Killing Some Kilograms
Obesity research shows impact of those extra kilograms on Covid-19 protection
I’m relatively fit for my age. I commute to work by bicycle most days, and live on a hill so there’s always a bit of a grind to get home. Mrs Sleuth is a A+ cook and preparing yummy fresh food is something of an obsession for her, something I’m truly grateful for because - to my shame - my culinary skills could best be described as ‘aspirational’
Even so I do carry a few unwanted kilograms meaning I have a BMI of 28. Which is a problem given the correlation between obesity and Covid-19 outcomes.
The chart below helps put this in perspective. At BMIs >30 the body carry very few neutralizing antibodies.
I should probably get a proper BMI done with the dreaded calipers as I know muscle tissue is heaver than fat - and 30 years of running and cycling has endowed me with pretty solid legs - but even so losing a few kilograms might be a good idea.
The Frasca et al study is here.
Killing Some Kilograms
If you eat carbs, sugar, processed food, or cook with seed oil, your diet is NOT healthy. I've been carnivore and low carb for a year now, beef, dairy, eggs and porridge with a spoonful of raw honey for breakfast. Shed pounds without trying (all unneeded visceral fat), BMI c 20.5 (am 6'5" and was 14 stone for years, now 12.5. We have special scales that measure a variety of things (inc. BMI) - My pulse wave velocity has dropped from c10 to 8.8 in a year.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211013114101.htm
"Assessing the stiffness of the arteries could help identify patients most at risk of dying from Covid-19, new research has revealed.
Estimated pulse wave velocity (ePWV), a readily available marker of aortic stiffening, has been shown to be an effective addition in identifying patients at risk of death in hospital due to the virus."
I went from 33 BMI to 23 BMI in a year. The most important aspect of a diet is that it is something you can stick to. If it's too complicated or takes too much effort to stick to, you won't and that's where diets fail. The actual construction of the diet itself is immaterial.
Given the missus is a good cook, it should be relatively straight forward to implement something that works. IME best calorie deficit is around 300-500 kCal / week.
All you really need is the desire. I wish you well in your endeavour.