Covid-19 Update: Stronger Muscles Make for a Stronger Immune System

RVAchironeuro • January 9, 2021

Hello everyone:

  As we move into the new year with this ongoing pandemic, it continues to be important to maintain a robust immune system and to lower, get rid of, or optimally manage any co-morbidities one may have. One way to accomplish all of these goals is with exercises that help create muscle strength. However, loss of muscle mass and strength is called sarcopenia, and while it is most common in those over 50, it is unfortunately common in all age groups. Think not only of the younger people that are absorbed in screen time to the exclusion of exercise, as well as the middle-aged and elderly that just do not move enough to maintain health. Lack of muscle strength is seen in all age groups, so this information is widely applicable. Now the research is showing that muscle strength is related to immune senescence, which refers to the gradual deterioration of the immune system brought on by age advancement. The authors of the paper in the link below state:

As our population grows older, age-related pathologies are becoming more prevalent. Deterioration of skeletal muscle and the immune system manifests as sarcopenia and immune senescence respectively. The disease burden of these pathologies emphasizes the need for a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Skeletal muscle has emerged as a potent regulator of immune system function. As such, skeletal muscle might be the central integrator between sarcopenia and immune senescence in an aging biological system. Therapeutic approaches targeting skeletal muscle might be able to restore both muscle and immune system function. 

Recently, several adverse outcomes of sarcopenia have been identified. These include but are not limited to an increased risk of falls leading to fractures, disability and functional impairment, dysphagia, lower quality of life, and all-cause mortality.  (1)

Bottom Line: As part of your immune and health resiliency plan to avoid Covid-19 and improve your overall health, as well as aging optimally, keeping our muscle strength is now known to be critical in preventing many illnesses. What to do? Start exercising to restore and/or maintain muscle strength and mass. For me, yoga is a great way to do that. It is slow, gentle, and adequately builds or maintains muscle strength using only our body weight. Another reason that I like yoga so much is that is works the entire body, lowers stress, almost anyone can do the practices regardless of current health. Whatever you do, keep calm and exercise!!

“ Workout  fads come and go, but virtually no other  exercise program  is as enduring as  yoga. It’s been around for more than 5,000 years. Yoga  does more than burn calories and tone muscles. It’s a total mind-body workout that combines strengthening and  stretching  poses with deep breathing and meditation or relaxation. (2)

  It takes a lot of strength to hold your body in a balanced pose. Regular practice will strengthen the muscles of your arms, back, legs, and core.” (2)

 

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Hello everyone: I think I have mentioned inflammaging before but never really focused on it. So, let’s dig into this interesting topic. Inflammaging is when chronic, low-grade inflammation develops with age as dietary and environmental stress accumulates, contributing to the development of all of the various age-related diseases and health issues. It results from a loss of control over systemic inflammation, which tends to come from an unbalanced and dysregulated immune system. One of the key drivers of inflammaging is diet…which means that one of the key tools to slow and reduce aging is our what we eat as well as what we don’t eat. In this paper, the authors reveal that the typical Western Diet (what science calls the Standard American Diet or S.A.D.) is the best example of a pro-inflammatory diet pattern. “ Conclusion: Inflammation is a key physiological process in immunity and tissue repair. However, during aging it becomes increasingly more chronic. In addition, we found that certain foods such as saturated fats have pro-inflammatory activity. Taking this into account, in this review we have proposed some dietary guidelines as well as a list of compounds present in foods with anti-inflammatory activity. It must be taken into account that the amounts used in the studies that detect anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds are very high, and the intake of a single food to achieve its anti-inflammatory power is not feasible. (My Comment: what this means is that it is the overall dietary pattern that matters the most.) However, the combination of foods rich in compounds with anti-inflammatory activity could exert beneficial effects during aging and in pathologies associated with inflammation and in reducing the detrimental effects of foods with pro-inflammatory activity. Therefore, we can conclude that the compounds in our diet with anti-inflammatory activity could help alleviate the inflammatory processes derived from diseases and unhealthy diets and thereby promote healthy aging. Thus, we can use diet not only for nourishment, but also as medicine.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8389628/ anti-inflammatory diet and health aging https://www.healthline.com/health/5-minute-guide-to-inflamm-aging Bottom Line: We all must age, and how we do so is largely under our own control. To create an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is not that difficult, especially if you put it all together in stages. Start with a clean, whole-food, unprocessed plant-based food plan. And to begin, first focus on what you can add into your menus and use those additions to sort of crowd out the things that are more inflammatory…sugar, refined grains, processed and pre-packaged things. Set realistic goals such as going plant based one or two days a week, or even one meal…just start and gradually work up. It has to be doable so don’t stress. Next, start moving and doing regular exercise at least three times a week…and find what you enjoy doing and focus on that. Then add activities that de-stress you, whether that is socializing, church, meditation, prayer, yoga, etc. Overall, shift your attention to giving love to things that love you back. Sugar, drive-thru and processed food like thingies do not love you back but apples or kiwis or berries or veggies do. Sitting around does not love you back but going for a short walk after a meal does love you back. Hang out and give love to the people you really like to be with, they will most always love you back. Create a love you back lifestyle and see how you feel.

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By Mark Smith • August 18, 2025
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By Mark Smith • August 11, 2025
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