KETTERING — There may be a way to build up your immune system to help lessen the symptoms of COVID-19 if you become infected.
News Center 7′s Kayla Courvell spoke with experts on how to stay healthy while the state begins to reopen.
Dr. Patrick Lytle, vice president for clinical outcomes at Kettering Health Network, says a healthy immune system is much more likely to fight off COVID-19.
“Exercise, healthy diet, plenty of sunshine when it does come out, all has helped for everyone to combat any type of virus,” explained Dr. Lytle.
While not everyone has a healthy immune system, Lytle says there is a way to prepare your body now in case you do get sick.
“Vitamin D supplementation is effective in a common cold, its been shown to shorten the cold,” explained Lytle. “There’s been some recent literature that it decreases mortality in COVID-19.”
You can get vitamin D naturally by sitting outside on a sunny day, but because those days are rare this time of year, Lytle says many midwesterners suffer from a vitamin D deficiency.
To increase your vitamin D, you can take supplements.
Lytle says zinc is also key in fighting off viruses.
“We know that COVID is a respiratory virus, it comes through your nose and mouth and Zinc works as it dissolves in your mouth, so people with COVID have been found to be Zinc deficient," said Lytle.
Lytle does clarify that even by taking vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, there is no guarantee that you won’t be infected by COVID-19.
“They don’t rid your body of the virus, they help your body, they boost your immune system, they’re antioxidants, boosts your immune system and helps kill the virus,” explains Lytle.