Introduction
As the world continues to grapple with the ongoing pandemic, virus experts are warning that we should be prepared for the next wave of the virus. With the virus continuing to spread, it is important to take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves and our families. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure we are eating the right foods. Eating the right foods can help boost our immune system and help us fight off any potential virus. In this article, we will discuss the foods that experts recommend we eat to stay healthy and the foods that we should avoid.
Virus Experts Say Be Prepared for This Next — Eat This Not That
As the world continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus pandemic, experts are warning that the next virus could be even more dangerous. To prepare for the next virus, experts are recommending that people focus on eating the right foods to boost their immune systems.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that people eat a balanced diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Eating a variety of foods from all the food groups is important for maintaining a healthy immune system. Eating a diet rich in antioxidants, such as fruits and vegetables, can help protect the body from infection.
In addition to eating a balanced diet, experts recommend avoiding processed foods and sugary drinks. Processed foods are often high in unhealthy fats, sodium, and sugar, which can weaken the immune system. Sugary drinks can also lead to weight gain, which can further weaken the immune system.
Experts also recommend avoiding alcohol and smoking, as both can weaken the immune system. Additionally, getting enough sleep and exercising regularly can help boost the immune system.
By following these recommendations, people can help prepare their bodies for the next virus. Eating a balanced diet, avoiding processed foods and sugary drinks, avoiding alcohol and smoking, getting enough sleep, and exercising regularly can all help boost the immune system and prepare the body for the next virus.
It’s been two years since COVID-19 caused the world to shut down, people to isolate, and for parts of society to change permanently. Since March 2020 there has been significant progress made with highly effective vaccines and boosters available to the public, and COVID cases are thankfully dropping. But virus experts are not unanimous on being out of the woods just yet. “We look to a future when Americans no longer fear lockdowns, shutdowns, and our kids not going to school,” says The White House. “It’s a future when the country relies on the powerful layers of protection we have built and invests in the next generation of tools to stay ahead of this virus.” Here is what experts are saying could happen next. Read on—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don’t miss these Sure Signs You’ve Already Had COVID.
Virus experts believe COVID-19 is here to stay, and will eventually be treated like the flu. “I think this is going to go endemic and it’s going to be a lot like a seasonal flu, but we’re going to have a couple of drugs that are going to be good at treating it, and I think the immunity that we have with the boosts, and particularly I think moving forward, we’ll be getting boosters like once a year like we do for flu, and it’s just going to become part of the background landscape that we live with,” says Dr. Thomas Unnasch, a Distinguished USF Health professor.
COVID fatigue is real, but it’s also dangerous and could lead to people ignoring public health guidance. ”People are tired of the public health interventions,” says Andrew Badley, M.D., chair of the Mayo Clinic’s COVID-19 Research Task Force. “Masking and social distancing and handwashing and not going to crowded settings. Some people are doing that less and less, and I think that contributes to the spread… I think we will be seeing patients with severe COVID disease for years to come.”
Staying up to date with vaccines and boosters will continue to be critical in the near future, especially as new variants inevitably pop up. “Your immune system is like a football team,” says Panagis Galiatsatos, M.D., a pulmonologist and critical care specialist at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “You practice all week, but you have no idea what exactly you’ll be up against on Sunday. Even with the strongest players, you don’t know how well you’ll play against a team you’ve never seen before. A vaccine gives your football team the opponent’s playbook. So you’re gonna go out there and be more effective.”
RELATED: Here’s How to Feel Like You’re 20 Again, Say Doctors
The public should not be surprised if there are COVID waves that require the return of mandatory mask-wearing and vaccination rules. “We’ve had big waves in the South, and this summer I’m expecting another wave,” says Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. “And, if not, we should expect another wave in the winter. I don’t think we’re done with this, so what’s the anticipatory guidance to let the American people know, don’t be surprised if we have to go back into the red?”
RELATED: Most People are Getting Abdominal Fat This Way, Experts Say
The growing consensus amongst experts is that there is no end in sight for COVID-19, and we have to adapt to a “new normal”. “We really need to be shifting our thinking to how do we live with this virus rather than can we make it completely go away,” says Dr. Timothy Brewer, a professor of epidemiology at UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “So I think we need to sort of move into the mode of minimizing the impact of the virus as much as possible in terms of health, economic and social disruption — recognizing this virus is going to be there.”
RELATED: Dr. Fauci Just Gave This Essential Virus Update
Follow the public health fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—get vaccinated or boosted ASAP; if you live in an area with low vaccination rates, wear an N95 face mask, don’t travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don’t go indoors with people you’re not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don’t visit any of these 35 Places You’re Most Likely to Catch COVID.