Foods can prevent COVID-19 cytokine storm
By David Lee, L.Ac.
SARS-Cov-2 that causes COVID-19 is selective on those who are immune-compromised and unhealthy. The key is to delay the death-causing cytokine storm by reducing inflammation and pre-existing disease. In another words, make the patient healthier and there will be no complication. Correct foods can provide an opportune time for the immune system to develop antibodies. But there is no one set of foods that apply to everyone. Thankfully, foods for the Sasang four constitutions is a way of differentiating so that appropriate foods can be applied for the individual. Patients should know their body type to utilize the beneficial foods while minimizing the harmful ones, especially in winter season.
Food is subtle but strong. It has an ability to compromise or to build up the immune system. Knowing the beneficial content of the foods is not enough. Because people have variance in the way they respond to foods, constitutional differentiation is necessary. Food can be medicine for one person and poison for another. Consuming wrong food ingredients can lead to a delayed recovery, or even an aggravation into cytokine storm. That is why we need to differentiate for whom certain foods are beneficial or harmful.
Sasang diet is a practical way of providing an individualized treatment. Then the person can reduce, not eliminate, the harmful foods to make it nutritional, but not enough to be medically impacting. Everyone being only one of four types makes it straight-forward to diagnose and apply. Although the list is not long, these foods are commonly consumed and therefore will have a strong impact on health over time. Below is a list of beneficial and harmful foods for each body type along with how to diagnose yourself so that you can implement the practice right away.
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Do not eliminate harmful foods but reduce them by 70-80% of current intake. Small amount can be helpful as nutrition and variety. If a small amount threatens your life or health, you need to completely eliminate them from your diet.
Neutral foods are avocado, carrot, chlorella, spirulina, chia seed, fermented foods, fern (fiddlehead), hemp seed, quinoa, legumes, sea plant, soybeans (processed), turkey, spinach, asparagus, legumes, parsnip, turnip, cassava, taro, carrot, and squash although there is always a small minority that have problem with any of these. Vitamin C, D, and K are also helpful.
In addition to consuming specific foods for the constitution, we also need to observe a balanced diet and cleanliness. A balanced diet is composed of whole-food-plant-based ingredients. Asian food is a good example of utilizing plants for nutrition and health with processing and fermenting. During the holidays, it is important to minimize eating too much, especially a combination of heavily sweet and oily foods. For most people, whole-food-plant-based promotes and maintains a long-term health. If you are vegan or vegetarian, Sasang body type diet still applies to you.
The third way of eating healthy is to eat clean. This means as organic as you can. Nitrates, nitrites, artificial coloring, monosodium glutamate, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, trans fatty acid, and other additives stress your physiology. Meeting the three criteria of a Sasang, balanced, and clean diet will promote your organs, glands, nerves, and immune system to function well. The concern of complication from COVID-19 or other cold/flu will be reduced.
