Health Blog

As one of the professionals (Physiotherapist) at Springbank Clinic, what really concerns me is the fact that over 1.5 million people are obliged to stay at home for more than 22 hours per day, a situation which very few of us have experienced before, for any length of time.

While many are maintaining exercise levels, will this initial enthusiasm be maintained? Do we really know what the consequences of lack of physical exercise and activity are? What about the effects of a poor diet, bad eating habits, poor sleep hygiene and an increase in anxiety and depression? 

Of course, we must all be following the Governments guidelines during this period of lockdown. As well as staying at home, washing hands regularly and social distancing, here is some advice that you could also follow to stay fit and healthy during this period.

Food

According to Dr Leo Pruimboom, a leading evolutionary-medicine scientist, we should reduce our intake to 2 or 3 meals a day, follow a marine-based diet and increase the amount of mushrooms we eat since mushrooms control the viral overground. The marine base diet is based in high amount of fruit, fish, vegetables, nuts, seafood and poultry and low doses of red meat, refined carbohydrates and sugars.

Supplements

It has been proved that vitamin C has an anti-viral effect. Take between 1-2g of Vitamin C supplement per day. Following Dr Pruimboom’s advice, 400mg of Lactoferrin and 2000 IU of Vitamin D are an excellent complement to the vitamin C to help boost the immune system. 

Sleep

It is advisable not to use any electronic devices between 8pm and 6am, unless it has a blue light filter. Melatonin is a sleep hormone in our bodies that helps to regulate our circadian rhythms.

Our eyes contain receptors that contain a photopigment called melanopsin that is sensitive to blue light. These cells give information to our body that regulates our sense of day and night.

Blue light has been shown by researchers to actually boost attention and mood during the day, but chronic exposure to blue light at night can give messages to our brain to reduce melatonin secretion, which tells us to wake up and be more alert — potentially disrupting our circadian rhythm. 

Exercise

The UK Chief Medical Officers’ Physical Activity Guidelines report recommends breaking up long periods of sitting time with activity for just 1 to 2 minutes. Mobility breaks are one of the best treatments against “sedentary death syndrome”. This is a collection of symptoms that lead to an increase in diabetic and cardiovascular risk factors.

Practice mobility breaks every 30-45 minutes and try to practice at least one high intensity workout of 30 minutes per day, outdoors if possible. Be careful if starting a new activity, particularly the older you are as you need to “introduce” your body to the activity, stop before you feel sore or exhausted.

Build up on alternate days to start with, with something different on the alternate day. 

For more information check out Dr Pruimboom’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evzEg0knpIk