how to strengthen the immune system
(written on March 14, 2020, 11:20am, for an acupuncture school student, in answer to the question: "I have a lot of people asking about general herbal/ dietary advice to boost immunity- do you have any suggestions that we can share?")
This is not a quick question, but maybe I can make it quick if I freewrite about it. Someday the info may be better organized into some sort of handout, but today, right now, this is the best I can do. A brainstorm about how to strengthen the immune system...here goes.
First thought, don't get a flu shot. There is nothing natural about injecting something that should technically come in through the upper respiratory system (in the 4 levels diagnosis, in through the wèi level, level one) straight into the bloodstream (4 levels diagnosis blood level, level four) and NOT getting sick is a bit like not stretching/exercising a muscle. You can't keep a system in shape or in tune if you never use it. It's like the eyewash station that never gets used spraying rust along with its water when you finally turn it on. I want my teacher to write about this so I can translate his argument, which will surely be more complete than my soapbox here.
Number two, keep your life functions going, however that works for you. This is the equivalent of keeping your fire escape free of clutter. Eat what your body needs to poop every day, preferably twice a day. For one of my patients this is eating beans. For me it's not so much what I eat or don't eat...if I walk around the block first thing in the morning as soon as I wake up, I pretty much guarantee a bowel movement in the morning. Do moderate activities that break a sweat but not so much exertion that you are dripping at the end of your workout, to keep your pores opening and closing. Sleep. Breathe. Basic life functions.
Three, do what makes you happy. I have this poem that's basically a direct quote from my therapist which goes:
Sleep.
Eat.
Exercise.
Cuddle the cat.
As for everything else,
just don't.
(It will be distorted by your depletion.)
Just don't.
Cuddling the cat makes me happy. If you hate animals, or are allergic to cats, maybe that fourth line would be "cuddle your dog" or "take a bath" or "bake bread" or "plant flowers"...just be careful that the thing you are doing that makes you happy doesn't give you constipation, or diarrhea, or insomnia, or a hangover, or horrible menstrual cramps. You get the idea. When I'm PMSing, eating chocolate ice cream makes my mouth happy, but my uterus and my intestines are like, "WTF Amy?!" If it makes you feel safer to have a flu shot, get the flu shot. If you are calmer and happier when you meticulously avoid wheat gluten and sugar and anything that metabolizes into sugar (like bread and beer), do that. But if you, like me, find yourself suddenly with too much unstructured free time stretched before you like an unexplored landscape on a planet you never actually expected to visit, with your usual preferred activities barred by social distancing and weather, resist the temptation to hang out with your phone. Baking bread from scratch is something that takes lots of time and makes all the people you live with very happy. (Unless you live alone, of course, but there's always the option to bake something for all the people living in tents on the sidewalk who have no ovens...)
Four, stay warm. Keeping the body warm is a nontrivial biological expense. It's similar to wearing a helmet when biking. Brains before beauty, right? Look silly but stay cozy in your scarf and hat and gloves etc. Drink hot chocolate when you're PMSing instead of chocolate ice cream.
I like to walk in the rain. This is not a warm OR dry activity, but it lifts my heart. So I compromise by dressing warmly and then peeling out of my wet raingear and immediately taking a hot shower when I get home. My dad, whose preferred form of exercise is swimming, makes a similar compromise by having a bathrobe with a hood and a thermos of fresh ginger tea in the car to promote a bit of sweating after his exertions.
Beware of overexertion. Remember that sex is a form of exercise, and like exercise, not enough or too much are equally detrimental. If sex with another person makes you anxious given all the info out there about fluid transmitted viruses right now, there's always masturbation.
I realize I've said almost nothing about herbs and dietary choices. Here's a thought, from my mentor: 「沒病不要亂吃藥。」méi bìng bú yào luàn chī yào "If you aren't sick don't randomly take medicine." Anything that can help can also harm. There is no one thing that will work for everyone, and anyone telling you otherwise is either dishonest or misguided. Let the MDs subscribe to that myth! Take only the herbs supplements prescription medications homeopathic drips whatever that keep your life functions happening, and use medicine only when you are unable to keep life functioning with the simpler solutions (like eating beans) that work.
Here you were hoping for me to tell you something simple, like Yù Píng Fēng Sǎn 玉屏風散 or Xiǎo Chái Hú Tāng 小柴胡湯...avoid processed sugar, or dairy, or meat...sorry, there are no easy answers. I don't think we work that way.
