Start fasting. I lost 80 pounds fasting. I iused to go on longer fasts but now I just eat every other day and I think this has the best results. I have managed to lose over 80 pounds while gaining back lost strength at the same time. It's also great for boosting your immune system and for anti-aging!
Some of the myriad benefits of fasting on the immune system, blood pressure, blood sugar and anti-aging, all evidence based:
Blood pressure is quickly and dramatically lowered, which is very important for a good outcome with the current pandemic.
Blood clotting is reduced and blood clots and arterial plague are absorbed into the body.
Vitamin D plasma levels are increased.
Blood sugar and insulin are lowered, allowing white blood cells to move more freely throughout the body and do their job. Ideal blood sugar is around 80. Some viruses activate glycolosis (the release of sugar in the body) and clinically it has been shown that decreasing glucose metabolism in the body weakens the influenza virus.
The hormone Leptin is an immunomodulator that keeps the body from attacking itself and obesity causes lepti resistance. Fasting very quickly reduces leptin resistance and leptin levels and one day of fasting can cut your leptin levels in half and gets your immune system working properly again!
When you move out of MTOR your body shuts down the building blocks of the cell which are used to produce organelles and proteins. This means the mechanisms needed by viruses to replicate are by and large unavailable when you are in a deeply fasted state.
It stimulates the AMPK complex and activates autophagy. Autophagy (literally self eating) will cause cells to recycle foreign matter such as viruses and kill cancerous and senescent cells. AMPK does many helpful things in the body including activating the body's antioxidant defenses.
Deep ketosis virtually eliminates inflammation in the body. This can offset the life threatening symptoms of viral pneumonia which effectively kills you through inflammation. This also creates BHB ketones in your body, which also help your immune system and anti-oxidative system, especially in the brain. Ketones also provide an additional energy source during infection, which is critical when trying to fight off a bug. In fact you can have as much as three times the total energy available in your blood when you are in deep ketosis, or even more.
It increases mitochondrial function and repairs mitichondrial DNA, leading to improved ATP production and oxygen efficiency and thereby making cells better able to fight off infection. Increased mitochondrial function also has the added benefit of increasing your metabolism and cancer prevention!
Your body releases interferon which is also triggered by the body during viral attacks to shut down the replication ability of the surrounding cells and stop infections.
After 72 hours or more fasted, your body actually recycles large numbers of immune bodies and creates new ones, rejuvenating your entire system.
When you fast, this stimulates apoptosis in senescent or genetically damaged cells. This kills these cells off completely. Senescent cells are responsible for the effects of aging and are the root cause of the development of cancer. If it were possible to destroy them all it would completely stop aging and cancer. That is not possible but fasting can help limit these effects by killing off many of the affected cells and limiting the future effects of aging.
Fasting also releases BDNF and NGF in the blood which stimulates new nerve and brain cell growth, helping a great deal with diseases like MS, peripheral neuropathy and Alzheimers.
Eating one meal a day can bring most of these benefits to a lesser degree, and adding a few entire days off from eating per week will have even more effect especially when starting to feel poorly.
Children, pregnant or nursing women should not fast for periods longer than 16 hours. People with pancreatic tumors or hypoglycemia generally cannot fast at all. Type 1 diabetics can also fast but it is more complicated and should be approached with caution. People with Addison's disease may also be unable to fast depending on severity. If you experience extreme symptoms of some kind, especially dizziness then simply break the fast and seek advice.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23876457
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/vie...edissertations
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S...674(19)30849-9
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24905167
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http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/...131(15)00224-7
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Wear a mask:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0843-2.pdf