5 Healthy Habits MDs Say We Should Start In Quarantine

Here are five things that health care professionals of all stripes recommend doing for your physical and mental health during this time. Making them nonnegotiables can add some stability to your everyday routine in the age of so many unknowns:

Sleep is when our body recovers from the day, and a good night's rest can support immunity. "While our body is resting, the immune system cells can also focus all efforts and energy on a strong attack against viruses and bacteria," immunologist Heather Moday, M.D., wrote in an article on the sleep-immunity connection last month. "Also, sleep enhances the formation of memory antibodies to bacteria and viruses, to help build a stronger immune system for the future." So if there's ever a time to sleep in or go to bed earlier, it's now.

If stress about work, family, or the general state of the world is keeping you up at night, Moday recommends mbg's sleep support+ supplement. Since introducing it to her own routine, she's found that she wakes up less frequently in the middle of the night and wakes up feeling more rested thanks to its combo of magnesium, PharmaGABA, and jujube—all of which can help increase relaxation and promote deeper sleep.*

"Deep belly breathing while meditating stimulates the vagus nerve1 and turns on the parasympathetic, or 'rest-and-digest,' part of our nervous system, which helps to lower heart rate and reduce anxiety in just a matter of minutes," Robin Berzin, M.D., functional medicine physician and the founder of Parsley Health, wrote on mbg this week. She recommends taking 10 minutes every morning and night to reconnect to your body by way of the breath. Think of it as a sedentary mental commute to bookend your day.

If you're doing more cooking for yourself in quarantine, you're probably already eating healthier than usual, and that's great. Mark Hyman, M.D., a functional medicine doctor, says that this is the gold standard breakdown for what to include in those homemade meals every day to support immune strength:

Try to avoid processed sugar, refined starches, and added salt when you can. Thanks to the gut-brain connection, eating nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods could also pay dividends for anxiety levels. 

When you do feel yourself getting overwhelmed and triggered by something you read, remember the 90-second rule: Your body's chemical reaction to a stimulus usually lasts for only 90 seconds. After that, it's up to you to decide if you want to continue to respond to it or just move on.

You can eat all the best foods, take all the right supplements, and exercise all the time—but it won't make you healthy if you're miserable doing it. Doing things for pure pleasure is important always but especially now. Make the cheese board. Drink the cocktail. Watch the trashy movie. And know that day by day, we'll make it through this together.