Happy New Year; tips for Staying Healthy in 2021

Happy New Year everyone, and best wishes for 2021; many of us would like to erase the year 2020 from our memoires but unfortunately the devastation continues as COVID-19 is still destroying lives everywhere, taxing our healthcare systems, and overburden our hospitals and staff. The economic destruction from this pandemic is worse than what was experienced during the great depression; many businesses are pressed to shut down, and several may never re-open again. Despite being an optimist, I am forced to accept reality while focusing on what we need to do to reduce the effects of this virus if or when we contract it. Like many viruses, COVID-19 has mutated into other forms/strains, so it can be challenging to eliminate (this is what viruses do as they want to keep living). Thus, we need to outsmart it by staying healthy to avoid whichever strain reaches us.

Healthy Eating and Habits

Just to remind you, Comprehensive Diabetes Services emphasizes the need for healthy nutrition and healthy habits, which by the way, will help to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 if you happen to contract it. Some of the ways to help keep your immune system intact are to consume healthy meals, rich in vitamins and antioxidants; practice healthy habits such as handwashing, covering your cough, brushing your teeth, and keeping your oral cavity and your surrounding clean. (We have provided some tips on this Blog page that could help you). Overeating, drinking liquids high in sugars, and consuming ‘junk’ foods should be avoided.

Physical Activity

Many have lost their jobs and are at home, so try to incorporate physical activity for at least 30-60 minutes each day and do this about 30 minutes after you eat.

Exercising also helps with mentality in addition to transporting the food you ate into the blood cells where it is stored for energy rather staying in the blood stream, which can lead high blood glucose level (especially if you are diagnosed with diabetes), and obesity.   

Deep Breathing Exercises/Circulation

With diagnoses of COVID-19 and pneumonia, the focus should be on practicing healthy nutrition, healthy habits, deep breathing exercises to rid the fluids from the bases of the lungs while promoting circulation throughout the body could help to lessen the effects of clot formation in the blood due inactivity or a high fat content; this also helps to reduce the effects of COVID-19. (cholesterol). Take 2-4 deep breaths through your nose and out your mouth every 15-30 minutes while awake. Then set the alarm to wake you up every 2-4 hours to do the same while sitting upright in bed. These deep breathing exercises must take place in sitting and not in reclined or lying positions. The idea is to improve air exchange and to rid the unwanted fluids (pneumonia) from the lungs.

Again, range of motion and walking exercises are highly recommended post meals for individuals with diabetes to transport the food from the bloodstream into the blood cells. By doing these simple movements like walking 50-100 feet (15-30 meters) in your home every 2 hours, post deep breathing exercises, recovery and resolving the pneumonia along with preventing clot formation in the blood should be the outcome.

Other Helpful Suggestions

Other helpful tips are to drink warm liquids such as our herbal tea on this Blog page; sliced ginger, fresh peppermint leaves, and cranberries boiled in water or just plain warm water with lemon juice, (sweetened with honey or brown sugar if needed), instead of cold water or soft drinks is a better choice of beverage. Fresh fruits and vegetables are preferred over a high meat consumption; remember to remove all visible fats and skin on meat and poultry prior to cooking. These suggestions with minimal effort on your part, can enhance your life and prevent or lessen complications from diabetes, hypertension, and COVID-19.

Hence, our take on controlling and mitigating the effects of both chronic illnesses such as diabetes and hypercholesteremia along with COVID-19 are to use healthy nutrition, and practice healthy habits including deep breathing exercises with some form of physical activity rather than being sedentary; this is a simple way to promote health and wellbeing, and to reduce the effects from this pandemic.

Keep visiting our website and share it with others; our sale continues on all our products and services. Stay healthy.