.png)
As autumn/fall turns days and nights colder and wetter, it's the ideal time to check how your diet can help protect your respiratory health.
In this post you'll find the tips I'll be using this season to look after health.
Eat a plant based or pescatarian diet studies have linked vegan and pescatarian (vegetarian with fish) diets with improved respiratory health. A study earlier this year published in the British Medical Journal showed that plant based or pescatarian diets are linked to lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19.
So swap out meat for vegan or fish options. Stick to whole food, non-processed foods to keep your respiratory system (and whole body) in good shape to resist viruses of any kind.
Boost your vitamin D intake Scientists have known for years now that vitamin D can prevent acute respiratory infections. Evidence is now growing that a vitamin D deficiency is a major factor in Covid-19. People without a compromised immune system usually have only a mild illness with Covid-19. It becomes serious only when the body had insufficient vitamin D.
Our best source of this wonder vitamin is sunlight. The UK Department of Health recommend all adults supplement with vitamin D from late September to March/April to prevent deficiency. They only recommend supplementing with 10 µg a day. It's worth noting that this is the recommended amount based on studies during the 1940's to prevent rickets. Now I don't know about you, but I want my vitamin D intake to do more than just stop rickets! Many other studies suggest taking 20 µg or more, but don't over do it, supplementing with more than 60 -80 µg is unlikely to give any extra benefits and more than 100 µg may be harmful.
If you're struggling to know how much vitamin D would help you and how much you are already getting in your diet, please contact me for a free chat and personalised recommendations using this link https://bit.ly/3m373rT
Improve your gut health last, but certainly not least, tip is to boost your gut health. Gut health is so important. Our guts contain 70-80% of our immune system. Chronic respiratory diseases, including asthma and COPD, as well as respiratory virus infection, are often accompanied by gastrointestinal diseases or symptoms,
Studies linking a healthy gut with a long and healthy life are growing almost daily. Over 1000 studies are currently available linking gut health with longevity https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.go...
I think it's so important that I run a free Facebook group about gut health. I run monthly challenges as well as prize draws and special offers. If you'd like to join here's the link. It's totally free and I'm there every week to offer advice and share my knowledge. https://www.facebook.com/group...