The world today looks so much different from what it was just a few months ago.
Then, the new year had just been ushered in with high hopes for governments and businesses, families, and individuals.
People moved freely, businesses and organizations operated without restrictions, students resumed school after the winter break, face masks were only spoken about in some circles and personal hygiene was only known but not really practiced. Social distancing? What was that at the time?
Fast forward to May and the world has changed tremendously. Almost five million people have been infected by a novel virus, Covid-19 in what has become a global pandemic.
The good news is that we have close to two million recoveries and unfortunately and some three hundred and twelve thousand lives have been lost to this pandemic which many countries have called it a war.
Studies have shown that a strong immune system is required to fight off diseases in such outbreaks, so with more of such outbreaks predicted by scientists in this century, it is imperative that we looked at ways to build a stronger immune system.
Think of the immune system as an army of soldiers that must be ready at all times to protect you from invaders in the form of diseases.
A vaccine has not been found yet with scientists all over the world, racing against time to find one that is safe and efficacious.
The same can be said of a cure, so the infected persons mostly receive symptomatic treatments and their immune systems try to fight off the disease. An overwhelming majority of mortalities have come in patients with comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes which alter the function of the immune system.
Non-Communicable Disease, NCDs, which includes hypertension, diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, cancer, and lung diseases are known to alter the functions of the immune system and according to the World Health Organization(WHO), are collectively responsible for 70% of global deaths every year.
Over 80% of the premature deaths caused by these NCDs occur in low- and middle-income countries of which Ghana is one.
The WHO has reported that the rise of NCDs has been driven by primarily four major risk factors: tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol and unhealthy diets.
It, therefore, suffices to say that good dieting and lifestyle modifications remain one of the surest ways to reduce the prevalence of NCDs and thereby improving our immune systems.
A healthy diet rich in nutrients and minerals goes a long way to improve the immune system directly by providing it the necessary ingredients like vitamins A, C, and E and minerals like zinc needed to fight off diseases, and indirectly by preventing NCDs that alters the functions of the immune system making the individual susceptible to diseases.
A healthy diet can be tailored to suit the needs of an individual by accredited professionals such as Dieticians. What you eat, when to eat and how to eat are all areas of dieting that we all need to start paying more attention to because it will prepare us for the journey ahead for a healthier and more successful life.
In that light, I’ll encourage everyone especially people at risk to seek the necessary help in dietary & lifestyle modifications from experts. Better to fight this battle fully armored.
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The writer Ama Pokua Opoku Afriyie, RD. LD. is a Registered and Licensed Dietician
