“Dear foodies, please don’t risk your life,” as the COVID-19 issue and mortality trends demonstrate. Nowadays, it has been shown that the majority of viruses are particularly fond of persons who have weight management issues and congenital sickness. The decrease of white blood cells is because these people may be at danger of compromising their immunity. As a result, once COVID-19 is infected, it can spread quickly. As a consequence, foodies who are obese are more likely to become infected, and there is a risk that the condition may worsen, causing complications and even death.
Why Being Overweight Weaken the Immune System?
Obesity weakens our immune system in a variety of ways, as medical experts suggest here:
Excess fat cells cause the body to become inflamed and create inflammatory chemicals like TNF and IL, which affect physical stress. Chronic stress impacts sleep behavior changes such as insomnia and lack of sleep, which can weaken the immune system and raise the risk of catching diseases COVID-19.
- Inflammation Caused by an Overabundance of Fat Cells.
Excess fat cells cause the body to become inflamed and create inflammatory chemicals like TNF and IL, which affect physical stress. When we have chronic stress, it impacts sleep behavior changes such as insomnia and lack of sleep, which can weaken the immune system and raise the risk of catching diseases COVID-19.
- As Breast Fat Increases, the Lung Area Decreases.
A considerable quantity of fat will push the diaphragm in the lungs up, reducing lung area. And increasing fat weights can lead the chest muscles to exert more power to expand and elevate the diaphragm, resulting in a loss in oxygen conversion efficiency and a dip in blood oxygen levels, which is most likely to occur when sleeping on your back.
- Respiratory Epithelial Cells Get COVID-19 Infection Easily.
The research has proven that obese people have higher chance of having respiratory epithelial cells which very easy to get infected with the COVID-19.
It is a must-read if someone is a foodie and reading this. Who engage in unhealthy eating habits may be concerned about whether you are more susceptible to illness than others.
The easiest way is to calculate “BMI or Body Mass Index” by taking weight (kg) / height (m)2. If the score is higher than 25, they are likely to be overweight. But if anyone wants to know more, it can be checked by analyzing the body composition with the “InBody” machine. Women with body fat percentages greater than 28 percent and males with body fat percentages greater than 20 percent are considered overweight or obese.
High blood pressure, diabetes, and diabetic complications such as chronic kidney disease, coronary artery disease, stroke, and diabetic retinopathy disease are all “favorites” of the COVID-19 virus.
“Protect yourself” is the greatest motto to live in this though moment. Many people avoided socializing with friends and working from home more than ever before. Furthermore, the rise of sedentary lifestyles will increase the danger of obesity.
Therefore, the expert doctors recommend us to give love & care to ourselves. If you’re not the one who has obesity, just keep working on a healthy lifestyle and have a medical check-up regularly. However, if you are obese, you should change your daily habits to reduce excess fat, such as eating more vegetables, eating healthy, or strengthening vitamins for your body with IV Drip program (To consult our expert doctors on IV Drip program, please click here), do some exercise to balance muscles and remove excess fat. Lastly, don’t forget to get enough sleep and reduce stress for healthy mind and body.
Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Public Health
BCM Wellness Center Royal Life Chiang Mai | Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai
