FLiRT variants may lead to a Covid surge this summer: 7 ways to boost your immune system
Health professionals warn there may be a spike in Covid-19 cases this summer.
Cases of the FLiRT variants, “whose label derives from the names of the mutations in the variants’ genetic code,” according to CNBC, are rising in the U.S. and Europe.
The variants are descendants of the JN.1 variant, and the dominant strain of the grouping is KP.2, which accounted for “28.2% of all cases in the two weeks to May 11, up from 3.8% at the end of March, shortly after the strain was first discovered,” according to CNBC.
In addition to masking in public spaces and staying up-to-date with your vaccinations, which experts often recommend during spikes in Covid cases, it may be helpful to bolster your immune system.
Dr. William B. Miller Jr., an infectious disease expert and evolutionary biologist, thinks everyone should be boosting their immune system all year round, including the summer.
“The only effective way to really boost your immune system is to adopt a steady rhythm,” Miller told CNBC Make It last January.
“You can’t just say, ‘Well, I’ll be good in the winter and bad in the summer.’ It doesn’t work that way. It disrupts cells and takes them a long time to get back to their normal pattern of behavior.”
Here are a few ways that he recommends strengthening your defenses against illness.
- Lower your sugar intake
- Get regular exercise
- Eat fiber-rich foods like avocados and berries
- Prioritize good quality and quantity of sleep
- Consider taking probiotics and prebiotics to improve your gut health
- Avoid smoking or consuming non-prescribed drugs
- Drink less alcohol
Aside from potential protection against circulating viruses, strengthening your immune system can affect your health in other positive ways.
“A strong immune system translates into lower incidence of mood disorders, lower depression rates, better sense of well-being [and] higher degrees of optimism,” Miller said.
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