The COVID-19 pandemic has changed so much about how we live. Perhaps the biggest change, however, is how we think about our overall health and wellness.
In fact, all that time spent in quarantine worrying about our health left many of us questioning how vulnerable they are to illness, be it COVID-19 or anything else. In response to this questioning, many consumers are now focusing their eating and purchasing decisions based on what will help build a healthy immune system. In fact, a recent survey found that 60% of consumers said they have become more conscious about their immune health.
This has many patients turning to their physicians and alternative forms of medicine to find ways to boost their health and concentrate on different aspects of their health. Those key factors include:
Environment
Creating a healthy environment is not just good for the planet. It’s good for ourselves, and it’s the first step to optimal body balance.
Hormones and Inflammation
Restoring a harmonious hormone balance is essential to getting control of your overall health. Treating these conditions is essential given that inflammation has been found to be a symptom or side effect of almost every chronic disease — including arthritis, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes — so many of us struggle with throughout our lives. At the same time, many factors can contribute to inflammation issues in individuals, including social isolation, psychological stress, disturbed sleep, physical inactivity, obesity, and exposure to air pollutants and hazardous waste products, industrial chemicals, and tobacco smoke. Some of these factors are natural effects of the pandemic that many of us have been dealing with.
Gut and Digestive Health
According to Dominique Fradin Read, Medical Director and Owner at VitaLife-MD, there is a link between chronic illness and an imbalance of an individual’s microbiome. Considering that, according to a recent report, 44% of older millennials already have a chronic health condition — including migraines, asthma, and major depression — finding these connections and treating them is becoming even more and more essential. This link has more and more individuals turning to probiotics. In fact, according to market research, the compound annual growth for the probiotics market is expected to reach $76.7 billion in value by 2027.
Mental Health
During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has taken a huge hit, with many experts saying that it will lead to a major reckoning for mental illness in our country. According to a recent report by Cleveland Clinic and PARADE magazine, 55% of the people they surveyed reported experiencing mental health issues since the onset of the pandemic, including 74% of respondents in the 18-to-34-year-old age range. The biggest issues reported were stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness or isolation. Understanding the dynamic between and then taking care of our mental health is a key step in achieving optimal holistic wellness.
One of the benefits of the COVID-19 pandemic is that more and more individuals around the country are paying attention to the connections between various factors and how they affect our overall health and wellness — and then they are making strides in taking better care of themselves.
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