Hello again friends: Many of our patient community have had to switch to working from home, and this entails a lot of computer time and sometimes endless hours of online Zoom meetings or other online video conferencing and meeting services. We hear about Zoom fatigue, computer fatigue, headaches, eye strain, neck and back pain, lack of movement and more. Here is what the authors have to say: Abstract: For decades, scholars have predicted that videoconference technology will disrupt the practice of commuting daily to and from work and will change the way people socialize. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic forced a drastic increase in the number of video conference meetings and Zoom became the leading software package because it was free, robust, and easy to use. While the software has been an essential tool for productivity, learning, and social interaction, something ... Read more
Archives for March 2021
Covid-19 Update: What to Eat to Lower Risk of Respiratory Infection
Hello again everyone: As the science shows, what we eat influences our immune system, and in this paper they show that increasing daily fruit and vegetable consumption significantly lowers the risk of many disease, including respiratory tract infections. Specifically, the research is summarized: CONCLUSIONS: Higher intakes of fruit and vegetables were associated with lower mortality; the risk reduction plateaued at ≈5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day. These findings support current dietary recommendations to increase intake of fruits and vegetables, but not fruit juices and potatoes. (1) Bottom Line: This research revealed that 2 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables per day was significantly better that 2 total per day, but interestingly, there was very little benefit seen to eating more than the 5 servings. This has led to the saying “5-per-day” is the ... Read more
Covid-19 Update: The Opportunity Within the Crisis
Hello again everyone: There are many old takes on the fact that within every crisis there are opportunities to make things better in some way, shape or form. Such as lessons to be learned, things to not repeat, better approaches to prevention of the crisis, better ways to resolve it as things unfold…etc. As others, as well as myself, have accurately pointed out, only about 1 in 10 Americans are metabolically healthy or fit. This is one of the primary reasons for the enormous illness and death toll related to SARS CoV-2 illness. It is the co-morbidities that are killing many of us, and the chronic disease burden that this country (and most others) now carries. Most chronic conditions can be modified or improved, the only exception being age. To that end, I am making this plea and asking you to consider assisting yourself (if needed) and others to deal with their co-morbidities now and ... Read more
Covid-19 Update: For a Strong Immune System, Avoid High Fructose
Hello again friends: I sincerely hope everyone is doing well, and here is some information that can help you keep your immune system strong and able to fight off viral and other infections. The title of the article says it all: High fructose diets harm the immune system (1)(2) Here are some highlights:
- A new study suggests that eating a diet high in the sugar fructose may cause the immune system to become inflamed.
- This process produces more reactive molecules, which are also associated with inflammation.
- Inflammation can damage cells and tissues and lead to disease.
Covid-19 Update: We are not Powerless
Hello everyone: As I research the literature on a daily basis, most of the mainstream media’s message is that there is little we can do about this pandemic. We can mask, and distance, and wait for our turn for the vaccine…and nothing else. Seldom do articles in any journal speak to the issues of what our comorbidities are doing to us. We all know and have all heard the refrain that being overweight or obese is a major risk factor for enabling contracting Covid-19 infections as well as being more severe and with a high risk of death. From what I can see, we are certainly not powerless. Here is a quote from David Perlmutter, MD (1): “One of the common statements often repeated in the media about COVID-19 is that it is seemingly random in terms of both getting the virus and having a poor outcome. But, upon further inspection, that’s not what the actual science is revealing. As ... Read more
