COVID and holistic health2023-01-15T11:34:06+00:00

Holistic self-care & COVID

Optimise your health

We want you to understand there is a lot that you can do to look after your own health and to optimise your health and build immune resilience to ward off infections including COVID. Scroll down the page for evidence based ideas & inspiration from natural and holistic approaches.

Here are our top tips – click on each to take you to some brilliant resources on the web…

GET INTO NATURE

Spending time in nature provides protections against a startling range of diseases

FEEL THE SUNSHINE

Sunshine has a central role in human immunity

GO BAREFOOT

Grounding or earthing produces intriguing effects on physiology and health

DO A DAILY DANCE

Commit to dancing to a song every day

DO A 5 MIN KITCHEN WORKOUT

It’s easy – Dr Rangan Chatterjee can show you how.

PLAY

Don’t forget the power and joy of active play!

CONNECT

Connect with friends and loved ones in what ever way you can

SLEEP

Get a good amount of sleep and spend some time relaxing each day

GRATTITUDE

Find a way to help others and start a gratitude practice

LAUGHTER

Have some fun or watch funny films – laughter is good medicine

SLOW DOWN

As you move through these changing times… be easy on yourself and be easy on one another

EAT REAL FOOD

And finally – Eat Real Food

Natural Remedies & Supplements

Herbal remedies and nutritional supplements can both play a role in helping us build a healthy immune system. Herbal remedies can also be used to help alleviate symptoms and some have anti-viral properties too. While we are not recommending these instead of routine medical care, they can be used by those who are not currently in need of medical care and can possibly be used in addition to conventional treatments. Here are our kitchen remedies…

  • Garlic & onions – are anti-viral and can help coughs
  • Thyme – great for coughs
  • Ginger & turmeric – anti-inflammatory and may help with muscle aches and fever
  • Chili pepper – helps flu like symptoms in multiple ways
  • Fermented foods e.g sauerkrautkimchi, yogurt & kefir – boost the immune system via the gut
  • Herbal teas – great for keeping hydrated. If feverish try diaphoretic herbs such as peppermint; chamomile; lemon balm & ginger

Real Food for Immune Resilience

What to eat:

  • EAT RAINBOW: a variety of colourful, seasonal fruits and vegetables – ideally organic
  • Pastured or organic meat, eggs & dairy and wild-caught fish
  • Nuts, seeds, pulses & whole grains
  • Herbs & spices
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil & butter (grass-fed/organic)
  • Therapeutic foods – see kitchen remedies above

What to reduce

  • Sugar and sugary foods including fruit juice*
  • Refined carbohydrates e.g pasta and white rice*
  • Processed foods
  • Vegetable oils and fried foods

Key nutrients for the immune system

It is ideal to get all the nutrients we need from Real Foods however at times of greater stress supplementation may be beneficial. If wanting to supplement in doses above the RDA then it is advisable to seek the help of a suitably qualified practitioner.

  • Vitamin A
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin D
  • Zinc
  • Glutamine is an amino acid which is abundant in the protein collagen which is high in bones and other connective tissue. Slow cook cuts of meat with the bones in or make your own broth.

Did you know we publish hundreds of articles on evidence-based holistic care – written by doctors, nurses and health practitioners. Our highly regarded Journal of Holistic Health is published three times a year.

Beyond Covid

Our new Journal is now out:

  • Can GP practices become hubs for transition?
  • Going beyond the bio-psychosocial – The complex person in a complex environment and uncertain world
  • Change of self, change of system – journey into Integrative Medicine
  • Student Essay Winner: Holistic lessons from a pandemic…prevention is better than cure
  • NHS health carers’ staff erosion: England 2020s: Dust bowl USA 1930s
  • Build Back Better
  • Re-imagining healthcare towards health equity
  • A better future for healthcare
  • When I say flourishing in medical education
  • Reimagining psychotherapy and the emerging promise of psychedelics

KITTY O’MEARA

And the people stayed at home

And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still.

And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced.

Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed.

And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.

Physical distancing

Here is the evidence for physical distancing with covid-19  published in the BMJ on the 25th August 2020

Risk of contagion

The risk of contagion is highest in indoor spaces but can be reduced by applying all available measures to combat infection via aerosols. Here is an overview of the likelihood of infection in three everyday scenarios developed by José Luis Jiménez, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Colorado.

How you can help research

The COVID Symptom Study app is a not-for-profit initiative that was launched at the end of March 2020 to support vital COVID-19 research. The app was launched by health science company ZOE with scientific analysis provided by King’s College London. With over 4 million contributors globally, the Study is the world’s largest ongoing study of COVID-19 and is led by ZOE Co-Founder, Tim Spector. Download the app to take part

Below are some useful resources from our colleagues and Real Food Campaign partners.

HEALTHFLIX – An online community built by leading experts in health and wellbeing to help us all get through the stress and isolation of the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis.

Resilience Skills Webinars & Online Course by Dr Chris Johnstone of the College of Wellbeing

Covid Zone – Alliance for Natural Health

The College of Medicine’s Our Health Directory – which contains an analysis on the evidence supporting different self-care measures.

Social isolation linked to inflammation blog by ION – the Institute of Optimum Nutrition

Other good stuff

Coronavirus (covid-19): Latest news and resources

COVID-19 Functional Medicine Resources

What Are Antiviral Herbs? – blog by Learning Herbs

How To Manage Anxiety In The Face Of A Global Pandemic with Dr Judson Brewer – Dr Rangan Chatterjee’s Coronavirus Special

Living with worry and anxiety amidst global uncertainty by PSYCHOLOGY TOOLS

Collective Vulnerability, the FFTs of Online Learning, and the Sacredness of Bored Kids by Brené Brown

A list of free, online, boredom-busting resources! by ChatterPack

Future Learn – explore online courses to continue studying, build professional skills, and connect with experts.

MOVE ME: Are you one of the millions of people in self-isolation or lockdown around the world? Let’s dance our way together through these dark times. We’ll dance every day to the same song all over the world until the global Coronavirus shutdown is over.

A conversation about COVID-19 (Functional Medicine, clinically focussed) with Dr Kara Fitzgerald and Dr. Sam Yanuck

Can the coronavirus really live for 3 days on plastic? Yes, but it’s complicated – from the Philadelphia Inquirer

Food Safety and Coronavirus: A Comprehensive Guide – blog

Lockdown

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