It’s more clear now than ever before that America has a health problem. But it’s not the health problem clogging the airwaves right now. Nope, I’m not talking about Coronavirus. I’m talking about the “comorbidities” that have been inextricably linked to the majority of covid-19 patients. The pre-conditions that existed long before the term “social distancing” was ever spoken.
The real pandemics that nobody is talking about, but that I’m referring to are: hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. These conditions effect far more Americans than Covid-19 and have greater impacts on living sick/unhealthy lives.
According to the Mayo Clinic : “Hypertension/High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease.
Risk Factors That Cause Secondary Hypertension:
Risk factors that we can’t control include age, race (people of African heritage are at higher risks and at younger ages), and family history. Sidenote: while you may not have any say over your family history, you can certainly start a new trend for the generations below you.
Other Risk Factors:
- Being overweight or obese
- Not being physically active
- Using tobacco
- Too much salt in your diet
- Too little potassium
- Too much alcohol
- Stress
- Certain chronic condition: kidney disease, diabetes, sleep apnea.
Fortunately, these are all risk factors that we can control. And that we should control in order to live our best lives for as long as possible.
Metabolic Syndrome, according to the Mayo Clinic: “… is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels…
Metabolic syndrome is increasingly common and up to one-third of U.S. adults have it. If you have metabolic syndrome or any of its components, aggressive lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems.”
Did you all catch that? 1/3 of US adults have metabolic syndrome? That’s astonishing. Those numbers are astronomical compared to the numbers of covid-19 patients. Yet, we are more focused on who is or isn’t wearing masks right now.
Metabolic syndrome is not rare. In fact, it’s common: “A lurking crisis not fully realized is the poor baseline metabolic health of many Americans that makes them immensely more vulnerable to severe illness or death from COVID-19,” said Dr. Shebani Sethi Dalai in an article on TheHill.com.
Dr. Dalai also noted that just over 12% of Americans have ideal metabolic health. That’s right, 88% of Americans are at increased risk of significant, if not major, health concerns. It may not strike now, but it will catch up with us one day.
This is what we need to be talking about right now! This is the pandemic that we need to be concentrating on! But you don’t hear the media talking about fighting covid-19 with increased vegetable intake, exercising at least 30 minutes a day (me and my members prefer 60-minutes), getting off of soda, reducing alcohol, etc.
Stunningly, yet not surprisingly, over the past 8 weeks liquor stores and fast food restaurant sales have increased! What the heck?!
If this was it; If this was the end of our news, things would seem pretty hopeless. They’re already depressing enough. But thankfully that is not the end of our story. As I promised, I am going to give you the keys to prevent and possibly cure the current pandemic but also the other pandemics that have higher death counts and ruin more lives than the current virus.
THE KEYS TO THE CURE
- Get at least 30-minutes of exercise most days (again, we prefer 60-minutes)
- Eat lean meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and minimal sugar. Keep intake at levels that support exercise but not body fat
- Maintain a healthy amount of muscle mass and a low percentage of body fat
- Don’t smoke, limit alcohol
Like Dr. Salai said, aggressive changes in lifestyle can delay or prevent the development of serious health problems.
We can help you make the aggressive changes to your lifestyle that will not only boost your immunity to Covid, but for future epidemics as well. Level Up Fitness is the vaccine that everyone needs. We may not be able to cure the world, but we can cure our kindgom of family and friends that surround us.
We help our members stay immune to sickness and disease and help them live their best lives through…
- smarter functional fitness training
- a team of expert coaches
- a steadfast community
- and a beautiful facility
Give yourself a fair evaluation and ask yourself a few questions:
“Is what I’ve been doing for fitness working for me?”
“Have I seen the changes that I want to see?”
“Have I improved at the rate and expectation that I hoped for?”
“If I were to receive personal attention and assistance, would I hit my goals faster than on my own?”
If you’ve been a member of a typical Globo Gym, now may be the best time for that aggressive lifestyle change. Say good bye to #basic fitness of watching TV on a treadmill, gyms that give you free pizza on Fridays, running without strength, strength training without conditioning, and working out alone (increased risk of injury and boredom).
Whether you are considered to be fit or unfit, we are here to help you be better. “Raise the Bar” on your fitness and health with us.
Click the “Book Free Intro” button found all over our website to book your free athlete consultation so we can learn more about your health and fitness goals today.
Say good bye to basic. Say hello to better.