COVID-19: A Quick Note on "Immune-Boosting" Best Practices
As we navigate these next few weeks, I wanted to provide some quick info on the most effective and safest ways to make use of foods, supplements and herbal remedies. We can use these strategies to avoid infection, minimize the severity if you are infected, and recover as quickly as possible. The purpose of this post is to help clarify what’s worth your time and money, and what’s not. This is NOT a comprehensive herbal resource on COVID-19 - that doesn’t exist yet (at least in the West), and anyone who’s trying to tell you it does is likely trying to sell you something. That being said, these are the exact protocols I will be following, as well as the recommendations I’ve provided to my loved ones.
After ensuring we're prioritizing the safety of those most vulnerable through social distancing, hand-washing, not hoarding resources, following CDC recommendations, etc, the most responsible and effective thing we can do for ourselves to "boost immunity" with or without confirmed exposure is extra nutrients - so make your grocery list and be ready to pull up your supplement protocol and check it against the one below.
Diet
Remember: supplements are supplementary to a healthy diet, and diet is the preferred way to make sure you’re getting the nutrients you need.
So do all the things you probably already know you should be doing:
Fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables
Limit or avoid sugar and processed food (to the extent that that’s feasible for you)
Keep your microbiome happy and alert by eating or drinking fermented foods/beverages 3-4 times per week. This includes lacto-fermented sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles or beet kvass (preferably from a local brand like Harvest Roots Ferments) and beverages like kombucha, kefir and jun.
Eat lots of “Demulcent Oatmeal” (see recipe below under Herbs)
Supplements
As you likely know if you’ve had an appointment with me recently, nutrient deficiencies are common and can suppress immune function. However, IT DOES NOT FOLLOW from that that taking huge doses of nutrients (above and beyond what’s necessary to become replete, aka supra-physiologic doses) will “boost” immune function.
**Please note: If I have you on a protocol, it probably includes most, if not everything, you need, so please closely verify before adding supplements. Call or email me with questions.
And try not to worry overmuch - You’re doing what you can and it won't serve you to panic. Breathe in and breathe out. We’re in this together - email me at alabamafunctionalherbalism@gmail.com
Immunity Nutrients:
1. Vitamin A: 5,000 - 10,000 IU daily. Preferred form: just make sure it's NOT beta carotene, but rather a preformed one like retinol palmitate.
2. Vitamin D3/K2: 5000 IU - 8000IU, with at least 200mcg K2. Preferred form: make sure it's D3 and not D2.
3. Zinc: 30-50 mg daily, taken with a meal. If taking 50mg, try to get a supplement with 2-3 mcg copper. Preferred form: Zinc picolinate is my favorite form (good absorption and I've found it less likely to make you nauseous).
4. Selenium: 75-200mcg daily. A handful of Brazil nuts has the amount you need.
5. B2, B6 and Folate (B9): A few servings of fruits and veggies daily should provide most of what you need. Call me before starting a folate supplement if you're not already on one.
6. Vitamin C: 500-1000mg daily. Preferred form: sodium ascorbate or ascorbic acid are both fine.
Lifestyle
Your top priority for the next few weeks? Keep your mucosa happy! Adequate “snot” is the under-appreciated hero of preventing respiratory infections. Lower air humidity dries out mucosa, and allows virus-laden droplets to travel farther. Robust research points towards 50-60% air humidity as ideal to decrease respiratory infections. That means:
A. Hydrate - Drink enough water to make you urinate 6-8 times per day. Apart from right away in the morning, your urine should be mostly clear. **if you have kidney issues please don’t drastically increase your fluid intake.
B. Use a humidifier (especially at night) - steam humidifiers are best but more expensive. Mist humidifiers are perfectly adequate, provided they are cleaned weekly with hydrogen peroxide or vinegar. A crockpot or pot of water on the stove, set to low and monitored, works just as well. Freshen the air by tossing in some kitchen spices like rosemary or thyme.
Herbs
First off, allow me to clarify something: Plants like echinacea and elder are to be used if you firmly suspect exposure or have started experiencing symptoms. Don’t take them willy-nilly - they are not meant to be taken every single day of winter. That being said, if you come into contact with an person who’s infected, if you yourself begin to experience symptoms, or you work in a healthcare setting where you’re almost guaranteed to be exposed, THAT is the time to start taking immune-stimulating herbs like echinacea and elder. Think 2-4 weeks max at a time. Longer than that, and the potential benefits diminish. PLEASE ALSO KEEP IN MIND: in the coming weeks, we need to save the immune-stimulating herbs for the folks who really need them, and I hesitate to even make immune-stimulating suggestions lest we find ourselves in another toilet paper hoarding situation…
THE MOST IMPORTANT HERBS you can give yourself are a category of sometimes goopy, sometimes slippery, always moistening plants called *demulcents*. They are an herbal superpower in times like these as they help encourage, nourish and supplement the production of mucous membranes, which, as I mentioned, are CRUCIAL to keeping respiratory infections at bay (see note above on keeping your mucosa happy!).
There are quite a few demulcent plants, and several subcategories to choose from, but here are a few foods and herbs that you can incorporate into your routine as much as possible (ideally daily or multiple times per day) in the coming weeks:
Marshmallow root
Licorice root (as 10-15% of a tea blend, no more)
Okra
Moistening grains and seeds like flax, chia, hemp and oats.
Here is an excellent and delicious recipe for Demulcent Oatmeal, from my teacher Thomas Easley at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine:
“Demulcent Oatmeal
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup oat milk, coconut milk, or other non-dairy milk of your choice
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine the oats, milk, water, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes, until the porridge is soft and a little thinner than you’d like it. It will thicken quickly as it cools. Add honey liberally (it’s demulcent also). ”
If you suspect exposure or start experiencing fever or other symptoms, my preferred directly antiviral remedy for things like sore throat and common cold is ginger juice shots made from fresh ginger root. It’s too early to tell you if it will work similarly on COVID-19, but that’s my favorite remedy for addressing other viral infections, and it’s also indicated for fever as a diaphoretic (a plant that helps you sweat out a fever - future article on why you should encourage and help your fever instead of suppressing it is forthcoming). If you have a juicer, you can make ginger shots yourself (don’t make them more than a few hours in advance, they should be as fresh as possible). If not, you can find them (usually...) near the fruit juices and kombucha at the grocery store.
It’s important not to just throw immune-activating herbs at this thing, but to work with an herbalist who understands how to address your individual tissue state, constitution, and stage of infection.
In other cases of infection, my preferred immune-activating plants include: andrographis, violet and poke (see note above on the need to conserve these plants for those who really need them). Those are all pretty strong (except violet) - please do your research and/or reach out to me or another qualified practitioner before taking them. I would NOT give those herbs to someone with any autoimmune condition.
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Hang in there, and, if you get sick, message me.
-Alyssa