How to Maintain a Healthy Immune Response, Part 1

As important as it is to quarantine and “hide” from the coronavirus, it’s important to know that too much hiding can put you at greater risk. Without gyms to exercise in and farmers’ markets to buy fresh healthy produce (or sunlight, itself), Americans have adopted an unhealthy COVID-19 lifestyle – often marked by stress-eating comfort food and binge-watching reality TV from the couch. While safer from the virus, too much of this behavior could lead to a host of side effects that actually make you less healthy than if you were living your normal life amid the pandemic. It’s something that’s important to consider as our fitness centers and recreational opportunities open back up and Americans have a daunting choice to make about re-entry. Dr. Mark Engelman is an expert in immunology and offers insights into how to maintain a balanced immune response. He’s Director of Clinical Consulting for Cyrex Laboratories, which specializes in immune profiling. He discusses how the immune system responds to viruses; what lifestyle factors promote an appropriate—and not overactive—immune response; which nutrients are particularly germane to COVID-19, pitfalls in testing for coronavirus; the role of the gut in determining optimal immunity; and why autoimmunity is so prevalent. Click HERE for part 2.