I have been getting a lot of questions

My clients are asking about what we need to do to stay well in the face of COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season.  One question in particular, ‘Can we end up with chronic fatigue after COVID-19 or the flu?’

We all probably saw on national TV this past week the story of a young fit man in his twenties, a carpenter who was very fit, telling the reporter how weeks after recovering from COVID-19 he was still struggling with a lack of energy and couldn’t work.

New evidence from Europe and the U.S. suggests that younger adults aren’t as impervious to the Novel Corona Virus that’s circulating worldwide as originally thought.

Some people, when they have a virus or a flu, just cannot seem to shake it and it can drag on and on for weeks. And for some it may tip them into a couple of years of chronic fatigue. So why does it happen to some people not the others?

I have treated many young clients in my clinic in their teens, 20’s or 30’s with post viral fatigue that have presented as chronic fatigue.

Many may think, I’m young, I can fight this virus and bounce back, I don’t need to worry. But not everyone bounces back, and it doesn’t necessarily matter whether you are in your 20’s or 70’s.

What can influence your recovery?

A couple of things that can influence your recovery are your reserves at the time of being sick. You need to ask yourself, do you have adequate amounts of the essentials to make immune cells to mount a good fight?

Vitamin C, zinc, and selenium are just a few, but more importantly, we need to be absorbing adequate amounts of protein because we need protein, zinc and B6 to make immune cells.

In other words, if your resources are a little bit deficient at the time of getting sick, it can hit you hard. We need to be prepared, be well, be absorbing good food, and getting good sleep.

Your diet right now will determine your ability to stay well through the approaching winter

Stop eating take away processed foods because they are all very nutrient poor.

High sugar or carbohydrate foods cause unwanted sugar swings and stimulate the stress hormone cortisol that breaks down our protective mucosal layer in our gut leaving you vulnerable to attack by pathogens.

They also feed bad bugs in your gut and inhibit your stomach acid needed for primary digestion of protein, magnesium, zinc, calcium, iron, and vitamin B12 in the stomach.

Another situation that can drain your resources may be something going on with your tummy and in your gut. Unbeknown to you, you may have a bad bug, a parasite or a worm eating up your resources and sending inflammatory cells throughout the body. You will then be more susceptible to falling into a chronic fatigue state post virus.

Let’s not forget anxiety and stress

In my previous blog I mentioned how stress eats away at our protective mucosal layer in the gut and affects our ability to digest via messages sent down the Vagus nerve direct from the brain to the stomach. High stress promotes excess levels of the stress hormone cortisol that breaks down muscle and increases tummy fat. This is called a catabolic state where the body cannot synthesize proteins and therefore, can’t make immune cells. Hence your immune response may be significantly compromised.

In summary, try to eat well and avoid unwanted stress. Get good sleep for repair. Enjoy a laugh with friends.

If you have any questions or want to discuss your health concerns, feel free to take advantage of my free 20 minute consult here. 

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If you have any health concerns and would like to avail yourself of my FREE 20 minute chat either by phone or online please send me a message on the contact page and I will get back to you.

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