While keeping our immune system strong may be a continual goal, in this COVID-19 outbreak, it should be a high priority.
And apart from physical distancing and 20-second hand-washes, there’s may be more we can do against this novel coronavirus. If it gains entrance to our body, we want to be so healthy that it realizes it’s won’t survive, then quickly dies. So let’s get our immune system on high alert, ready to find and neutralize any threat!
To do so, we have advice from the “8 Doctors,” collectively known by the commonly used acronym NEW START:
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Water
- Sunshine
- Temperance
- Air
- Rest
- Trust in Divine Power
If you don’t recognize the credentials and education of these “Doctors,” be informed that these are the doctor’s teachers, the phenomenon our doctors must study and acknowledge as true health providers. And don’t think that any one is small or insignificant; these are the powerful principles of health, natural laws, that when broken, will result in disease and untimely death.
The 8 Doctor’s Immune Boosts
- Nutrition: eat more raw fruits and vegetables. Get all the antioxidant, pre/probiotics, Vitamin C, rich leafy greens, beats and berries, and cruciferous veggies. And leave aside the refined sugars; skip dessert and hide the sweets. And if you’re not eating a whole-food plant-based diet but you do have a chronic disease, let’s talk.
- Exercise: this pandemic may have closed the gym, but safe-at-home doesn’t exclude walks, runs, bike rides, pushups, squats, burpees, jumping jacks, jumping ropes, any heart-pumping activity to boost your immune system, mental health, physical strength. Just do it.
- Water: there’s nothing better than just water. No extra sugar. It might also be time to repeat “I’m thirsty, not hungry” to yourself a few times a day.
- Sunshine: you can still get that Sunny Southern California sun in between the recent clouds to get the Vitamin D immune boost.
- Temperance: you might already avoid many unhealthy substances, but also work on avoiding (refined) sugar, sugar, sugar, and anything else with little to no nutritional value. Stay in the fight; strengthen the immune system.
- Air: safer-at-home is not stay-inside—get exercise outdoors in fresh air, especially while we have it.
- Rest: work on getting those regular hours of quality sleep.
- Trust in Divine Power – while many people are filled with fear and panic in this pandemic, we can trust in God’s protective power and watch care over us (Matt. 6:31-33), knowing that he will work out everything for good for those who love him and keep His commandments (Rom. 8:28, 31, 3-39), and if we fear Him alone, we don’t need to fear anything else (Deut. 6:13, Heb. 13:6).