As of today (25 April 2020) a search for the terms “covid-19” and “humans” in Pubmed gives you 1400 articles that have now been published on this topic. STAGGERING! (This same search done in mid-March returned 99 studies).
On the 8th April 2020 the first meta-analysis was published asking the important question – “Does comorbidity increase the risk of patients with COVID-19?” and the answer was: YES – having hypertension, diabetes, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and/or heart disease increased the risk of a more severe outcome among all people diagnosed with COVID-19.
Amongst these papers there is also a review of the literature. This paper set out to find and review the most current, accredited studies pertaining to the basic sciences of COVID-19. A statistical technique was used to find the most important characteristics pertaining to risk. The results reported the strongest hospitalisation risks were age >65 years, BMI >40 and having heart failure as a pre-existing condition.
So now we know for sure that being overweight and having a metabolic illness increases your risk of both hospitalisation and death due to COVID-19.
If you are feeling helpless and anxious in this regard, I want to point out that it doesn’t have to be this way.
Everything that is mentioned in these publications (except age), are things that are driven by diet and lifestyle… things that we have control over.
You might be thinking, “well isn’t it too late?” My answer to that comes in the form of one of my most favourite sayings…
“Q: When is the best time to plant a tree? Answer = 20 years ago
Q: When is the second best time to plant a tree? Answer = Right NOW!”
It is never too late to clean up your diet, to limit or decrease the amount of processed foods you are eating, to move and exercise more, to introduce a structured routine to your sleep, to get more fresh air and exposure to sunlight and less exposure to artificial light. I’ll say it again… it is never too late.
What we have right now is a real reason WHY. Taking action now has never been more important. It doesn’t have to be complicated or involved but I’d strongly encourage you to stop procrastinating and make some changes today.
Here’s how we can help…
Diet and Nutrition: Start with the greatest bang for your buck and by that I mean that you will see changes in your health and weight within a few weeks of making changes to your diet
- Get our FREE LCHF Recipe book and start preparing delicious whole food recipes for yourself and your family
- Join the 6-week Low Carb Challenge – take control of your weight and your health and regain the confidence so you can live a longer, happier life.
- The Low Carb Mastery program – a 12-week program helping you establish low carb as a lifestyle for good. Please contact us if you would like some more information about this program.
Exercise:
COVID-19 has brought with it an opportunity for everyone and anyone to get involved with regular exercise from the comfort of their own home.
No more worries about feeling self-conscious at a gym or not being able to keep up with the guy/girl next to you. Tune into our Eat Play Thrive Online community and join in on our daily (varied) exercise classes.
Remember, there is no better time than right now to take action.