Immunity Boosters in the age of killer viruses

This is how I was taught to deal with viral infections (growing up in India, you encounter more than your fair share of such infections).

Day Zero — The instant you feel a sore throat ( or body ache or a slight fever), and suspect an infection, blanket yourself up. Take a paracetmol (tylenol in the U.S.) and bundle yourself up. This will raise your body temperature. Granted it is uncomfortable for a couple of hours — but this simple act, in itself, will take care of a LOT of viruses. Most viruses have a hard time surviving high body temperatures.

Again, none of this is to be taken as medical advice, and a simple tylenol will not completely stop the infection. But, as per a lot of Indian doctors, it may slow it down.

Raw Salad Leaves, Carrots and Beet Root — as often as you can

Make fresh leaves a part of your daily routine. Carrots and Beets are both super veggies. Spinach and most green salad leaves (lettuce of all kinds, arugula…)— are also provide multiple benefits, including digestive fiber and boosting immunity.

Raw Ginger — for throat health

Either add it to your chai (see chai section below) or just take a bite of it and keep the juice in your throat as long as possible. Ginger has some known anti viral activity , and is a general super food.

Raw Green Chili

Believe it or not, in small amounts, green chili is a strong immunity booster (again, commonly eaten raw in India, along with most meals).

Vitamins, Supplements and Exercises

Immunity begins in the gut. A good gut flora can help fight off any infection. In the U.S., we are fortunate to have an advanced supplements market.

1 minute Planks — yes, the exercise

It is not recommended to do strenuous exercise, as excessive exercise takes a toll on immunity.

To get just the ‘Goldilocks’ amount of exercise, without setting foot outside the house, try the humble planks. Planks actually involve the majority of our body’s muscles and also gets the heart rate up! To do it right (i.e. without cheating), take a stopwatch and time your plank for at least an entire minute (if you can). Your heart rate should actually go up as you approach the minute.

Again, don’t overdo it — a handful of 1 minute planks a day (between 3 and 10) should be more than enough.

Probiotics — Probiotic Gummies, Probiotic S. Boullardi

Schiff’s Probiotic gummies are great for ensuring that probiotics get to your gut.

In the same vein, S Boullardi from Jarrow is a great friendly yeast — that replaces the ‘bad yeast’ in your gut. Try it and see if you don’t notice an immediate improvement in your digestion, brain fog and overall gut health.

Fresh Vitamin C or Chewables

Fresh Grapefruit or orange juice, or even chewable vitamin C, is a great guardian of the immune system. I try and take 1000 mg or more of Vitamin C, when flu season approaches or when I am recovering from flu etc. — trying to boost my immunity. Kirkland’s vitamin C (if bought from Costco) is cost effective and tastes great.

Vitamin B12

This is a super vitamin with benefits ranging from immunity, nerve health, muscle health and much more. I take this extra strong does, but check what works for you.

Tea (Chai) for immunity — Brewed Black Tea with black Cardamom

In India, Chai is the cure for everything.

• Bad throat or cold symptoms? There’s a chai for that (add some raw ginger and black cardamom).

• Headache? There’s a chai for that (add some raw cloves). And some saffron.
• Need help falling asleep? (yes — there’s caffeine in black tea, so this one is a matter of preference) — Add some pure spanish saffron to your tea (there’s a lot of ‘fake’ saffron out there…best to use spanish saffron from a known manufacturer)

The difference is simply in the additional spices you add to the brewing chai.

With some experimentation, I’ve found that black cardamom is a great immunity booster — as is raw ginger — when added to brewing tea.

Which Tea Leaves ?

Any black tea (Indian grocery stores are stocked with dozens of brands) will do. However, Wagh Bakri is the only one that I use in the U.S. While there are LOTs of tea leaves available, none of them has the flavor PLUS strength combo that this one does.

Enough Talking. How do I make chai?

There’s several youtube videos to guide you. I wrote a blog post on making Indian chai in the U.S.

How many times a day should I have chai?

Honestly, in India, there’s no limit.

I limit myself to 2 cups a day — because I tend to make my cup ‘strong’. However, folks who use fewer leaves, for a ‘mild to medium’ brew, tend to have as many as 6–7 cups in a day.

You need to find your own capacity — and your own brewing strength. Of course, there’s a few downsides to strong brewing (in an effort to make it darker). You could easily over brew it , making it bitter (this takes a little practice to get right, consult some youtube videos if you like).

The one thing you must not do, under any circumstances, is drink ‘old’ tea, — i.e. — tea that’s been sitting out. You may get busy and revisit an old pot of tea 30 minutes after a work call. My recommendation — throw it out and start on a new cup.

After the first 5–10 minutes of your brewing, tea starts losing it’s flavor and can also become super acidic. Best to have it fresh for maximum antioxidant benefits.

Summary

This list is by no means comprehensive. It is based on personal experiences, growing up in India and trying a variety of supplements available in the U.S.

Ginger does wonders for throat health, as does freshly brewed chai (with black cardamom) for overall immunity.

However, immunity does begin in the gut — and maintaining a healthy gut is key to keeping your immune system strong.

Fresh Salad leaves, Probiotic Supplements and simple exercises — all help in keeping your gut healthy.

Thoughts? Comments? What are your favorite immunity boosters?