"You did it! You finally did it! You blew it all up!"
This is what I see and hear every time I see a person with a mask.
I'm not an anti-masker. I dutifully wear my mask. Mostly, out of courtesy.
Not that I can't catch COVID. I could.
But, I'm macrobiotic. I have tools.
I and many others have been trying to tell everyone in the nation about these tools for - are you ready for it?
For over 50 years!
We macros have been telling you what you need to do to be healthy and happy for over 50 years!
The best tools I have are yin and yang and my own strong immune system.
The key to dealing with the Coronavirus is to strengthen your immune system. Even if you've already trashed your immune system on years of junk food, you most likely can build it up again.
It’s so simple and we all learned it in school. I can’t help thinking - There are two kinds of people in the world: those who paid attention in school and those who didn’t.
Here is a break-down of what you can do to make your own immune system strong:
1. The Triangle of Health: Nutrition, Sleep, Exercise has always been a basic part of my life and it’s so simple, though not always easy to implement. Often, we can’t get the sleep we need, nor do we have time to exercise. However, nutrition should never be allowed to slacken.
2. The Healthy Plate:
Though recently re-emerged from Harvard, this simple plate has been with me since elementary school. I have, since then, updated my protein from meat to a healthy vegetable protein of beans, or occasional good quality fish. (Our fish supply has also been usurped by factory farms, so it is not as easy to find good fish as it used to be. Be careful: good fish looks good and smells fresh and clean; its edges are moist, not dry and curled; it smells sweet, not fishy; the flesh is white, not yellow or rubbery.
We must make the effort to find good food! Real whole foods at places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, good quality markets, co-ops, buy directly from the farm if you have to! You'll be surprised how many are delivering during COVID lockdown!
We must make the effort to find good food! Real whole foods at places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, good quality markets, co-ops, buy directly from the farm if you have to! You'll be surprised how many are delivering during COVID lockdown!
3. Fresh air! Open a window! Get that fresh air circulating in your home! (Remember, the worst places for COVID deaths - stuffy, stale, enclosed spaces with recycled “air” - old age homes, airplanes, factories, hotels, cruise ships and, the worst - HOSPITALS!)
4. Sunshine! Go outside! If you can’t go outside, open a window and stick your head out! Ten minutes a day is enough to get Vitamin D to strengthen your immune system. Even on cloudy days, enough sun gets through.
It's so simple, not always easy, but A LOT easier than being sick!
People on my Facebook are still posting marshmallows - how do you like yours? Barely toasted or charred? And flavors of ice cream - which one is you?
Americans are not eating real food.
What Americans are eating all day every day are fake oils created in the lab and flavored to resemble the thing they think they’re eating whether that is peanut butter or cheese, ice cream or cake, breakfast cereals or donuts, tacos or hot dogs.
Fake oils are not human nutrition. We can eat them occasionally without creating too many problems in the body, but they do not nourish our bodies.
Many Americans have NEVER eaten real food.
What is really happening when a young person contracts the coronavirus and does well for a while but then crashes and dies? The doctors say that young person was "healthy and had no previously existing conditions.” But, they were NOT healthy and DID have a previous condition which was malnutrition and a compromised immune system.
You really don’t have to give up your comfort foods. Just limit them.
You don’t really have to give up all meat. Choose wisely. Better cuts, organic chicken, good quality fish.
Adding brown rice to your plate will begin to change you in amazing new ways!
After a while, you’ll notice the difference in the way you feel after you eat a good dinner of brown rice, broiled fish and salad, strawberries for dessert.
©Patricia Goodwin, 2020
Other sources for good healthy choices are:
Denny Waxman's macrobiotic cookbook, The Ultimate Guide to Eating for Longevity: The Macrobiotic Way to Live a Long, Healthy, and Happy Life
Allen Campbell: Nutrition Studies Allen Campbell was Tom Brady's nutrition coach and chef. His advice on inflammatory foods has helped me a great deal with any occasional pain.
Patricia Goodwin is the author of When Two Women Die, about Marblehead legends and true crime and its sequel, Dreamwater, about the Salem witch trials and the vicious 11-year-old pirate Ned Low. Holy Days is her third novel, about the sexual, psychological seduction of Gloria Wisher and her subsequent transformation. Her newest poetry books are Telling Time By Apples, And Other Poems About Life On The Remnants of Olde Humphrey Farme, illustrated by the author, and Java Love: Poems of a Coffeehouse.
Patricia has been a practicing macrobiotic for 46 years.
Within this blog, Patricia writes often about non-fiction subjects that inspire or disturb her, hopefully informing and inspiring people to be happy, healthy and free.
***Disclaimer: The information on this blog is not meant to substitute for medical care. Please consult your physician before beginning any new dietary guidelines.