What makes Covid-19 more severe?
A poor diet of processed food and drink is the single biggest factor to determine the severity of a Covid-19 infection – much more than age. A 35 year old who is obese or has diabetes, hypertension or heart disease, has the same risk profile for severe Covid-19 as a 75 year old with none of these conditions. Researchers at the Frances Crick Institute showed that processed food causes more damage than conditions such as diabetes and obesity, which are effectively early warning signs; it inflames the entire immune system, damages organs and causes breakdown of healthy bodily function.
Researchers in a TUFTS university study of 906,000 cases of Covid-19 hospitalisation say that some 64% of these might never have happened if the people were less obese or did not have type 2 diabetes.
This would explain the disproportionately high Covid-19 death rate in the USA, where half the population is pre-diabetic or diabetic, and three quarters are obese or overweight – with 5% of the world’s population the US has experienced 25% of Covid-19 deaths.
What makes Covid-19 less severe?
A Barcelona hospital study of 903 Covid-19 patients, of whom roughly half were treated with supplemental Vitamin D, reported a reduction in deaths by more than 50%, and a reduction in ICU treatment by more than 75% in the supplemented group. This is thought to explain why black and Asian communities, whose darker skin inhibits their production of Vitamin D from sunlight, are more likely to suffer severe reactions to Covid-19 infections.
Researchers at the German Cancer Research Centre discovered that 64% of the 185 patients they studied were Vitamin D deficient, and 16 of those died.
How can I combat lingering post-viral symptoms (‘Long Covid’)?
The gut immune system is tightly tied to low energy, immune dysfunction and inflammation, which are all associated with ‘Long Covid’. It is therefore essential to remove inflammatory and common allergy producing foods from the diet, such as processed foods, alcohol, dairy and gluten products, and critical to eat a healthy fresh unprocessed whole food diet. It is advisable to supplement with prebiotics and probiotics to ensure all nutrients are being properly absorbed, and to consider digestive enzymes and gut-repairing nutrients.
The liver requires support to rid the body of stored toxins such as alcohol, tobacco, drugs and environmental poisons, and the waste products produced by the body when fighting an infection. Zinc, magnesium, glutathione and milk thistle supplements are useful alongside Vitamin C.
More sleep than usual will be necessary to allow for all-round cell repair – aim for nine hours between 9.30pm and 6.30am – and Epsom salt baths and saunas are both relaxing and support liver function.
Pace yourself to manage reduced energy levels, and reinvigorate the mitochondria (our energy-producing organelles) to help combat fatigue, with D-ribose (good for brain fog), magnesium, acetyl-L-carnitine, co-enzyme 10 and NADH.
Encouraging new healthy cell growth – particularly in the exhausted immune system – will require specific nutrients, which unsurprisingly mirror the supplements recommended as a preventative against Covid-19: Vitamins C, D and zinc, in addition to the lesser known flavonoids – quercetin, rutin and hesperidin).
If you would like more advice about how you can naturally reduce Covid-19 severity and ‘Long Covid’, pop in and see our knowledgable staff, or give us a ring – we are here to help you improve your health.