Conversations on COVID Part 2: Managing Stress and Building Foundational Immune Health

The video starts with a title screen. A maroon and orange gradient aura shifts in the upper right corner of the screen as words appear. They read “Dr. Frank Lipman and Dr. Robert Rountree answer questions about COVID-19 and give some practical advice” and appear over two short resume blurbs about the two doctors. The blurbs read: “Dr. Frank Lipman, M.D., Functional Medicine Doctor, New York Times Best Seller” and “Dr. Robert Rountree, M.D., Functional Medicine Physician, Chief Medical Officer for Thorne.

After a few seconds the words pan up the screen as a question fades in from below. The question reads: “what are you recommending in your practice for stress, anxiety, and coping on a day-to-day basis?”

Dr. Frank Lipman:

There's two pandemics. There's a pandemic of COVID-19 and then there's also the pandemic of the anxiety and the fear because of the virus. And we can't control the virus per se, but we can control our reaction to it. And the way we do that is by learning relaxation techniques. 

As Dr. Lipman talks, words appear on the right side of the screen emphasizing his points. The text only serves to clarify what is being said and does not add any new information that isn’t already present in what Dr. Lipman has to say.

Dr. Frank Lipman:

So for people who are hyper and can't sit still, exercise, yoga, any type of movement, dancing around your living room, listening to some Bob Marley, anything like that can be helpful, but anything to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. So I'm a huge fan of meditation, it's changed my life. We tell people to use apps like Headspace, Insight Timer, Journey Meditation. They're all these apps that you can use that are having meditations. The Whale actually has classes, meditation classes, yoga classes, there's so much going on. I mean, I think it's a interesting time because this is a really good time to actually start creating these new habits.

Because the other thing I'm seeing with patients is that, I'm seeing New Yorkers who are pretty go, go, go, go. And their routine, they can't come to terms with slowing down because they're so used to getting up early, going to the gym, I have so many of these women are these super woman who have kids and husbands and jobs, and they're struggling with the slower lifestyle of this. There's a little bit different in bolder, I'm sure. And I think the loss of their routine is a big thing.

So what I'm encouraging people is to try create some healthy habits, your new routines, because you're going to be living like a variation of this for a long time. So try go to a bed at the same time, try wake up at the same time, eat meals at the same time, get some structure and routine in your life and start developing new habits like meditation. So it's an interesting time because we can use it positively. I know it's a difficult thing to do, but we can use it positively. I mean, as Bob will say. I mean, all this stuff that we recommending now, is stuff we've been recommending for the last 20, 30 years.

Dr. Robert Rountree:

The million dollar question here is why are so many people asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic with the infection? Why aren't we studying that more? Why is it that the number one thing we're studying is what's different about the immune systems of those people that, maybe they lose their taste for a week or they cough a little bit, they get a fever and then they're fine. What's different?

Dr. Frank Lipman:

Exactly. Look, this is anecdotal and I'm not being like Trump and saying this is the cure because it's a tricky thing. I mean, everything's become so politicized. But what I will say, I have gotten so many emails from patients thanking me for getting them to go on a low carb diet for eating well, for meditating, for dealing with their stress. I use NAC, I use quercetin a lot, I used curcumin a lot, for putting them on these supplements, which I actually do believe help. I mean, I can't say for sure. I'm not going to get up there and say, "This is the cure." But I've got to say, I'm pretty confident that as Bob was saying, these patients who actually changed their lifestyles, are eating well and are taking these supplements, seem to be doing much better. So there's got to be something then. As Bob says, why aren't we studying those people?

Dr. Robert Rountree:

When I was in my medical training, they talk about what do you do if you come upon someone who's unconscious and they talk about the ABCs, airway, breathing, circulation. Well, I talk about the ABCDZ. ABCDZ, right? Vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, provide this foundation of nutrition I think help everyone's immune system work better. People ask me, "Well, if I get sick, should I start taking vitamin C then?" I'm like, "Why would you wait until you're sick? Why not start the vitamin C now?" There's pretty good data that vitamin C keeps your immune system in tip top shape. Same thing with vitamin D. Same thing with just basic B vitamins. You don't need massive amounts, but just covering the basis for your B vitamins. All of those things are really critical and just a little bit of zinc. You don't need hundreds of milligrams of zinc. You need what, 50, 60 milligrams.

Closing text appears onscreen reading: “Make the most of your health while staying at home. Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest content on COVID-19 along with insights, education, and advice you won’t find anywhere else.