#BTColumn – Diet and COVID deaths

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Kammie Holder

I live fewer than 200 feet from the ocean and have a constant supply of sodium chloride via inhalation. It wreaks havoc on everything within its reach, nothing escapes the attack from this raw sodium chloride.

The vehicle is bleached, aluminum is eaten, crops are burnt, concrete walls are corroded and even my soil is extremely saline.

The aforementioned was a precursor for my essay and the need for Barbadians to eliminate the corrosive sodium chloride from their diet.

If ever there was an incentive, COVID-19 has provided one. Persons with sodium chloride-related illnesses like hypertension, heart disease and kidney failure, need to be scared into rebooting their intake of this corrosive substance.

Sodium chloride is often mistaken as one of the much needed electrolytes sodium which is needed for electrical impulses of nerves and muscles in the body. It helps regulate the intracellular water balance of the cells.

The history of sodium chloride or common salt is rooted from the era of Anglo Saxon times when a solution was sought to protect meat from decay. Smoking of meats which is still used today the world over and salting of meats are used to preserve meats from rot.

Over time our taste buds evolved to accept salty foods as flavourful and anything without the corrosive sodium chloride as fresh and tasteless. Another myth is that sodium chloride be it rock salt from the Dead Sea or anywhere else is less corrosive. Do not fall for the deceitful marketing gimmick.

Sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, chloride, phosphorus and bicarbonate are electrolytes which our bodies need for proper functioning.

Why not plant some sweet peppers, celery, okras, cabbage, okras, bananas, beans during the lockdown within your curtilage or create a community garden.

You are what you eat at the cellular level and thus a change in diet can help to eliminate or reduce your vulnerability
to a COVID-19 related death.

I have a strong belief that persons always do what is of utmost importance in a highly disruptive world where our conscience is always bombarded with competing interest.

You can find all the reasons not to act to reduce your vulnerability or you can be motivated in the face of death all around you to change your eating habits and live a less lethargic life.

Pot salt is corrossive, eat vegetables and be on your way to ensure proper sodium and electrolyte balance. The man who finds reason not to is no less correct than the man who thinks he can. It’s about choices.

Fuhget bout wha de Joneses gine seh, dig up de lawn and plant food!