COVID-19 Update : Exercise as Medicine Addendum

RVAchironeuro • June 2, 2020

Hello again to everyone:

Last newsletter I started the conversation with these words:

We talked about the elephant in the room, which is that everyone agrees that your pre-existing health status has everything to do with if you get COVID-19, how severe it may be, and how long it may last…yet no one talks about how to improve your health/pre-existing condition…unfortunately, no one is talking about how to increase resiliency and wellness as a component of prevention and recovery.

Today, I found this paper that strongly re-enforces what I went over last time. In fact, this paper does it so well and so much better, that I thought it was important to share this with you.

Highlights:

·       Acute exercise is an immune system adjuvant that improved defense activity and metabolic health

·       Data support a clear inverse relationship between moderate exercise training and illness risk (more exercise = less disease risk!!!)

·       Exercise training has an anti-inflammatory influence (Fantastic!!)

·       Illness risk increased during intensified training and competition (do not over-do it!)

·       Habitual exercise improved immune regulation, delaying the onset of age-related dysfunction. (wonderful!!)

Bottom Line:

Same as last time: you should be convinced by now that exercise is medicine and important for a healthy and balanced immune response…so keep moving for optimal health!!

PS: First of all, notice that this paper was published one year ago this month. When you scroll down to section 2.3.2, you will think is was written as if they knew this pandemic was coming!!! Here are a few gems from this paper:

“Each bout of moderate physical activity promotes improved but transient  immunosurveillance   and, when repeated on a regular basis, confers multiple health benefits including decreased illness incidence and dampened systemic inflammation.”

“Research in this area is still emergent, but there is increasing evidence that the circulation surge in cells of the  innate immune system  with each exercise bout and the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect of exercise training have a  summation effe ct over time in modulating tumorigenesis, atherosclerosis, and other disease processes.” (WOW!!!)

By Mark Smith March 23, 2026
Health News Update: How To Fight Inflammation and Chronic Disease 3.23.26 Hello again everyone: You might wonder why I keep focusing on food…so here are some of the reasons: food choices are the leading cause of death in the U.S. and spreading around the world. Poor food choices lead to inflammation which slowly destroy health. It is that simple, plain, and clear and backed by research. The next question: how do we fight back? Introduction The positive impact of food on health was postulated by the ancient Hippocrates, father of modern medicine with his famous quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” [1]. In the 21st century, scientists have focused on the effect of nutritional habits in diseases. Nowadays, it is well documented that food plays a noteworthy role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases namely cardiovascular diseases (CVD), metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type II, and cancer [2–5], as it correlates with others with the lipid pattern, the blood pressure, and the endothelial function. The scientists examine the effect of nutritional habits on disease emergence and progression in both individual nutrient intake and dietary patterns models. Worldwide, two dietary patterns are usually compared—the Mediterranean diet (MD) and the Western diet (WD) [3,6]. The Mediterranean diet reflects the food culture of most Mediterranean countries based on olive oil consumption, seasonal fresh vegetables, cereals, and plants in balance with low consumption of meat [7]. The Western diet, on the contrary, is dominated by high-fat dairy products processed and red meat [8]. However, discordance in the different MD patterns and consumed food doses had been recognized. Without any doubt, those discrepancies could confine and restrict our knowledge on the health benefit mechanisms of the MD [9]. Due to the above, the medical community along with nutritionists and dieticians take a keen interest in MD and its traits [7]. https://www.academia.edu/45378994/biomedicines_Mediterranean_Diet_as_a_Tool_to_Combat_Inflammation_and_Chronic_Diseases_An_Overview?email_work_card=view-paper food choices can fight inflammation and chronic disease Bottom Line: This is a 2020 paper and since then literally hundreds of papers on the MD have emerged showing how the food plan lowers inflammation and the risk for developing multiple chronic illnesses. Even still, lots of research needs to be done to elucidate the many mechanisms of how food impacts our system and how to optimally individualize dietary recommendations. At this point, our best strategy to prevent and/or recover from any chronic condition is to eat as clean and natural as possible. It has become rather obvious that the further away from a natural diet we get, the sicker we become. On top of that, I have yet to see a full recovery from any health issue without the foundation of a predominantly plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods approach…which is why I keep posting about this subject. All the best to you and yours!
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