zinc Balance as it contains 15 mg zinc and 1 mg copper. When 15 mg of zinc is ingested you absorb about 7.5-10 mg of that. If you take the zinc with food you will absorb less.

TIP: Zinc is best absorbed on am empty stomach about 10 minutes before meals. Some people find that zinc on am empty stomach makes them feel nauseated. If this is the case with you just take it with a meal.

4. Copper is important. It is known to actually kill viruses. So, should you take a pile of it? NOPE! Copper can be highly toxic in high doses, but the right amount can really benefit your immune system overall. The RDA for adults 19 years and older is 900 micrograms or .9 mg for both men and women. The tolerable upper limit for this age group, where toxicity can occur is 10,000 micrograms or 10 mg/day. But, copper and zinc are tricky. If you are taking more zinc to support your immune system it can drag down your copper level and excess copper can drag down zinc so this is where that balance is really important!

Some foods are excellent sources of copper. This is a great place to start with your copper intake:

*From pasture raised, healthy cows

^Soaked for 6 hours, then cooked to break down the phytic acid that binds nutrients

If you opt to take a supplement for part of your copper intake (based on your food intake) be aware that you need 1 mg copper for every 15 mg zinc you are taking for balance. For your immune system support during this virus threat I recommend your copper intake is between 4-8 mg total to meet your nutrient needs and balance with zinc. Currently, my most common copper supplement recommendation is Pure Encapsulations Copper Glycinate, 2 mg copper/capsule. You can consider taking 1-2 capsules per day along with your zinc and food intake.

NOTE: for those with anxiety or other mental health concerns or cognitive concerns I recommend you ask for help from me of your provider to test your serum copper and plasma zinc levels. In some people copper can be quite high and cause symptoms associated with these conditions. For most adults the above recommendations are safe.

5. Consider elderberry syrup. I recommend 700-1000 mg/day of elderberry extract for immune system support. You can find this in syrup extract, capsules or lozenges. You have to read the label and calculate the amount you need for the above recommendation. This recommendation is based on the work of Stephen Harrod Buhner and his research using botanicals to reduce risk of SARS-type viruses like coronavirus. I commonly recommend Karuna Elderberry as is contains the berry, leaf and flower. The leaf is thought to contain the most beneficial botanical support.

I am a big advocate for a food-first approach to meeting nutrient needs. If you read the above lists and feel that getting the recommended amounts of vitamin C, zinc and copper will be challenging you can look for the recommended supplements. One source for supplements that I provide to my clients is Doctors Supplement Store. Here is the link and my provider code if you are interested in ordering my recommendations.

Link: www.DSSOrders.com/TraceyLong

Provider
code: TL948

Save 10%
on your first order: HCPC948WELCOME

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