Unmasked — but it’s no red card for Posh
FASHION designer Victoria Beckham turned heads for an unusual reason yesterday when she paid a visit to her Mayfair store.
The former Spice Girl, 46, entered her shop at lunchtime without a face mask — which, under Covid restrictions, is banned by the Government.
However, the mother of four, who sported a £1,490 red dress and £450 hot pink heels from her own collection, was not breaking any rules, for she had briefly closed her store to the public for ‘festive filming’.
An insider assures me: ‘Everyone else on set was wearing masks. Obviously, as Victoria was on camera, she didn’t wear one.’
4. SALT
MOST people are told to cut down on their salt intake, but salt isn’t a poison — it’s an essential mineral.
In fact, not getting enough salt has been shown to lead to poor metabolic health, with problems such as insulin resistance (where your cells no longer respond to the hormone insulin, leading to raised blood sugar levels); raised levels of harmful fats in the blood called triglycerides; and lower levels of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol — all of which are associated with illness and, recently, worse Covid-19 outcomes.
A lack of salt has been shown to worsen sleep and exercise performance, and can lead to fatigue, exactly what you don’t want to happen when you are trying to support your immune system. Salt is also used by the immune system directly to help kill off invading pathogens — the chloride (found in salt) is secreted by immune cells in the form of hypochlorous acid, which destroys harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi. Thus, salt is extremely important for immune function.
In addition, chloride is used to form something called taurine chloramine in the body, which helps combat inflammation during viral infections. Studies have also shown that using salt gargles plus salt nasal irrigations (using sterile water with salt to flush out the nasal passages) within 48 hours of signs of an upper respiratory tract infection can cut the duration of illness by nearly two days.
These techniques also reduce the need for over-the-counter medication by 36 per cent, cut transmission of the infection within household contacts by 35 per cent, and reduce viral shedding (when a virus replicates inside your body). And unrefined salts, such as pink Himalayan rock salt, can contain the essential mineral iodine, which is important for thyroid health and immune health. In fact, iodine is a mineral that many people in the UK could be deficient in as a result of their diet choices. Typically, most adults need around 150 mcg of iodine per day, which can be obtained from the diet in foods such as eggs, shellfish, dairy and cheese.