Can Your Diet Boost Your Immunity?
The pandemic has introduced me, and probably many others, to the wasteland of daytime television. They present a buffet of mental cotton candy and pseudoscience that advance sales and ignore fact. Their approach reminds me of a quote by the author of the Exorcist, William Peter Blatty, “The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us, but he will also mix lies with the truth…” The devil is clearly in charge of programming for daytime television. (I’m guessing that you knew that already.)
Humans, dogs, fish, and squirrels, actually every animal on the planet, are all driven by fear. It keeps us alive and drives us to avoid injury and disease caused by novel organisms, such as the coronavirus. Those of us who use masks and avoid getting too close to others are looking for even greater levels of protection from this invisible and potentially deadly virus. Your television is bringing hope; false or otherwise, it does not matter as long as it is entertaining and fits into our pre-conceived notions about how to remain healthy.
For example, we are all well aware that eating a diet full of vegetables and fruits will help us live longer and healthier. Because most of us do not follow that dietary advice, we are primed for this piece of inaccurate advice: eating specific foods will protect us from the coronavirus. It makes obvious sense to everyone; except that there is no evidence that it is true. There is simply no evidence that consuming any particular food or nutritional supplement can protect us from the coronavirus.
Excerpted from Psychology Today
