The past month’s concerns about the COVID-19 virus pandemic has brought the importance of maintaining good general health to the forefront. The people that got severely ill and required hospitalization, virtually all had one or more underlying illnesses that decreased their immune system’s ability to respond and fight the virus. Almost all hospitalized patients were obese (they call it “pre-diabetic” in the news, not to offend anyone), many had high blood pressure or other cardiovascular disease, diabetes or other underlying illnesses. Most of these illnesses are lifestyle related.

Age was also a factor. The death rate was highest for people in their 80’s and 90’s. Age in itself, though, was not a determining factor. Healthy older people were able to live through the illness and come back to health again!

If this isn’t a motivator to take better care of your body, I don’t know what would be!

So, if you are overweight, get on a healthier diet and lose those extra pounds! If it’s just a few pounds, you can probably do it on your own by switching to healthier eating and drinking habits and increase your exercise. This is a great time of the year to work on healthier habits! If you can’t get a handle on your weight yourself, there are plenty of weight loss programs available. They all work, but you have to stick with them and give it time.

Getting back to your ideal weight is key to not developing high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many types of cancer.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a great reminder how an unhealthy body is not able to survive a disease, that the immune system in a healthy body is able to fight off.

To further strengthen your body’s immune defense, develop the habit of adding some nutritional supplements to your healthy diet to make sure that you have strong “ammunition” in any virus war!

• Vitamin A,C, D3 and zinc are some of the main nutrients that are well documented to strengthen your immune system.
• Good sleep for 7-8 hours/ night, allows your body to rest and clear out toxins.
• Keeping stress levels as low as possible and a positive attitude also helps your body to function more optimally.

We all know that viruses, like the COVID-19, come by every few years, so now is a good time to start shaping a healthier body: strong, resilient and in good fighting shape!

At Red Wing Chiropractic Clinic, we are here for our patients’ pain care needs. We are available Monday through Friday regular hours, and Saturday by appointment only. Call Dr. Jay Greenberg and Dr. Barb Kaiser at 651-388-8294 for chiropractic, acupuncture, and non-surgical spinal decompression. We can also help with non-spinal injuries such as ankle sprains using acupuncture, infrared laser, and other therapies. Our current goal is to support our patients’ mobility and activity, so the medical clinics can focus on more life-threatening concerns. Visit our website to learn more about our safe and natural healthcare services.