Support For Long COVID & Chronic Fatigue
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Long COVID and Chronic Fatigue
Getting COVID-19 can be very physically draining, so it’s no surprise that getting Long COVID can (and usually does) result in chronic fatigue.
But, what does this mean and what can we do about it?
What makes Long COVID “long”
Long COVID is generally defined as COVID-19 whose symptoms last longer than 28 days, but in reality the symptoms not only tend to last for much longer than that, but also, they can be quite distinct.
Here’s a large (3,762 participants) study of Long COVID, which looked at 203 symptoms:
Characterizing long COVID in an international cohort: 7 months of symptoms and their impact
Three symptoms stood at out as most prevalent:
- Chronic fatigue (CFS)
- Cognitive dysfunction
- Post-exertional malaise (PEM)
The latter means “the symptoms get worse following physical or mental exertion”.
CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is also called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
What can be done about it?
The main “thing that people do about it” is to reduce their workload to what they can do, but this is not viable for everyone. Note that work doesn’t just mean “one’s profession”, but anything that requires physical or mental energy, including:
- Childcare
- Housework
- Errand-running
- Personal hygiene/maintenance
For many, this means having to get someone else to do the things—either with support of family and friends, or by hiring help. For many who don’t have those safety nets available, this means things simply not getting done.
That seems bleak; isn’t there anything more we can do?
Doctors’ recommendations are chiefly “wait it out and hope for the best”, which is not encouraging. Some people do recover from Long COVID; for others, it so far appears it might be lifelong. We just don’t know yet.
Doctors also recommend to journal, not for the usual mental health benefits, but because that is data collection. Patients who journal about their symptoms and then discuss those symptoms with their doctors, are contributing to the “big picture” of what Long COVID and its associated ME/CFS look like.
You may notice that that’s not so much saying what doctors can do for you, so much as what you can do for doctors (and in the big picture, eventually help them help people, which might include you).
So, is there any support for individuals with Long COVID ME/CFS?
Medically, no. Not that we could find.
However! Socially, there are grassroots support networks, that may be able to offer direct assistance, or at least point individuals to useful local resources.
Grassroots initiatives include Long COVID SOS and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative.
The patient-led organization Body Politic also used to have such a group, until it shut down due to lack of funding, but they do still have a good resource list:
Click here to check out the Body Politic resource list (it has eight more specific resources)
Stay strong!
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Could Just Two Hours Sleep Per Day Be Enough?
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Polyphasic Sleep… Super-Schedule Or An Idea Best Put To Rest?
What is it?
Let’s start by defining some terms:
- Monophasic sleep—sleeping in one “chunk” per day. For example, a good night’s “normal” sleep.
- Biphasic sleep—sleeping in two “chunks” per day. Typically, a shorter night’s sleep, with a nap usually around the middle of the day / early afternoon.
- Polyphasic sleep—sleeping in two or more “chunks per day”. Some people do this in order to have more hours awake per day, to do things. The idea is that sleeping this way is more efficient, and one can get enough rest in less time. The most popular schedules used are:
- The Überman schedule—six evenly-spaced 20-minute naps, one every four hours, throughout the 24-hour day. The name is a semi-anglicized version of the German word Übermensch, “Superman”.
- The Everyman schedule—a less extreme schedule, that has a three-hours “long sleep” during the night, and three evenly-spaced 20-minute naps during the day, for a total of 4 hours sleep.
There are other schedules, but we’ll focus on the most popular ones here.
Want to learn about the others? Visit: Polyphasic.Net (a website by and for polyphasic sleep enthusiasts)
Some people have pointed to evidence that suggests humans are naturally polyphasic sleepers, and that it is only modern lifestyles that have forced us to be (mostly) monophasic.
There is at least some evidence to suggest that when environmental light/dark conditions are changed (because of extreme seasonal variation at the poles, or, as in this case, because of artificial changes as part of a sleep science experiment), we adjust our sleeping patterns accordingly.
The counterpoint, of course, is that perhaps when at the mercy of long days/nights at the poles, or no air-conditioning to deal with the heat of the day in the tropics, that perhaps we were forced to be polyphasic, and now, with modern technology and greater control, we are free to be monophasic.
Either way, there are plenty of people who take up the practice of polyphasic sleep.
Ok, But… Why?
The main motivation for trying polyphasic sleep is simply to have more hours in the day! It’s exciting, the prospect of having 22 hours per day to be so productive and still have time over for leisure.
A secondary motivation for trying polyphasic sleep is that when the brain is sleep-deprived, it will prioritize REM sleep. Here’s where the Überman schedule becomes perhaps most interesting:
The six evenly-spaced naps of the Überman schedule are each 20 minutes long. This corresponds to the approximate length of a normal REM cycle.
Consequently, when your head hits the pillow, you’ll immediately begin dreaming, and at the end of your dream, the alarm will go off.
Waking up at the end of a dream, when one hasn’t yet entered a non-REM phase of sleep, will make you more likely to remember it. Similarly, going straight into REM sleep will make you more likely to be aware of it, thus, lucid dreaming.
Read: Sleep fragmentation and lucid dreaming (actually a very interesting and informative lucid dreaming study even if you don’t want to take up polyphasic sleep)
Six 20-minute lucid-dreaming sessions per day?! While awake for the other 22 hours?! That’s… 24 hours per day of wakefulness to use as you please! What sorcery is this?
Hence, it has quite an understandable appeal.
Next Question: Does it work?
Can we get by without the other (non-REM) kinds of sleep?
According to Überman cycle enthusiasts: Yes! The body and brain will adapt.
According to sleep scientists: No! The non-REM slow-wave phases of sleep are essential
Read: Adverse impact of polyphasic sleep patterns in humans—Report of the National Sleep Foundation sleep timing and variability consensus panel
(if you want to know just how bad it is… the top-listed “similar article” is entitled “Suicidal Ideation”)
But what about, for example, the Everman schedule? Three hours at night is enough for some non-REM sleep, right?
It is, and so it’s not as quickly deleterious to the health as the Überman schedule. But, unless you are blessed with rare genes that allow you to operate comfortably on 4 hours per day (you’ll know already if that describes you, without having to run any experiment), it’s still bad.
Adults typically need 7–9 hours of sleep per night, and if you don’t get it, you’ll accumulate a sleep debt. And, importantly:
When you accumulate sleep debt, you are borrowing time at a very high rate of interest!
And, at risk of laboring the metaphor, but this is important too:
Not only will you have to pay it back soon (with interest), you will be hounded by the debt collection agents—decreased cognitive ability and decreased physical ability—until you pay up.
In summary:
- Polyphasic sleep is really very tempting
- It will give you more hours per day (for a while)
- It will give the promised lucid dreaming benefits (which is great until you start micronapping between naps, this is effectively a mini psychotic break from reality lasting split seconds each—can be deadly if behind the wheel of a car, for instance!)
- It is unequivocally bad for the health and we do not recommend it
Bottom line:
Some of the claimed benefits are real, but are incredibly short-term, unsustainable, and come at a cost that’s far too high. We get why it’s tempting, but ultimately, it’s self-sabotage.
(Sadly! We really wanted it to work, too…)
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Basic Baked Tofu
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One of the main criticisms of tofu is that it is tasteless. Well, so is flour, but you’re not supposed to eat it plain, and the same goes for tofu. It’s a blank canvas that you get to decide what to do with—not to mention, it’s a canvas that’s very high in protein, and is a complete protein too, containing all essential amino acids. Anyway, here’s a starter recipe that elevates tofu from “nutrition” to “nutritious tasty snack”!
We were going to do a fancier recipe today, but considered that it might be judicious to cover this basic element first, that can be incorporated into a larger recipe later, a bit like we have done with recipes such as our Tasty Versatile Rice, and Plant-Based Healthy Cream Cheese (amongst others).
You will need
- 1 block of extra-firm tofu; these are quite standardized in size; it should be about 12oz; don’t worry if it’s a little more or less.
- 2 tbsp arrowroot powder (or potato starch if you don’t have arrowroot)
- 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt
- Optional: ½ tsp garlic powder
- Optional: ½ tsp ground turmeric
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Preheat the oven to 425ºF / 220ºC.
2) Press the tofu for about 15 minutes (to remove excess moisture), using a tofu press if you have one. If you don’t, then here is an example product on Amazon, or alternatively, you can go with the time-honored tradition of cutting the tofu lengthways into slabs, and wrapping it in a lint-free kitchen towel or muslin cloth, and pressing it with heavy books. We don’t recommend pressing for more than about 15 minutes, as you are going to bake the tofu so you don’t want it too dry going in.
3) Cut the tofu into cubes. Size is up to you, but half-inch cubes are very respectable.
4) Combine the tofu cubes in a big bowl with the oil and seasonings, including the nutritional yeast but not the arrowroot powder or potato starch yet. You will need to toss them gently (very gently; they are fragile!) to combine.
5) Add the arrowroot powder or potato starch, and again toss gently to combine. We do this last, because it would stop the other things from sticking properly if we did it earlier.
6) Arrange the tofu on a baking tray lined with baking paper, in a single layer so that the cubes don’t touch. Bake for 15 minutes, turn them over, and bake for a further 15 minutes on the other side. They should now be golden and crisp, but if they’re not, just give them a little more time.
7) Serve as a snack, or set aside for whatever else you’re going to do with them in a larger more complex recipe.
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Tofu vs Seitan – Which is Healthier?
- Plant vs Animal Protein: Head to Head
- Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?
Take care!
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The Real Reason Your Metabolism Slows After 50 (And How To Fix It)
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It’s not just about menopause:
The other factors
Researchers (cited in the video) found that menopause itself didn’t significantly reduce metabolic rate in the women studied; instead, differences in metabolism are mainly explained by differences in fat-free mass, which is largely muscle mass.
Note: the basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the energy your body uses at rest for essential functions like breathing, circulation, and organ function; if BMR falls while calorie intake stays the same, excess energy is more likely to be stored as fat.
The study, at a glance:
- Design: the researchers compared 21 premenopausal, 21 perimenopausal, and 21 postmenopausal women with stable body weight, low exercise levels, no medications including HRT, and BMIs between 18.5 and 35.
- Metrics: the study assessed body composition with DEXA scans, activity levels with wearable tracking devices, and metabolism through respiratory quotient measurements taken at rest and after a standardized 500-calorie meal.
- Results: there were no significant differences between the groups in calories burned at rest, calories burned after eating, or whether the body preferentially burned carbohydrates or fat.
However! Those women with more fat-free mass burned more calories both at rest and after meals, suggesting muscle mass was far more important than menopausal status in determining metabolic rate.
Aside from the obvious “exercise for muscle mass”, two important things that often get missed are:
- getting the right amount of protein spread over the course of the day (don’t cram it all into one meal; your body can’t use more than 20–30g at a time anyway)
- getting good sleep; in particular, deep sleep was highlighted as important for muscle repair and growth, making menopause-related sleep disruption another indirect factor affecting body composition
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
The Diet That Reduces Postmenopausal Weight Gain, Hot Flashes, & More
Take care!
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How Does Fat Actually Leave The Body? Where Does It Go?
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Fat loss is often misunderstood, with many believing it simply “vanishes” through exercise, is simply excreted in solid form in the bathroom, or materially disappears when converted for energy. However, the principle of conservation of mass plays out here, in that the mass in fat doesn’t disappear—it changes its arrangement:
In and out
Fat is composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, with an example common form of fat in the body being C55H104O6. That’s a lot of Cs and Hs, and a few Os.
When fat leaves the body, it has been primarily converted into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).
According to a 2014 study by the University of South Wales, 84% of the mass of fat exits the body as CO2 exhaled through breathing, while 16% leaves as water through sweat, urine, and other bodily fluids (all of which contain H2O).
You’ll notice there are a lot more Os going out, proportionally, than we originally had in the C55H104O6. For this reason, the process requires oxygen intake; for every 10 kilograms of fat burned, by simple mathematics the body needs around 29 kilograms of oxygen.
Physical activity plays a crucial role in fat loss. When the body exerts itself, it naturally switches to a higher oxygen metabolism necessary for fat breakdown. This effect is amplified during intermittent fasting, which boosts human growth hormone (HGH), a hormone that aids in fat metabolism.
However, simply hyperventilating won’t work; exercise is essential to activate these processes—otherwise it’s just a case of oxygen in, oxygen out, without involving the body’s chemical energy reserves.
Consequently, one of the best diet-and-exercise combinations for fat loss is intermittent fasting with high-intensity interval training.
And, as for what to eat, this video says raw vegan, but honestly, that’s not scientific consensus. However, a diet rich in unprocessed (or minimally processed) fruits and vegetables definitely is where it’s at, with the plant-heavy Mediterranean diet generally scoring highest—which can be further improved by skipping the mammals to make it pesco-Mediterranean. Current scientific consensus does not give any extra benefits for also omitting moderate consumption of fish and fermented dairy products, so include those if you want, or skip those if you prefer.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Are You A Calorie-Burning Machine? (Calorie Mythbusting)
Take care!
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A Surprisingly Easy Weapon Against The Flu
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It’s that time of year, and flu is on the rise. So is COVID, so is RSV, and so are various other infectious pathogens.
See for example: COVID, flu, RSV: how these common viruses are tracking this winter, and how to protect yourself ← this is news from Australia, which is of more relevance than one might think when it comes to those of us in the Northern hemisphere, as Australia’s flu season being 6 months ahead of ours can give a good indicator of how things are going to go for us when our own winter hits.
Note for any confused: due to axial tilt, seasons in the two hemispheres are mirrored. So while you’re probably familiar with the seasons being tied to specific calendar months and popular media (centred around N. American and European experiences) can make that seem very one-sided, it’s important to remember that June, July, and August are winter months in the Southern hemisphere, and December, January, and February are summer months.
Which brings us to our main topic today…
It’s about time!
There’s a lot that can be done to improve one’s chances against the flu et al., and we’ve written about that from time to time before, for example:
Why Some People Get Sick More (And How To Not Be One Of Them) ← including some very important things that many people don’t know!
But more recently, researchers (Dr. Martina Towers et al.) have found that a person’s underlying circadian rhythm can directly influence how well the body responds to flu infection (and, presumably, other infections too, but this was about influenza A.
This is not too surprising, because circadian rhythms regulate biological processes in individual organs and cells, and external cues—especially light and mealtimes—help synchronize these clocks, and thus play a part in regulating immune response.
You may be wondering: why does the body care what time it is when it comes to fighting an infection? Isn’t a flu infection casus belli for total war, and thus around-the-clock wave after wave of immune defense deployments?
And yes, it is. But consider: we’ve previously used the example of firefighters, when talking about acute vs chronic inflammation (we’ll link that article at the bottom of this section, for your references). That the problem with chronic inflammation is that the firefighters are overworked and exhausted after responding to a bajillion false alarms or trivial things that were not really the business of the fire service, so that when an actual fire breaks out, they’re not in good shape to combat it.
Let us add to this metaphor a little, and ask the question: what happens if all the firefighters are confused about what time it is? Will they coordinate well together, show up to shift on time, get a good night’s sleep after a day’s work, and so forth? No, there will be big gaps in the service; there will be times when there are too many firefighters trying to crowd into one place, and times when there’s a nobody around to answer the calls.
So it is with your immune system too.
Dr. Towers and her team tested this, and in so doing, showed how disrupting normal lighting patterns during a critical window removed the usual time-of-day protections (i.e., that immune response is usually better in the morning, for example) and produced an abnormal immune response, including excess inflammatory cells in the lungs. They also found that keeping a rhythmic meal schedule at least somewhat reduced the harm caused by disrupted light cues. Thus, it’s clear that both light/dark and appropriate regular mealtimes are important for this kind of regulation, and that while they work best if you have everything correct, getting one aspect correct (e.g. just the dark/light, or just the meal schedule) is already better than nothing.
You can read the paper in full, here: Effect of external cues on clock-driven protection from influenza A infection
This is also consistent, of course, with the generally good advice of “try to get good sleep”, which was item #1 in a previous main feature of ours:
Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters!
And see also, for that matter: What Harm Can One Sleepless Night Do? ← this is about how bad sleep ruins immune response, and is where we used to firefighters metaphor previously
In summary…
If you want to be able to fight the flu, then you need to take care of your circadian rhythm. For more on that, see:
The Circadian Rhythm: Far More Than Most People Know
…and:
Want to learn more?
Check out:
The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold: The Cold Truth About Respiratory Infections
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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Tomato vs Zucchini – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing tomato to zucchini, we picked the zucchini.
Why?
We’re calling this one for zucchini by the numbers, but tomatoes offer an important weapon in their arsenal that’s not to be overlooked.
In terms of macros, these two “vegetables that are technically fruits but people only mention it about tomatoes” are almost identical, with any difference being within margins of variation from one plant to another, thus, a tie here.
In the category of vitamins, tomato has more of vitamins A, B3, E, and K, while zucchini has more of vitamins B1, B2, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, and choline, winning this round.
Looking at minerals, tomato has more copper, while zucchini has more calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, winning easily.
When it comes to other considerations, tomatoes have more polyphenols in total, and also lycopene, which is not a polyphenol but is a very potent carotenoid with many properties comparable to those of polyphenols, and for the most part more strongly so. Thus, a win for tomatoes in this round.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for zucchini by the numbers, but as we say, lycopene’s not to be overlooked, so by all means do enjoy either or both (they go great together, after all); diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Lycopene’s Benefits For The Gut, Heart, Brain, & More
Enjoy!
Don’t Forget…
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