High Fat Percent? Overweight? Your Immune System Is In Jeopardy!

As we are all aware, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, has been declared a pandemic threat by the WHO-World Health Organization. It has affected every age group with little end in sight. 

 
What we are not hearing is that the Coronavirus, or any virus for that matter, bacteria, or fungus, can cause more severe symptoms and complications in people with high fat percent-increased weight. High fat percent-increased weight can severely compromise your immune system, which is our first line of defense in fighting any disease. 
 

What does this mean? if you are overweight, this is a wake-up call to get extremely serious about getting as healthy as possible. And the easiest, safest, almost sure-fire way to improve your immune system and to get your health back is by safely reducing the high fat percent. 

 
This is not a scare tactic by any means.  This is meant to bring awareness to each and everyone one of us to take charge of our health and not wait for someone else to do it for us because that’s not going to work, or waiting for the insurance company to approve some sort of medication to help. As you have heard before, there is no magic pill! 

 
Since our immune system is our first line of defense along with being sanitary conscious, we all need to do everything possible to make sure it’s running at it’s best.

  
Researchers have been able to identify body fat (and particularly, visceral fat) as a major cause of inflammation and a compromised immune system. 


The great news is that researchers have also been able to detect improvements in immune response when body fat has been reduced.


Fantastic! You may say, so now what can we do?


Here’s our recommended TOP 6 things you can do right NOW that work to reduce fat, reduce weight and improve your immune system:
 

 

CARBS: Breads (bagels, whole wheat, white, sourdough, etc), Grains (including gluten and non-gluten containing grains), soy (tofu is ok), peanuts, milk, creamers, yogurts (plain greek yogurt ok), canola oil, vegetable oil, pasta, potato (baked, French fries, etc), rice, pizza, nachos, burgers with bread, chips, sodas, any and All FRUITS, alcohol consumption (to be very limited), yams, oatmeal, cereal.


SUGARS: (white, brown, cane sugar/syrup, etc), artificial sweeteners (sucralose, maltodextrin, high fructose corn syrup, etc), ketchup, fruits, sodas-DIET and REGULAR, fruit juice, alcohol, yams, oatmeal, cereal. 


2. EAT Protein and Veggies at every meal 
When you eat these foods, you basically “train” your body to attack your fat cells from different angles.  It’s extremely simple and its the way we should be eating in the first place. If you truly want to burn as much unwanted fat off of your body as possible, build your meals around protein and veggies.


3. EAT healthy fats
Fats have been demonized in the media for decades and it used to be that a low-fat diet was the key to burning fat and long-lasting health. We know that this couldn’t be further from the truth!
If you want reduce fat, lose weight, improve your belly, you should be eating MORE fats like: 
avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, nuts, just to name a few.  
Why do we want these fats? Because these types of healthy fats fill you up, while triggering your body to burn the stored fat as its fuel source since it's not getting sugar nor carbs. 
These fats are also a healthy energy source.  They energize your entire body no matter how busy your day gets. 


4. Intermittent fasting: 12-16 hours overnight

Why? Modern science has confirmed fasting can help you, but not limited to:
 

• Normalize your insulin sensitivity, which is key for optimal health as insulin resistance (which is what you get when your insulin sensitivity plummets) is a primary contributing factor to nearly all chronic disease, from diabetes to heart disease and even cancer
• Normalize ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone”
• Promotes human growth hormone (HGH) production, which plays an important part in health, fitness and slowing the aging process
• Lower triglyceride levels
• Reduce inflammation and lessening free radical damage
• Helps reduce boy fat

We recommend to our patients to eat dinner by 6:00-6:30 PM and eat breakfast around 8:00-10:00 AM the next morning. 


5. Eat more fiber 

It is well known that fiber has appetite-suppressant properties that can help increase your satiety and keep you from binge-snacking. You should consume both soluble and insoluble fiber from foods like:
 

• Beans, cucumbers, psyllium husk, shiitake noodles, avocados, Brussels sprouts, and nuts are rich in soluble fiber. They work by dissolving into a gel-like texture that helps slow your digestion and keeps you feeling fuller for a longer time. 
• Dark green leafy vegetables, celery, and green beans are abundant in insoluble fiber, which does not dissolve and instead helps add bulk to your stool. This allows food to move more easily through your digestive tract for healthy and quicker elimination.

6. Whole Body Photobiomodulation/Red Light Therapy-LLLT (Low-Level Laser Light Therapy)


Light Therapy, also known as Photobiomodulation, at the right dose can have great health benefits.  


The following examples of benefits, which are seen in our clinic are:
 

• Weight reduction
• Inflammation reduction
• Boosts Collagen Production
• Wrinkle reduction
• Better Sleep
• Faster recovery
• Pain reduction
• Increased energy 
• Faster wound healing
• Hair growth 

Our program is safe, non-invasive, has zero downtime and it's easy to implement. We have many patients that come in for the whole body photobiomodulation system with the intention of releasing back pain and find that they also sleep better, workout harder with less soreness and their hair gets thicker.  We have many other patients that come in for weight loss and find that their skin tone gets better.  They see less wrinkles. 


In summary, COVID-19 is a very terrifying illness and the best way to protect ourselves is to have a properly functioning immune system. Being overweight will almost guarantee one's immune system to be suppressed. 


The techniques provided above are important in getting that body fat percent-weight down to a healthy level. Please take advantage of these and use everything at your disposal to get your immune system boosted. There is no time like the present. The longer you sit with high fat, the more you are putting yourself at risk for conditions like type 2 diabetes, gallbladder issues, cardiovascular disease, and infections like COVID-19, to name a few. 

 
We, at Sarasota Laser Lipo, are committed to your health and will do everything in our power to help you get your health back, even through this pandemic.  
 
 
Let’s all stay focused and get serious about protecting our health.
 

Dr. Ihan Rodriguez and MaryAnn
Sarasota Laser Lipo
941-203-5988