Can Vitamin D-rich foods reduce the risk of severe COVID-19? Here's what you need to know

 Can Vitamin D-rich foods reduce the risk of severe COVID-19?

The benefits of Vitamin D are not unknown to the masses. People have been eating foods packed with this nutrient for eons and are slowly deciphering more about it, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, while vaccination and practicing COVID appropriate behaviour are the primary ways we can lower the chances of contracting the deadly virus, experts believe Vitamin D rich foods also play an important role in doing the same.

Diet plays an important role in preventing COVID-19

Whether you've dodged COVID-19 or are recovering from it, what you eat plays an important role in preventing future infections as well as reviving your health. Not just that, additionally, the right diet also prevents other ailments and keeps you healthy for longer periods of time.

Do Vitamin D-rich foods make you less prone to coronavirus infections?

Vitamin D is a vital nutrient that helps boost immunity. When it comes to COVID-19 prevention and lowering risk of severe infections, Studies have suggested that Vitamin D-rich food can prove extremely effective.

Amidst the emergence of new variants and the increase in the rate of transmissibility, it becomes all the more important to protect yourself from the deadly virus. SARs-COV-2 is an infectious respiratory illness that can impact the entire body. Therefore, switching to the right diet plays a crucial role.

According to study

In a study conducted by the University of Chicago Medicine, it was found that people who were deficient in Vitamin D were twice more prone to COVID-19 infection than those who had sufficient Vitamin D in their system.

The team of researchers, including Dr David Meltzer, lead author of the study, looked at the data of 489 patients and found that the risk of contracting SARs-COV-2 virus was 1.77 times greater for people with Vitamin D deficiency.

In an interview, Dr. Metzler said that adding vitamin D in the diet is an effective measure against COVID-19. After precautionary measures like wearing masks and maintaining hygiene, he believes intake of Vitamin D supplements is the way to contain COVID.

Other benefits of Vitamin D

While Vitamin D-rich foods are said to be effective in preventing COVID-19, it is also known for several other benefits. Some of them are as follows.

- Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium, which in turn prevents bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

- It is also known to prevent seasonal depression in people.

- Besides COVID-19, it protects against other illnesses.

- It also reduces the risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Blindness in AMD patients: Study says brain can integrate artificial and natural vision correctly

A new research  has found that the brain knows how to integrate natural and artificial vision while maintaining information processing that is important for the vision which can help in better treatment for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The study mentioned that AMD in the West causes blindness in millions of people. In the Western world, it is the most common cause of serious vision loss for those aged 50 and over and is growing with age. Although no remedy is available for AMD, recent significant advances in artificial retina implants may contribute to effective treatment.

Locate inside the eye, the retina contains light receptors ( photo-receptors) that absorb light. Information is then processed and transmitted to the brain.

The macula, the central area of the retina, processes most of the information that reaches the brain from the eye. enabling one to see while reading and driving, facial recognition, and any other activity that required accurate vision.

In the peripheral retina, the area of the retina outside the macula that assist mainly with spatial judgement, vision is 10-20 times less precise.

in AMD, precise vision is impaired due to damage to the centre of the retina, while peripheral vision remains normal.

When there is damage to the photo-receptor layers in the retina, an artificial retina may be implanted. Activating these electrodes results in electrical stimulation of the remaining retina cells and results in the visual restoration, albeit partially.

AMD patients implanted with an artificial retina possess a combination of artificial central vision and normal peripheral vision. This combination of artificial and natural vision is important to study in order to understand how to help the blind.

One of the key issues here is whether the brain can integrate artificial and natural vision correctly.
One of the researchers has used a unique projection system that stimulated either natural vision, artistic vision or a combination of natural and artificial vision and at the same time records cortical responses in rodents implanted with a subretinal implant.

The implant is made up of dozens of small solar cells and electrodes developed at Standford Uni.

These ground breaking findings have implications on better vision restore for retinal prosthetic implanted in AMD patients and help the theory of incorporation of prosthetic and natural vision into the brain.
The findings can also have an impact on future brain-machine interface systems where artificial and natural procedures co-exist, said the Prof.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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5 ways to absorb more nutrients from the food you eat

This is the right way

You may eat healthy and clean to stay fit, but if the nutrients of the food you are consuming are not getting absorbed by your body properly, then all your efforts are worthless. If you are making changes in your diet to stay healthy and fit then you cannot overlook the digestion and absorption process.
It is important to understand that merely including the food items packed with micronutrients, vitamins and minerals in your diet, does not guarantee that all these nutrients will be absorbed by your body.
To ensure proper absorption of all the nutrients, you have to make some extra efforts. Here are 5 simple ways to absorb most nutrients from your food.

Eat slowly

The human digestive system is quite complex and the process of breaking down of the food and absorption of nutrients starts from our mouth itself.
So, chew your food properly before gulping it down. When you don't chew your food, your stomach has to make an extra effort to break it down. As a result, most of the nutrients pass away from your body without getting absorbed.

The right combination of food

Combining the right food item makes it easier for our body to digest it and absorb all the micronutrients. You cannot just fill your plate with everything at the same time. This will only confuse your body. Here are some right pairings:
-Pair fat with fat
-Pair iron with vitamin C
-Pair Iron and Zinc with Sulfur

Take your gut health seriously

Your gut plays an important role when it comes to the absorption of nutrients. Eat gut-friendly food to improve the health of your gut microbiome. Fermented food and probiotics are good for your gut. 

Don't drink tea at meal time

Tea is indeed good for health, but having it with your meal is not a good idea. Tea and coffee contain some compounds that can block the absorption of many nutrients and vitamins. 

Drink enough water, drink when thirsty

Water is the basic necessity of life and is really important for the absorption of nutrients as well.
Insufficient amount of water in the body makes it difficult for our blood to carry nutrients to different parts of the body.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Optimal levels of vitamin D vary from person to person

Vitamin D requirements differ from person to person and is even dependant on the ethnic groups. A study published  said that those with less than 20 nanograms of Vitamin D per millilitre of blood have deficiency.

Whereas, the Endocrine Society has set a higher threshold of 30 nanograms. “Recommendations based on earlier studies using a number of different tests for vitamin D levels persist and, not surprisingly, current guidelines vary,” said author.

“For example, it is not clear that the most optimal levels for vitamin D are the same for Caucasians, blacks or Asians alike. More laboratories are now implementing improved tests and efforts are being made to standardize results from different laboratories,” the author added.

Vitamin D’s main function is to ensure that our body absorbs calcium. A deficiency of vitamin D can cause delayed development of the skeletal system as well as rickets in children. Adults with deficiency are also at an increased risk of fractures and osteoporosis.

Calcium supplements are not enough for to prevent rickets. Vitamin D should be consumed along with them to get optimum results. Elderly people will benefit from taking these supplements. But excess of vitamin D is harmful as well.  High doses increase the risk of fracture. The National Academy of Medicine recommends 400 iu/day for infants, 600 iu/day for people age 1 to 70 and 800 iu/day for people over 70.

Some studies have proven that Vitamin D supplementation has reduced mortality and others suggest that it is good for immune function, cancer and cardiovascular health. She said a consistent benefit of vitamin D supplementation has yet to be shown. However, she noted that most studies have not discriminated between participants who are vitamin D sufficient or deficient.  

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                       https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                     FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                    https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Gut bacteria found in mice could help humans with obesity issues

A specific class of bacteria called Clostridia found in the gut of mice prevents them from becoming obese, researchers claim these may similarly control weight in humans. “Now that we’ve found the minimal bacteria responsible for this slimming effect, we have the potential to really understand what the organisms are doing and whether they have therapeutic value,” said co-senior author of the study.

Researchers  found that Clostridia prevents weight gain by blocking the intestine’s ability to absorb fat. Mice experimentally treated so that Clostridia were the only bacteria living in their gut were leaner with less fat than mice that had no microbiome at all. They also had lower levels of a gene, CD36, that regulates the body’s uptake of fatty acids.

These insights could lead to a therapeutic approach, the author said, with advantages over the fecal transplants and probiotics that are now being widely investigated as ways to restore a healthy microbiota. Therapeutics such as these, that are based on transferring living microbiome to the gut, won’t work for everyone due to differences in diet and other factors that influence which bacteria can survive and thrive.

The current study found that one or more molecules produced by Clostridia prevented the gut from absorbing fat. The next step is to isolate these molecules and further characterize how they work to determine whether they could inspire focused treatments for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other related metabolic disorders.

“These bacteria have evolved to live with us and benefit us. We have a lot to learn from them. ,” said, one of the researchers.

Finding that mice with a compromised immune system couldn’t help but become obese was a discovery that almost didn’t happen.The author brought the Dr. into the lab at the right time to see that mice genetically engineered to lack myd88, a gene central to the immune response, were “as fat as pancakes.” She had let the rodents age longer than usual, revealing an unappreciated link between immunity and obesity.

Still, the observation didn’t answer the question why the animals became overweight.

Based on previous research she had carried out in the Round lab, she suspected the microbiome was involved. She had helped demonstrate that one role of the immune system is to maintain balance among the diverse array of bacteria in the gut. Impairing the body’s defenses can cause certain bacterial species to dominate over others. Sometimes, the shift negatively impacts health.

Following a similar logic, the researchers determined that the obesity observed in immune-compromised mice stemmed from the failure of the body’s defense system to appropriately recognize bacteria. These mice produced fewer of the antibodies that ordinarily latch onto the microbiome like target-seeking missiles. This change made the gut less hospitable for Clostridia, leading to more fat absorption and excessive weight gain. Over time, the mice also developed signs of type 2 diabetes.

The author points out that research by others have shown that people who are obese similarly lack Clostridia, mirroring the situation in these mice. There are also some indications that people who are obese or have type 2 diabetes may have a suboptimal immune response. The hope is that understanding these connections will provide new insights into preventing and treating these pervasive health conditions.

“We’ve stumbled onto a relatively unexplored aspect of type 2 diabetes and obesity. This work will open new investigations on how the immune response regulates the microbiome and metabolic disease,” the author concluded.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                      FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                    

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