Preparing your body for COVID.
One Minute For Your Health #17
COVID is here to stay and there is a high change that most of us will become infected at some point.
As you may have realised by now there seem to be vast differences between how people respond to infection.
Some people don’t even notice they’ve had the virus.
Others end up in the ICU on a ventilator.
Some people recover as they would from a normal flu.
Others suffer from long COVID symptoms - they have brain fog, memory problems, exercise intolerance, aches and pains, night sweats, hormone imbalances, mood swings, digestive problems and more for months after infection.
By now we have a fair amount of evidence on what may increase your risks of having a worse response.
In today’s post I’ll talk you through what might increase your risk factors and what you can do about it.
Poor blood sugar regulation:
If you regularly experience blood sugar spikes and dips (thanks to eating a diet low in protein, whole food fats, fibre and magnesium) you are at greater risk of having a worse response to COVID.
Try:
Combining whole food fats, fibre and protein at every meal and snack (read more about this here)
Eating foods that have blood sugar balancing properties like cinnamon or foods rich in inositol (beans and whole-grains) or magnesium (leafy greens and dark chocolate)
Low vitamin D status:
Having low levels of vitamin D is linked with worse COVID outcomes. In fact, there is so much research to support this that most hospitals will give COVID patients a high dose of vitamin D.
Try:
A daily, good quality vitamin D supplement like this one (use the code GLAE125 to get a 12% discount) - especially from October to March in the northern hemisphere*
Spending at least 20 minutes outside during the brightest hours
Eating more food sources of vitamin D like oily fish
High baseline inflammation:
Many diet and lifestyle factors can affect our baseline level of inflammation. Symptoms of inflammation include achey joints and muscles, swelling, redness, tiredness, brain fog, mood swings, difficulty sleeping and more.
Reduce none-purposeful inflammation by:
Prioritising good sleep
Prioritising stress management
Moving regularly throughout the day
Avoiding high intensity or endurance exercise
Reducing inflammatory foods like refined grains, sugar, alcohol and coffee
Increasing anti-inflammatory foods like oily fish, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, blueberries and avocado
Learn more:
If you have more time and would like a broader overview than I can offer in one minute then read my full article on COVID and nutrition here.
For resources specifically developed to help you put some of the above tips into practice click here.
Would you like a personalised protocol?
If you would like a personalised protocol to address factors that could put you at higher risk of having a bad COVID response then consider booking a one-off nutritional therapy assessment with me.
Book a free 15 minute introductory call now to find out more.
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Links and References:
[1] Gasmi, A., Noor, S., Tippairote, T., Dadar, M., Menzel, A. and Bjørklund, G., 2020. Individual risk management strategy and potential therapeutic options for the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Immunology, p.108409.
[2] Li, X., Hu, C., Su, F. and Dai, J., 2020. Hypokalemia and clinical implications in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). MedRxiv.
[3] Yanuck, S.F., Pizzorno, J., Messier, H. and Fitzgerald, K.N., 2020. Evidence Supporting a Phased Immuno-physiological Approach to COVID-19 From Prevention Through Recovery. Integrative Medicine, 19(1), pp.8-35.
[4] Young, T.K. and Zampella, J.G., 2020. Supplements for COVID-19: A modifiable environmental risk. Clinical Immunology (Orlando, Fla.).
[5] Bousquet, J., Anto, J.M., Iaccarino, G., Czarlewski, W., Haahtela, T., Anto, A., Akdis, C.A., Blain, H., Canonica, G.W., Cardona, V. and Cruz, A.A., 2020. Is diet partly responsible for differences in COVID-19 death rates between and within countries?. Clinical and Translational Allergy, 10(1), pp.1-7.
[6] Zabetakis, I., Lordan, R., Norton, C. and Tsoupras, A., 2020. COVID-19: The Inflammation Link and the Role of Nutrition in Potential Mitigation. Nutrients, 12(5), p.1466.
[7] Jayawardena, R., Sooriyaarachchi, P., Chourdakis, M., Jeewandara, C. and Ranasinghe, P., 2020. Enhancing immunity in viral infections, with special emphasis on COVID-19: A review. Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews.
[8] Anderson, G. and Reiter, R.J., 2020. COVID-19 pathophysiology: interactions of gut microbiome, melatonin, vitamin D, stress, kynurenine and the alpha 7 nicotinic receptor: Treatment implications. Melatonin Research, 3(3), pp.322-345.
Images from www.canva.com
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