It’s About Time!

by Marlene Harris, NSCA, CSCS 

Here’s what a health expert on the local morning news had to say about what we could be doing to protect ourselves.
   1). Get 7-9 hrs sleep daily: I suspect you’ve heard this one before. Much like your cell phone, your body can’t function well without proper recharging.
   2). Avoid/reduce processed foods (as in junk & fast foods): As we know, these foods offer no nutritional benefit and can contribute to inflammation in the body—both undesirable situations if you’re trying stay healthy and avoid viral attacks.
   3). Increase fresh vegetable and fruit intake: You’ve heard this one aplenty before too. Low in calories, high in nutrients and micro-nutrients that can block and/or crush viral invaders, more and more research is singing the praises of this often-ignored aspect or proper nutrition. Berries, broccoli, kale, & other leafy greens were specifically mentioned.
   4). Make liberal use of herbs and seasonings in your cooking: Specifically mentioned were garlic, Italian seasonings, onion, turmeric, black pepper, and ginger. Many herbs and seasonings have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties.
   5). Sufficient/extra vitamin support: Yupper, it’s that micro-nutrient thing again. Vitamins C and D were specifically mentioned.
   6). Physical activity: Being that you’re reading this, I suspect I don’t need to elaborate on this one, so we’ll call it “enough said”.
   7). Get 20-30 min sunshine daily: Another time-honored mantra of health advice. Nothing new here either, but how often is this advice followed?

In sum, a few thoughts:
   1). We’ve all heard these bits of advice before, many, many times. How much better off might we be as a nation if we actually put them into practice, even if the attempts are modest?
   2). We’ve read/heard numerous articles about each of these topics. Mostly in singular it seems. However, put it all together and you get what? A healthy lifestyle…which leads me to ask: shouldn’t we be doing all this anyways, as normal courses of action?
   3). The news report that offered all this advice was the first one I’ve seen in a major news reportthat specifically said “do this stuff to bolster your immune system against COVID-19” since this whole event started. Better late than never, but not seeing this type of content, and often, seems like a glaring omission on the part of the news media.
   4). One final note: after the news segment on ways to preserve and enhance our health there was a commercial break. Remember items 2 & 3 on the list? Among the ads were pitches for fast food and junk food.