Because I simply learned to cook from scratch, I've always done it, at least most of the time. By the time I married my second husband (now nearly 40 years ago), he was an insulin dependent diabetic, so cooking from scratch became even more important, to avoid sugar, salt, and fat, as well as to provide the proper amounts of meat, veggies, fruit, and carbs at specific meals. Later, we had our own business, and he worked exclusively for one client, a boat manufacturer, primarily selling boats. That included nine trade shows every winter: loading two boats and trailers onto a big trailer, plus a third boat and trailer on top of the pickup he was driving/towing the big trailer with. Generally, each week was driving most of a day, and setting up, followed by four 12-hour days selling boats and then a shorter 8-hour day that ended by packing up and driving for at least a couple of hours. The week ended with a day driving the rest of the way home, and loading up to leave the next morning. The shows took place Jan-March, and most of the people, exhibitors and the crowd, were sneezing and coughing. Due to his diet requirements, I precooked dinners and sent them plus fixings for breakfast and lunch--no show food at all. During the last few years he did shows, he only had about 30% kidney function, plus the brittle diabetes, but he never, ever had even a sniffle. Neither of us can remember the last time we had a cold, let alone the flu. We never had flu shots, just didn't ever get sick.

Recently, one of the treatments for Covid is a med that helps to achieve the proper balance of bacteria in the gut. Now, I'm wondering if avoiding prepared foods with lists of various chemicals didn't maintain healthy guts for us. Many of the chems in foods are there to avoid spoilage, so it makes sense that they might interfere with the natural bacteria that are supposed to be present in our guts. Since Covid, there was also a forest fire near our little town, so I've not only done my usual volunteer work of feeding homeless people, but did fire relief for over a year in addition. In spite of Covid, I was out and about almost every day. Sometimes, right after the fire, all we could do was give someone a hug, ignoring the rules about social distancing. For the past several months, my husband has been out in public to attend fly fishing club meetings and tying sessions. Yes, we have been careful about masking, but, even so, neither of us has contracted Covid. I really believe that avoiding additives in processed foods is a BIG DEAL.