Ground Zero for Immunity: Your Shopping Cart

Seriously, America? 

I am so annoyed with you right now.

I just got back from my weekly trip to the grocery store – I always go right when it opens at 7am on Sundays because I have the whole store to myself – but today it was mobbed.  The parking lot was full and there was a line of people waiting to get in.  At least half a dozen of whom were decked out in full haz-mat gear – gas mask (yes, a gas mask!), gloves, entire body covered.

The fun didn’t stop there – the store was even more picked over than it is during hurricane season, and entire aisles were empty.  The ones you already know about: toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and soap – but also cookies, chips, soda, meat, eggs, cheese, frozen pizza.  And strangely, laundry detergent.

What was there plenty of?  Fruit, vegetables, nuts, beans, whole grains, plant milk, water. 

I hate to break it to you, but we’ve got this backwards.  Because if you think that donning a mask and gloves and stuffing your face with pizza and chips and Coke while you’re “social distancing” is going to keep you healthy, you are in for a surprise.  Your body can’t fight off invaders when you feed it like that, even when you have clean clothes.  And I’m not just talking about Coronavirus here, I mean all infections. 

Take precautions, absolutely.  But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture here.  Give your body the nutrients it needs - vegetables, fruits, and whole grains – in order to keep your immune system in fighting shape, hydrate, get plenty of sleep, get out in the fresh air and sunshine, and move.  That’s the real prescription for health, no matter what crazy viruses are circulating.

So might I suggest that when you go back to the grocery store, this time you fill your cart with some of that beautiful produce that is piled high on the side of the store with no shoppers?  You’ll get out quicker and avoid the fights that are spontaneously breaking out near the few remaining Kleenex boxes, and you’ll be setting yourself to stay healthy and feel great far beyond this current situation.

And oh, please leave a bottle of laundry detergent for me – I legitimately need to do wash this week.