It’s easy to feel helpless while we wait for an effective
treatment for COVID-19 or any other infection, but look at it this way: better
health through home cooking has never been more convenient! The kitchen is the best place to work on strengthening
the immune system, and it just so happens that most of us have some extra time right
now. We also all have some adjustments we
can make to our food and activity choices to boost our immunity and lower our
risk factors, and preparing our own meals from scratch is one of the most
powerful single adjustments we can make.
Choose from a wide range of whole foods, culture a healthy intestinal
tract (“gut microbiome”), avoid refined carbohydrates and sweet drinks, get
daily exercise, and schedule 7-9 hours of sleep at night: these steps all help
our immune systems beat back bad bugs.
You’ll find a prescription for improving immunity and reducing
inflammation on pages 22-23 of Good Food, Great Medicine (4th edition). By the way, type 2 diabetes and high blood
pressure are both associated with weakened immunity, and the steps to boost
immunity are the same ones you would take to reverse these two conditions:
simply treating them with medications does little to improve immunity. For
a 14-step plan to reverse type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, turn to the Risk
Reduction Action Plan on pages 90-110. The best time to start is
now!
My
recommendation:
We’ve talked about what to do, so now let’s talk about putting it
into action. Grab your copy of Good
Food, Great Medicine and turn to the section called Practical Eating (pages 111-150): it’s full of tips on shopping for
ingredients and equipment, menu planning, meal suggestions, and cooking.
Miles
Hassell MD
