With all the stress and anxiety surrounding the coronavirus right now, we all need to be doing everything that we can to keep our immune system in tip-top shape. If any of us ends up getting this coronavirus we want to make sure that we have the best chance of fighting it off.

Here are 7 things that you can start doing now to boost your immune system to give yourself the best ability to combat the coronavirus:

• Elderberries: There is a growing amount of research out there that is showing that elderberries can help your body to fight off viral infections like the common flu. It does this by not allowing the flu virus from attaching to your cells and infecting them thus enhancing prevention of you getting sick and potentially infecting others.

• • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4848651/

• Vitamin C: Vitamin C is a potent antioxidant and a cofactor for a family of biosynthetic and gene regulatory enzymes. Vitamin C contributes to immune defense by supporting various cellular functions of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Vitamin C deficiency results in impaired immunity and higher susceptibility to infections.

• • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29099763

• Vitamin D: Vitamin D is less a supplement/vitamin in that it is a precursor to a lot of the hormones in our body. It is now clear that vitamin D has important roles in addition to its classic effects on calcium and bone homeostasis. Vitamin D can modulate our innate and adaptive immune responses. Deficiency in vitamin D is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as increased susceptibility to infection. Make sure that the vitamin D you are getting is Vitamin D3 though as that is the active form for our bodies.

• • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3166406/

• Sunlight: Yes, sunlight! Getting yourself outside in nature will help to calm your nerves and allow your body to destress itself. Because let’s be honest, nature is awesome. The other benefit of getting out in the sunlight is that the UV rays on our skin allow us to produce our own Vitamin D! How cool is that?!

• • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3356951/

• Sleep: How much sleep you get plays a critical role in the ability of your immune system to function at it’s best. It is while we are sleeping that we make all of the precursor cells of our mature immune system. So now more than ever with all this stress it is critical that we get a good amount of sleep.

• • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3256323/

• Exercise: Exercising can be a great way to not only stay in shape but to keep your immune system operating at it’s best levels too. Research shows that consistent moderate exercise will reduce in susceptibility of getting sick as well as increased production of macrophages, the good cells that eat all the bad guys trying to invade. Also, during your moderate exercise, the increased blood flow helps to get your immune cells to the bad guys faster!

• • https://www.verywellfit.com/exercise-and-immunity-3120439

• Chiropractic: Now this is where we live, in the chiropractic space. As chiropractors, our job is to make sure that your nervous system is happy, healthy and free of any pressure being placed on it. Your nervous system controls EVERYTHING in your body, including your immune system. We work to find areas of subluxation, misalignments of the spine, that put pressure on your nerves and remove them with adjustments. This helps to restore communication from your brain through your nerves at 100% to the end targets improving function throughout the body.

• • https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/important-link-between-the-brain-and-immune-system-found/?fbclid=IwAR3dnZpQNSyQtOYRran5W0KlGhhPg3x3IxSfee0yv-ycUFilsJ6K4EPB0Ow