Food components are the building blocks of your body’s cells and therefore create an important line-of-defense against infections and common health conditions. Food has long been recognized as a contributor to, or prevention against, inflammatory diseases, like heart disease and type II diabetes. Concurrently, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is a novel human disease, which has been recognized to induce widespread systemic inflammation with adverse health effects, particularly in people with these existing inflammatory diseases. 

Significantly, COVID-19 is creating a watershed moment in history: people have and continue to make dramatic changes, many of which will persist into the future; this includes food behaviour changes. Forward-thinking people should take advantage of this opportunity to adapt changes that induce short and long-term benefits in health. This lecture will highlight the need for personal change to improve human health and how COVID-19 provides the opportunity to make this change and will also present the protective effects of key nutrients and how to include them in your diet.