Improving the immune system is big topic right now due to the COVID-19. It seems to me that every few months media is introducing the new variant for the COVID. Most likely, COVID is here to stay and will be mutating for their survival. There is nothing surprising about this fact because we, human, has been going through the same thing. It is selfish to believe that we are the only species who can adapt to the environment. As the climate changes, we will see more of nature adapting to the environment.
Here is a basic life science, which you may have learned in grade school. Species, animals, plant, virus, or bacteria will have to go through same challenge. Survival of the fittest, adapt to the change of the environment, and reproduce. Whether you like it or not this cycle has been going on since the beginning of this planet and most likely it will never change. If that is a case, we human will need to learn to adapt to the new environment that has been given to us. This may be controversial topic to address but those who cannot adapt to the environment and not able to fit will not be able to survive. It is as simple as that.
Fortunately, we are more capable to respond to environmental changes. Yet, if the immune system is compromised due to overweight, diabetes, heart diseases, insulin resistance, and so on, the body may not be able to adapt to the environment. People are so concerned about having negative impact from COVID even after wearing mask and being vaccinated but they are not realizing how much their body’s immune system is being compromised from their sedentary lifestyle.
Eating habit is one of the compromised lifestyle habits. Consuming more than 3 meals a day including snacking on regular basis is great recipe for adding more fat to your body despite of how healthy you may be eating. Choice of food will also make huge impact on our health. Consuming industrial fat, added sugar, frequent alcohol consumption, lack of vegetables and proteins will all lead to metabolic issues that will lead to obesity, diabetes, heart diseases, dementia, and many types of cancers.
Inactivity is also an issue. We are not designed to sit in front of desk for extended period. Because of work requirement, this may be tough to change, however, you can add-in 30-60 minutes of exercise per day for minimum of 2 times per week with mixture of both aerobic and strength training. Loss of muscle mass and strength is highly correlated to many of the metabolic illnesses along with premature aging.
Sleep deprivation is also becoming common due to social media, TV, texting and so on. If you are getting less than 7 hours of sleep on average, most likely you’ll have some sort of metabolic complication. 1 hour of sleep deprive alone may have strong impact on our cardiovascular system. According to studies, in spring when we lose an hour of sleep, death due to the heart attack next morning increased by 24% and in fall when we gain an hour of sleep, death due to the heart attack next morning decreased by 24%. If you are regular with exercising, you know what lack of sleep do to your workout performance.
Here are 4 things that you should be working on:
1. Eat 3 meals a day and avoid snacking as much as possible.
2. Consume less carbs and more proteins.
3. Exercise minimum 2 hours per week.
4. Sleep minimum 7 hours per day.
Should I be worried about calories? - Don’t worry about it.
How about macro splits? – Don’t worry about it, it’s too early and most likely you won’t need to know.
What if I get hungry? – Find something else to do besides eating.
I don't have trainer or gym - Look for one or YouTube has millions of workout routine that does not require any equipment.
What if I wake up in the middle of the night? – Go to the bathroom, drink some water then go to bed and stay there.
A lot of time we look for complicated answers, but it is that simple. Fault is to the fitness and nutrition industry for trying to promote and sell a service that does not work. Some of it is due to poor quality of studies that certain “educated” people did for money and popularity and made public believed that it is essential to our wellbeing.
If the health is being compromised, vaccine, mask, social distance may not be able to help. They work. According to the number it is helping. However, if our basic health is not properly taking care of, the chance of survival is slim.
Currently, we are facing COVID and its variance. In a future there may be different virus or bacteria that we are not aware of yet. From the recent pandemic we have seen the consequence of those who are health compromised.
Some may say "well some people who are in shape suffered from COVID too". My response is "How do we know that person was healthy? Did anybody checked their blood profile?". Just because the person looks fit and lifting heavy weights, that does not mean that the person is healthy. What people should strive for is to be healthy and fit.
Kota Shimada
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