The best way to stay healthy is through prevention. Yet, most people are always looking for some medication to cure their condition, rather than looking for ways to prevent sickness. Medications might keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels down, but exercise, nutrition, sleep, and stress reduction are healthier alternatives. I hope that one-day medical schools start focusing on how to prevent those conditions from ever occurring in the first place, rather than focusing on which medications are prescribed for each condition. In my opinion, looking at the prevention of disease is the future of medicine. So while most people right now are talking about making a vaccine for coronavirus, or which medications or supplements can help treat coronavirus, I am going to share what scientists and researchers have been finding that helps to PREVENT the coronavirus.

90 percent of us can prevent it by following the simple rules of self-quarantine, keeping social distances of 6 feet, wearing masks and gloves in public, and washing our hands, clothes, cell phone, computer, mouth, and body frequently. For the other 10 percent, let’s review the best ways to prevent coronavirus in addition to these previously stated.

The most common way is to not only just wash your hands, but wash each individual finger, your wrists, and your face. However, do not use all of these anti-bacterial soaps and lotions. Remember that coronavirus is a virus and not a bacterium so antibacterial products do not help prevent coronavirus, but frequent washing with soap and water will help reduce your chances of transmission by about 50 percent. Not only is it important to wash your body, but also wash your clothes. If you leave your house, strip down and jump right into a hot shower immediately following your return home. Keep your hair tied back and clip your fingernails frequently to maintain good hygiene, as well.

If you are exposed to coronavirus, keeping your lungs in good shape is vital if you want to prevent Covid-19 from destroying your health. Scientists have discovered that patients with weak lungs are more susceptible to coronavirus, and a quick easy test to check the quality of your lungs is to see if you can hold your breath for 10 seconds straight. If you can hold it for 10 seconds then you are less likely to have lung fibrosis. If your lungs are strong they are more likely to be able to handle exposure to coronavirus without consequence. Exercising every day is the first step to improving lung function. Do at least 2 days a week of aerobic exercise where you are sweating and your heart is beating fast. In addition, perform 20 minutes of weight resistance exercises on two other days. The other 3 days should consist of different activities such as walking, biking or hiking. Another really easy way to improve lung function is to perform specific breathing exercises where you inhale for 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. Repeat this exercise 3 times each session and perform at least 3 times a day. This will make your lungs stronger every day, and the more consistent you are, the quicker you will build up your lung capacity.

Another way to prevent coronavirus is to drink lots of water. The moisture helps to kill coronavirus. It is recommended to take a sip of water every 20 minutes. Do not drink coffee or alcohol because those types of drinks will dehydrate you. If you work out, make sure you drink water with electrolytes. I recommend mineralizing your water with pink Himalayan salt which has about 86 different minerals. Also, make sure you drink an entire glass of water 30 minutes before each meal. This will improve your immune system and your digestive system so that if you are exposed to Covid-19, the white blood cells, bacteria, and hydrochloric acid in your stomach can help kill off the virus.

In addition to water, you can also help prevent coronavirus with heat. Drink lots of hot lemon water, tea, and vegetable soup. Take a steam or a long hot shower. Go outside between 12 and 2 to get some powerful sunlight. If you do have a temperature, that is a good thing because your body is heating up to kill off the virus. Do not take medication like ibuprofen, Motrin, or Advil to bring down your temperature because then you can actually help the virus to multiply and cause damage to the body. Many researchers are recommending not taking these medications because it might complicate recovery thereby increasing mortality rates. If your temperature gets extremely high, like 103 or 104 degrees, they have recommended taking Tylenol instead. There is no better doctor than the human body, so sometimes it is actually better to let the temperature run its course and kill off the virus itself, rather than taking medication to bring down your temperature. Always consult your doctor before going to the hospital or before taking any medication, even if it is over the counter. To help the community during this pandemic and to prevent overcrowding of the hospitals, I am offering free health care advice via virtual consults for any new patient. This can be done over Facetime or WhatsApp. Please email me at info@kaplanbrainandbody.com or call 201-261-2150 or 212-620-8121 to set up a FREE VIRTUAL CONSULT this week.

Lastly, and most importantly, remember to stop watching the news. The news is trying to scare you. If you are scared, stressed, and anxious, that will weaken your immune system making you more susceptible to coronavirus. CBS news was just caught using pictures of hospitals in Italy, claiming that it was a NY hospital overrun with patients. The media will manipulate facts, pictures, and quotes to sensationalize stories to increase viewership and ratings, as well as push their agenda. I go to the CDC website once a week to get an update just to update you on the real numbers. The number of coronavirus deaths is currently 10,000 people in the US and it looks as though we have reached the peak already. Now, although it is never great to hear about 10,000 deaths. Every year the flu kills about 30,000 to 60,000 people in America. I am just giving you these numbers to put things into perspective. Learning about how many people die every day from the coronavirus will not help you in any way. In fact, it actually hurts you. Your instructions will stay the same for the entire month of April no matter how many times a day you watch the news: Stay at home, wash your hands, and follow social distancing rules. I wish for everyone to be safe, be healthy, and stop watching the news.