How Can I Protect Myself From Getting Sick?

Hey, J.J. here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less head to Wayfair.com right.

Now to shop all things home.

Wayfair Every style, every home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I R.com hey, it's JJ here.

You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family's sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze.

It looks like a dryer sheet, but.

It'S actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order.

Welcome to Walgreens. What can I help you with today?

Hi, I need a last minute gift for a Secret Santa. Something thoughtful, impressive. Not a fruitcake.

We've got Ferrero chocolates, artisan coffees, even a spa kit. Any vibe you're going for?

Whatever says, wow, this guy's great at giving gifts.

How about this premium skincare gift set? Just needs a bow. Will look like you planned it weeks ago.

Well, happy holidays.

Gifts, holiday decor, and more.

The holiday road is long.

We're with you all the way, Walgreens.

How can I protect myself from getting sick? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and fitness hall of famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions, and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Karen from Instagram asks, how can I protect myself from getting sick? Well, Karen, there are a lot of things that you can do here to protect yourself. I'll be right back with the answer.

Hey, J.J. virgin here.

Okay, real talk.

So often the holidays sneak up on me.

Travel, gifts, hosting, you know, all the things. And suddenly it's like, wait, who spent what and where? And I know I'm not the only one who's looked at a bill in January and thought, wow, that escalated quickly. If you want to keep your finances.

Under control this holiday season, you need.

To be using Monarch. It's rated the Wall Street Journal's best budgeting app of 2025. Monarch is the all in one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean interface on your laptop or on your phone. Monarch lets you link everything and gives you real time visibility so you're not shocked later. Right now, I've been checking the holiday spending category so I don't accidentally start the new year with that dreaded debt hangover. And honestly, just seeing everything laid out is already helping me stay more aware. This season, Monarch does the heavy lifting. It links your accounts in minutes, gives you smart categorization and super clear visuals. Yes, that end of your reset could be a real goal this time. Don't let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code virgin@monarch.com in your browser for half off your first year. That's 50% off your first year@monarch.com with.

The code Virgin Ray Ban Meta glasses come with open ear audio so you can listen to your favorite music without blocking out the world around you.

Hey, Meta play Gorgeous.

Here's Gorgeous by Doja Cat.

You can also ask Meta AI questions.

Hey, Meta, when's Doja Cat's next concert?

Doja Cat is playing at the Los Angeles Theater next Tuesday.

Sweet Ray Ban. Meta glasses available at Ray Ban stores and other authorized retailers.

There are a lot of things that are completely within your control to keep yourself from getting sick. Whether you're looking at this right now while I'm recording this and we've got COVID 19 or in general, you know, because this is really what we want to think of, prevention is key all the time. So perhaps this whole thing going on is a little bit of a wake up call for how we really want to optimize our immune system all the time and focus on prevention rather than reaction. So the first thing is to, and here's the challenge with this is I want you to be connected but protected. How do you like that for a little rhyme? But we know that social isolation is a massive threat to your health. So I want you to stay connected to people. And at the time of this recording, that means Probably Skype and FaceTime and all those, but at a distance, social distancing. And that would happen if you knew you were sick or you knew those people around you could be sick. You'd want to stay away from them so that you don't catch their germs. The other thing that's of course super important, there is a very clean environment, keeping your hands clean, keeping everything around you clean so that anything that germs that could live, you've gotten rid of. The next thing is to make sure that you're doing everything you can to have a strong immune system. Now, seven years ago, my son was the victim of a hit and run. He was crossing the street and run down and left for dead in the street. And he was in the hospital for four and a half months, multiple times in there, fighting for his life. And I was alongside him. And I realized at the start of that that the only way I was going to pull through that because I was in the ICU with him and you cannot walk in there if you're sick, was that I had to really, really like there was no margin for error. I had to optimize my immune system because if I didn't, I was not going to be able to be there with my son. And that was non negotiable. So I'm going to tell you the things that I did and realize that I was launching the Virgin Diet. At that time, my whole business was up to me. I had to make it work. Otherwise I Wouldn't be able to pay the hospital bills. But I'm in the hospital with my son. I'm not leaving there. So, you know, it was a super stressful time. And I say that because if I could manage to pull this off, we all can. And the first one I did was I made sure that I got my sleep. This is so critical. If you steal from sleep, you will hurt your immune system. So I made sure I got. Ideally I was going eight hours of sleep a night. I really like eight and a half, but I was hitting more around eight. I was managing my stress. I couldn't remove the stress of the situation, but I could remove the way that I was reacting to it. And you might find, I say find your bliss. Maybe it's tapping, maybe it's meditation, maybe it's doing some high intensity interval training. But find the things that can help you if you are, you know, internalizing that stress. The next thing was I made sure that I had some positive focus, that I was really working in some kind of mindfulness. So for me, that meant starting out the day in gratitude, writing down what I was grateful for. That meant if I started to get whacked during the day and angry, irritated, etcetera, freaked out by the situation, I text or called someone and told them what I appreciated about them. I reached out and got outside of myself. And then at night, I would always celebrate the little miracles that happened that day. So I called it my jam. Gratitude, appreciation of miracles. We can all do it takes five minutes, it's free. The next one is sunshine. In fact, they were looking at the 1918 flu pandemic. And one of the ways they got that to end was people being out in the sunshine, fresh air. So hopefully this is possible where you are to be able to get out into that city sunshine and get out into that fresh air on a regular basis. I know when Grant was in the hospital, I was up in his room with him. We would put him into a wheelchair once he was able to. Before that, we put him into a cardiac bed and we got him outside in the sunshine and we got out there too. Next is to take care of your gut. 80% of your immune system lives there. It starts there. So we got to make sure you're taking care of your gut. That means if you haven't done it yet, virgin diet and probiotics and eating healthy. So those are just some of the basics on good gut health is removing the foods that you're intolerant to and healing your leaky gut optimizing your gut. Microbiome, probiotics and prebiotics are a great start there. And then of course, fiber that can help feed that gut. And the one that you don't want to do is sugar. So not only is that not great for your gut, it also can impair your immune system. So, you know, I know that when people are stressed and they want to go have some sugar, that's the worst possible thing you could do. So no sugar. If you're just craving sugar, can I do a shout out? I guess I can because it's my podcast. My dark chocolate coconut bars on my store are like super@jjvirginstore.com and 1 gram of sugar. All right, Intermittent fasting, you wouldn't think about this. You might be thinking about this if you're worried about gaining weight. I've actually been talking a lot about the quarantine 15 and how not to gain that. And intermittent fasting is one of those ways. But the other cool thing about intermittent fasting, or time restricted eating, and that is when you eat just a small, during a small window, say eight hours a day, is it also supports a better immune system. It triggers autophagy, which kind of cleans up the cellular debris and it helps your immune system work better. Now, there's also some great immune power foods. And I really look at foods that are rich in vitamins A, C, D, zinc, selenium, probiotics, quercetin, glutathione. And I did a podcast episode on this. So grab that and I'll go through all, all of those with you. Next up. This is not a time to bail on exercise. This is a time when you want to make sure you're getting your exercise in. It is super important for your immune system. Just don't go run a marathon. Do a little bit every day. Okay. And supplements. And again, I did a separate podcast solely on supplements. Make sure you check that out. But my highlights are vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin D with K, zinc, quercetin, and probiotics. Those are my biggies. And then other ones that can work well here. Silver elderberry, andrographis, astragalus, glutathione, beta glucan, medicinal mushrooms. But I always, I would start with those first ones first as the key, most important. And then those other ones, I actually do a blend. I do a formula. It's got a bunch of those in those just to help. There you go. I hope what you see here is that there's so much you can do. It's so in your control. To protect yourself from getting sick. This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetojay.com.

Foreign. Hello listeners. This is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I tag all things Books and Reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next read. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately, and I recommend three titles that they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment. Whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything, you'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I read next podcast.com to find out more.