Until there is a COVID vaccination, your immune system is your best defence in this crisis. So here is a quick quiz to see how strong your immune system is. Don’t worry, very few people can honestly tick all the boxes. Have a quick read, pick your greatest weakness and set yourself a one-month challenge. It will help your immune system and may even improve your health for the rest of your life.
All of these suggestions are from the Harvard Medical School. We add the solutions.
Diet
Do you eat a diet rich in fruit and vegetable every day? How much is that? The USA’s CDC says it is 3 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruits.
Resource: Track your days with the app Way of Life. Chris has been using it for years. It is free.
Exercise
Weight
Are you a healthy weight? No? Measure your BMI here. Resources: Set a target and use one of the many options. MyFitness Pal is very successful.
Alcohol consumption
Do you drink more than a ‘moderate’ amount of alcohol? What is moderate? The USA’s CDC says it is one drink for women per day and two for guys.
Are you drinking more than that?Resources: The Daybreak Alcohol Support app is clever. There are many other great apps.
Sleep
Do you get enough sleep? How much is enough? 8 or 9 hours is normal. Resources: Try sleep apps like Sleep Cycle or Fitbit.
Stress
Are you living a stress-free life? How do you know if you are stressed? There are many symptoms: problems sleeping, requiring drugs including alcohol, temper, auto-immune responses and others.
Resources: Try meditation apps like Headspace or Calm. Or breathing exercises like this one or do an Art of Living course.
Telling people you are about to change your behaviour dramatically increases your chances of success. So tell us what behaviour you are going to tackle and how long you would like your challenge to last via our Contact Us page. For example ‘Hi Chris and Plamena, I am committing to drinking only one drink per day for a month’.
Love to all,
Chris Darwin & Plamena
& The Darwin Challenge Team