Your Best Defense Against Covid

I promised myself I would not write another blog on Covid-19, but here we are again hearing of more mask mandates, threatened lockdowns, and repeated calls to get vaccinated as a means to prevent the rising variants of the Covid virus. Ever since the coronavirus emerged and the severity of COVID-19 became obvious, various preventive measures have been promoted.

It should be understood that sanitary/hygienic measures, such as hand washing and social distancing, have always been utilized as a means to prevent viral infection transmission in private homes for many years. I’m guessing someone taught you to turn your head and cover your mouth when you sneeze and to wash your hands after using the bathroom or before a meal. I would also guess that when someone was sick in your house, you were told to stay away from them and to not get too close to their head. These common sense approaches of disease prevention are not new, but are they the most effective ways to prevent the next infection?

Lost in the conversation and contentious debates over the use of masks, safety of the vaccines, and the use of government lockdowns to control the virus, is the education of the public on how the health of the human body influences viral infections. Somehow, as our public health officials are following the science, they forgot that science proved in the 19th century that your body’s overall health best determines its reaction to viral invaders. Thus in plain terms, your body’s best defense against Covid is your body’s overall health and the robustness of your immune system.

The Key Determining Factor During an Infection

Early infectious disease experts Claude Bernard and Antoine Bechamp in the mid-1880s, and later Louis Pasteur, all argued that the body was the key determining factor of the contagiousness of an infection, not the germ itself. Yet during the Covid era, we have been treated to the notion that the virus is all-powerful and should be feared. It should be feared to the point that we should stay in our homes, not see loved ones, not go to work, and certainly not be allowed to smile at anyone. But yet, no authority has urged Americans to get healthy during the lockdown in order to be more resilient if infected with the coronavirus.

What We Should Have Been Told

For more than 100 years, scientists have known that obesity is a key determining factor for the severity of a viral infection. Indeed, this relationship was first identified during the Spanish Flu of 1918. Then, during the ‘Asian’ and ‘Hong Kong’ influenzas of the 1960s, scientists confirmed that obesity and diabetes led to more deaths, and a prolonged duration of illness. Again, this relationship was confirmed in 2009 during the H1N1 flu (swine flu) and not surprisingly, the same holds true for COVID-19, as outlined from the CDC’s website.

Obesity increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.
Obesity may triple the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19.
Obesity is linked to impaired immune function.
As BMI increases, the risk of death from COVID-19 increases.
Obesity has been linked to lower vaccine responses, such as the seasonal flu, hepatitis B and tetanus.

How does obesity play a role?

Infected obese people are more contagious because the inflammatory state of obesity reduces the ability of the body to eliminate viruses, such that obese people shed viruses up to 100 percent longer than lean people. The inflammatory obese body also produces viral mutations that are more virulent. In other words, obese people are the primary COVID vectors.

What could have been done if during last year’s lockdown Americans had been told to lose weight and normalize blood glucose levels during their time at home? Instead, what we saw were stressed-out people overeating, turning to alcohol, and gaining weight. This means lockdowns have created an even more overweight/obese population that is far more likely to spread viral infections during this fall and winter season.

The Elephant in the Living Room – And What We Can Do About It

Clearly, obesity is the elephant in the COVID living room that authorities and news outlets are not talking about. Here is a COVID fact that everyone should know about. As of November 4, 2020, when COVID was starting to peak in our own area, there were about 1,700 total COVID deaths to date in Japan. Japan has a population of 126 million and an obesity rate of just 3.6 percent. Contrast that with the state of California, which has a land mass smaller than Japan and a population of 39.5 million. California, however, has an obesity rate of 25 percent, which had produced 17,500 COVID deaths by November 4.

Consider these numbers carefully. Japan has more than three times the population of California, a population density that is much higher, and yet had 10 times fewer deaths from Covid. This outcome illustrates what we have known for over 100 years: Lean populations are minimally compromised by viral infections compared to populations that are obese, like America.

America’s Battlefront

To save America from COVID-19 and future novel viruses, we need to immediately reduce obesity and hyperglycemia. A fundamental change is needed in our regular dietary intake of refined foods and should be replaced with whole foods. The most important being vegetables, as they are low in calories and they are nutrient dense. Coupling more vegetables with an increase in Omega-3 fats like those found in cold water fish, avocados, olive oil, almonds, walnuts, and flax seeds can dramatically decrease inflammation.

Key immune-supporting supplements should also be considered, including vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc, which all offer anti-inflammatory benefits. Additional supplements to consider include fish oil, magnesium, ginger, Curcumin/Turmeric, iodine, and coenzyme Q10. These supplements also help to promote an anti-inflammatory environment.

At [Core] we strive to educate our patients on a variety of health topics. We invite you to ask questions about this topic or others when you are in the office. We also want to invite you to our “Anti-Inflammation” seminar in September. Look for more details as we begin to release them in the next few weeks. It is our goal to help you reach your optimal health and to help you be healthier than you have ever been.