Why your Immune System is Important in a Pandemic
In reading about the corona virus infection, it is evident to me that people whose immune systems are compromised by underlying chronic diseases are most susceptible to death by this virus. The underlying conditions in people who died were heart disease, chronic smoking, diabetes and a meat based diet (eating bats has been shown to be a risk factor!).
Similar conditions applies to the flu virus, whose death rate is much higher than corona virus.
The key is to create a STRONG immune system.
You may ask, “How can I create a strong immune system?”
The answer:
Lifestyle, lifestyle and lifestyle.
The biggest immune system offender in the Western society is leaky gut, where the microbiome of the gut is compromised by eating processed foods, dairy and meat. This has been shown to change the microbiome in a way that causes more inflammation in the arteries, increasing plaque formation in both the cardiovascular system and the brain (predisposing to dementia). I also feel the meat ‘substitutes’ are an offender as they are synthetic foods that likely do not support our microbiome.
The immune system is activated when proteins ‘leak’ into the blood stream from a dysregulated or unhealthy microbiome.
This turns the immune system on hyper alert, keeping it chronically ‘on’, causing inflammation as a side effect.
Over time, the immune system stops working efficiently and our bodies are without the protection they evolved to offer. In fact, this is the cause of autoimmune diseases, in addition.
Add alcohol to the mix and the liver cannot do its job to assist the gut and the immune system in fighting bacteria and viruses.
This is how our body’s environment is affected by our choices.
The absolute best lifestyle, that is evidence based and has been historically proven to be effective in disease prevention and healthy aging is:
Add a broad spectrum probiotic , and your body will recover and thank you for what you are doing for it by becoming healthy and strong.
People who died of coronavirus clearly did not have this.
The majority of patients who are susceptible to the flu also do not have this.
The way the body builds health is incremental. If a poor lifestyle is continued for years and years, the body breaks down incrementally over time, ultimately reaching a negative tipping point. When we change our lifestyle and get healthy, repair of the damage is also incremental, but surprisingly much faster than how long it took to create damage, but healthy choices must be sustained over time. I have observed this in my patients over thirty years of medical practice.
Health is ultimately a choice.
Diets don’t create health
Public opinion does not create health
Fads do not create health (on the contrary)
Quick fixes do not create health
Synthetic foods do not create health
Even prescription drugs do not create health (they palliate symptoms)
Common sense and a commitment to yourself is the first step in creating health, and evidence based healthy choices listed above are an easy way to begin.
Choose health and watch what happens.
It is the best choice you can make for your future.
Why not start today?
This is what I am committed to and love doing as a physician!
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