Allergies, Cold, Flu, & COVID-19

Anxiety is at an all-time high these days with such uncertainty around coronavirus. Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States? It affects 40 million adults, 18 percent of the population every year. Knowledge is empowerment and can tame some anxiety.

Let’s break down the differences between allergies, cold, flu, and COVID-19.

The symptoms for Allergies are sneezing, runny nose, red, swollen eyes, itchy eyes, itchy nose, a tickle in the throat, and rarely do you have a fever.

The symptoms of a cold are sneezing, a runny nose, sore throat, mild to moderate aches and pains, mild dry cough, and rarely do you have a fever.

The symptoms of the flu are fever is very common, a dry cough, headache, sore throat, fatigue, sometimes a runny nose, occasionally loose stools, and these symptoms have a quick onset.

The symptoms of coronavirus, COVID-19 are dry cough, fever above 100 degrees, shortness of breath, mild sneezing, sometimes headache, sometimes aches and pains, sometimes fatigue but not like the flu, GI issues are rare. These symptoms take a gradual onset from two to 14 days to emerge from the start. With this virus, it primarily affects the respiratory system, and you can catch it airborne from coughing or sneezing, or coming in contact with contaminated surfaces, doorknobs, etc., with your hands and then rubbing your skin or face. Be diligent with wearing gloves, masks, and washing your hands thoroughly.

Your body will encounter three phases of the virus:
first viral replication, then immune hyperactivity, and eventual pulmonary destruction, which targets your lungs. Once the virus infects the cells in the respiratory tract, it takes over the cells’ functions, allowing the virus to replicate and then spread from cell to cell. If you have a mild case, then your immune system usually can fight it off, and you will experience fever during that process. During severe cases, the viruses spread more and can lead to a ‘cytokine storm’ where the immune system is highly stimulated. The breathing difficulties are from the bronchial constricting and limiting airflow so you might cough or have shortness of breath, and if it worsens, then one may get pneumonia.

Here’s what you can do as preventive measures, follow a healthy lifestyle guideline such as:

Eat Nutritious and Delicious! 
Keep your gut healthy, to keep the immune system healthy. Always make as nutrient-dense food choices, as opposed to foods with empty calories and high carbohydrates.  Check out the delicious meals on my IG page.

Take Quality Supplements and always check with your medical practitioner for approval, especially if taking medications and if you have a health condition. 

Take basic supplements for foundational health and focus on immune support. One of my favorites is quality probiotics that are essential for promoting natural antibodies and keeping harmful bacteria in check. Utilize these supplements to fill in the nutritional gaps in your diet and support a robust immune system function. 

The best way to take the guesswork out of which supplements to take is to get tested with specialized functional medicine labs. I’m so passionate about these tests after utilizing them for over 18 years and offering insight to individuals who have run these tests. Gain insight into how your body is functioning and learn what parts of your body are vulnerable and take the customized approach to assist your body in reaching optimal health. Order your test panel today, and I’m going to add the inflammatory marker test since the coronavirus family hijacks the PLA2 of the cells they are infecting to increase the replication of virus particles. It’s such an important test to add to the organic profile checking over 75 markers. Stop playing around with your health and get tested now and annually to stay ahead of the curve.

Stay Active.
Get moving! Keeping active reduces stress hormones and stimulates endorphins and get some natural sunlight to regulate your circadian rhythm and promote a quality restful sleep. 

Sleep Restoratively.
Turn off your devices at least an hour or two before bed. Great to read a page a day from the Healthy Living Everyday book available on Amazon in print form and Kindle. Remember that the blue light from electronic devices suppresses melatonin and interferes with your sleep. Listening to relaxing music and taking a warm bath with Epsom salts are other good ways to help you relax.

If you’re home and want to learn the 9 Steps to Healthy Living, then join today and start watching and implementing with the action sheets for each step.

Manage Stress and Anxiety.
High cortisol and increased stress weaken the immune system as well as your digestive system. It’s a vicious cycle, so try some meditation, gentle yoga poses, talking to positive-minded people, join the private FB group. Want to absorb more content, then become a member of the Total Wellness Empowerment online program and get empowered to become your best health advocate for you and your family.
Most importantly, remember you are not alone. We are all facing similar challenges right now, and we will get through them together.

Wash Your Hands

Make sure you drink plenty of fluids. 

Separate yourself from other people not to spread it to others. You may only experience mild symptoms and recover quickly, but if you don’t use all precautions, you may infect other people with weaker immune systems. Their bodies may not be able to cope with the virus, and it may cost their life.
You should also restrict contact with pets and animals. 

If you need to leave home, make sure you wear a face mask, and you keep at least six feet distance from other people and wear gloves.

Stay safe and be well.

Don’t leave yourself vulnerable again, discover how your body is functioning with the special lab testing so you know what to do going forward to reach optimal health and what to take if and when the next virus attacks.

Preparation and knowledge are your greatest armor.

Tags: and COVID-19, anxiety, anxiety with coronavirus, Cold, Coronavirus, COVID-19, COVID-19 remedy, COVID-19 treatment, differences between allergies, Flu, functional medicine testing