COVID-19 Impacts - Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Thurlow

Live Well. Be Well.

Some of the highlights of the show include:

• Cynthia’s second TED Talk occurred after being hospitalized for more than two weeks with sepsis from a ruptured appendix. Cynthia, coming back from the brink of death after being a healthy person her entire life, was reaffirmed in her belief that “mindset is everything.”
• According to Cynthia, making a lifestyle strategy for your best health is like creating a recipe — there is not a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy. You have to stick with it, whether it be finding the real, nutrient-dense foods that work with your body best, the right fasting schedule (if it works for you), the right workout routine, and so on. It’s a process.
• The three key things that Cynthia swears by for living better, even more critically during these trying times, include sleep, the quality of foods consumed, as well as stress reduction. Sleep is critical to people of all ages, and you need to aim for seven to eight hours of quality sleep each night. Furthermore, you should be mindful of the foods you’re putting in your body, and try to “eat the rainbow.” Lastly, move your body each day. It does not have to be complicated.
• John, too, summed the above point up with doing things that “nourish your mind, body, and spirit.”
• In regards to Cynthia’s access to her colleagues at top academic centers in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cynthia asserts that the single most important thing we can all do is stay home. A lack of doing so, on top of other health precautions discussed, is not only putting the immunocompromised at risk but also the very frontline healthcare workers who are meant to treat them.
• Cynthia is familiar with what the front lines in healthcare entail, as she served as an ER nurse and later an NP working in cardiology. She asserts that as a nation we were not prepared for this pandemic, and it’s difficult to hear how stressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed her colleagues are.
• John and Cynthia both discuss in greater detail the overarching importance of taking care of one’s personal health during this time, and that as people our focus needs to always consider what’s best for our personal health. Cynthia discusses that the overwhelming majority of fatalities during this pandemic are due to individuals having some other co-morbidity — i.e. obesity, diabetes, and so on.
• How can listeners live well and be well based on these discussions? It starts with small changes each day — getting better sleep, eating more nutrient-dense foods, relieving stress, moving, and nourishing your spirit. Over time, these changes will compound greatly.

Links:

• Website: https://cynthiathurlow.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/_CynthiaThurlow
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynthia_thurlow_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chtwellness