I just submitted this piece to the Loop, our Vashon Island paper, and am adding it to the blog hoping to reach a wider audience.
I hope you explore the Loop and get a sense of how our island is doing (The Vashon Loop) but my real goal is for you to take to heart — and share widely — the message in this post.
We are in the midst of a pandemic that is putting many of our health care providers on the front line. They are constantly exposed to huge amounts of a potentially deadly virus, often working under increasingly grueling conditions without adequate equipment. The next time you spray your kitchen counter with Lysol because a few SARS-CoV-19 virions may have snuck on board your soda cans or you reach for frozen vegetables because that head of lettuce might have some lingering virions on it, think about this: What must it be like to be in an environment where people, coughing their way toward respiratory failure with a bit of diarrhea, surround you and need you to get up close and personal?
Obviously, we all should be grateful for their work and we also should – no questions asked – be doing what we can to help them make it safely through that ordeal. And we are washing our hands, we are staying in place, and keeping our distance both so we don’t spread disease but also don’t become another patient for these health care workers to care for.
There is something else we all should be doing – no questions asked: We need to be eating properly beginning no later than now.
The statistics are clear: The obese are more prone to get respiratory infections than healthy people are. And they are more likely to get complicated cases of respiratory infections when they do. The same statistics, however, also apply to the overweight and 75% of us are overweight. And the 60% who are the right weight but achieved that goal through calorie counting instead of eating well? They are statistically as inflamed and prone to illness as we overweight people are. There is less data on the “skinny fats,” those underweight individuals who don’t overdo the calories but seldom eat truly healthy foods. They are most likely as inflamed as the obese. People who suffer chronic inflammation because they do not eat well are a challenge for our health care system and one that is unacceptable under the current circumstances.
Of course, it is not only about weight. We know that a vast majority of those who have chronic ailments could get healthier by choosing to eat well. We would not need constant medical intervention to help us handle our type 2 diabetes, our high blood fats, our GERD, our migraines, our joint aches, our blood pressure, and more. I have taught an anti-inflammatory diet for over a decade and the health improvements people achieve when they get serious about eating properly are absolutely stunning.
Unfortunately, many choose to revert to inflammatory eating and over the years I’ve probably heard all of the reasons why: “I don’t like coffee without sugar.” “My children don’t like vegetables.” “I don’t have time to cook.” “Healthy food costs too much.” “I like maple syrup on my pancakes.” “My husband won’t eat this way.” And on and on. Most of the reasons are frankly pretty silly in the best of times; they are unacceptable at the moment. We need to make eating well one of our big contributions to the effort to quell this pandemic and help our beleaguered health care workers.
I have put together the TQI Diet and I am convinced it is the absolute best way to eat. But at this point, any diet that eliminates: All added sweeteners, all chemicals and additives, all poor quality animal products, all poor quality fats and oils, and only lets you eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and high quality animal products will work just fine.
Do take the time to explore the TQIDiet.com website, there are some videos and other information about the CoVid19 virus you may find helpful, and a gallery of ready-to-go foods that will fit any healthy diet.
The point though: Do not drag your feet on this. The best way to avoid succumbing to the corona virus is to have a healthy immune system that can keep it from moving into your body. Nourish your immune system to increase your odds of not getting sick and to save a health care worker from having to try to nurse you back to health at the risk of his or her own health.
IT IS SIMPLE: STAY HOME AND EAT THE FOODS YOUR SPECIES WAS MEANT TO EAT!
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TQIDiet 