We now know that there are trillions of viruses all around us and in our bodies. They're clearly vital for life. Conventional wisdom seems to be that there are just a few 'bad eggs' amongst them. Doesn't this seem a bit absurd? Doesn't 'Terrain theory' make more sense? Read here. We also know that we have a crisis of chronic disease, allergies, autism, infertility. Doesn't all this suggest that there is something fundamentally wrong with our approach to health?
Anyway... below is what many in the alternative medicine community are advocating in response to Covid. It is taken from here. It sure does seem odd that the focus is on vaccines (there has never been a safe vaccine for Coronavirus), masks, and surveillance, rather than on improving our health, thus making us less susceptible to Covid. Perhaps because there's more money in sickness than in wellness, (hence why doctors barely learn about nutrition at medical school - got to keep us all sick and drugged up!). STRENGTHENING THE INNATE IMMUNE SYSTEM
I believe that the key to protecting yourself from Covid-19 is to strengthen the innate immune system. The most important things you can do are to eat a strictly certified organic whole foods diet, spend significant time outside in the sunlight without sunscreen and without sunglasses, and stay away from major highways as much as possible to avoid toxic exhaust fumes.
Eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as healthy meats, seafood and dairy, will help assure an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C and vitamin D (along with vitamin A) are especially important for immune function. Many in the alternative medicine community are recommending high-dose vitamin C and/or high-dose vitamin D as therapies to treat acute cases of Covid-19.
A healthy gut microbiome is crucial for a healthy immune system, and one way to maintain a rich supply of probiotics is to eat fermented foods. It is intriguing to me that Germany and South Korea have both had significantly better mortality statistics from Covid-19 than other nations. The cuisine of both countries includes fermented cabbage as a commonly consumed food (kimchi in South Korea and sauerkraut in Germany). Cabbage is also beneficial because it is an excellent source of sulfur. Taiwan and Japan have also been relatively spared, and popular foods in those countries include “stinky tofu” and natto (fermented bean curd). The fermented tea kombucha is also highly recommended.
Flavonoids and terpenoids are complex organic molecules produced by plants that are often used as medicinal supplements. Flavonoids and terpenoids are responsible for the bright colors of many fruits and vegetables. A prototypical flavonoid is quercetin, a plant pigment found in many foods, including apples, berries, onions, green tea and red wine, as well as popular medicinal supplements such as ginkgo biloba and St. John’s wort. Terpenoids contribute to the scent of eucalyptus and the unique flavors of spices such as cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Terpenoids (also known as isoprenoids) have been shown to have antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. If your diet consists mainly of processed foods, then you will be deficient in flavonoids and terpenoids, and this can lead to increased susceptibility to disease.
SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE AND VITAMIN D
It has been noted that African Americans are significantly more susceptible to Covid-19 than other races. Part of the reason may be reduced access to quality nutrition, as low-income African Americans often live in areas known as “food deserts,” where fresh produce and seafood are less available, and organic choices are often nonexistent. But another factor may be vitamin D, as African Americans typically have significantly lower levels of vitamin D due to the fact that dark skin reduces the absorption of ultraviolet rays.
It may be significant that the Covid-19 outbreak occurred in the late winter and early spring in the Northern hemisphere, when vitamin D levels are typically at their lowest. Vitamin D deficiency contributes to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Vitamin D is known to exert antioxidant activity, which is crucial protection from the inflammatory cytokines released during the immune response.
While the recommendations from the literature are to take high doses of vitamin D, I would encourage spending significant time outdoors instead, if possible. As I have discussed in previous articles in this journal, sunlight exposure also induces cholesterol sulfate synthesis in the skin, and this is important for supplying sulfate to the vasculature and to the immune cells. This critically protects from both impaired immune function and thrombosis (blood clots).
In severe cases of Covid-19 with low oxygen levels in the blood, hospitals’ use of ventilators has been widespread. However, many have expressed concern that the ventilators are actually contributing to further damage to the already fragile lungs. The alternative medicine community is advocating the use of simple oxidizing agents such as ozone and chlorine dioxide (ClO2) in the treatment of Covid-19. Their pro-oxidant effects can directly kill viruses and thus reduce the viral load, and at the same time provide extra oxygen to fuel the body.
ClO2 is a simple molecule that has potent antimicrobial effects while remaining nontoxic to humans at low doses.66 ClO2 is particularly interesting to me because of its unique ability to oxidize sulfur. I theorize that oral ingestion of ClO2 promotes the synthesis of sulfate from organic sulfur-containing molecules such as taurine, and that this directly strengthens the innate immune system. Unfortunately, the medical establishment has been a harsh critic of ClO2, likening it to bleach, and this has made it difficult for clinicians to conduct controlled studies to evaluate its effectiveness.
The jury is still out on the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, promoted by President Trump as a potentially powerful treatment option for Covid-19. The doctor who introduced this idea to him was Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a doctor in New York City who claimed considerable success on his patients with Covid-19. One thing not often mentioned is that the treatment also included zinc sulfate supplements, and this aspect is probably very important. The drug is a zinc ionophore, and as such it promotes zinc uptake, which may be one of its primary benefits.
However, the drug is usually administered as hydroxychloroquine sulfate, so it too is providing sulfate to the patient. Strangely most practitioners never consider the idea that sulfate might be a crucial component of the drug or zinc supplement.
Heparin is the most highly sulfated molecule known to biology, and heparin is another therapy that is showing promise in treating Covid-19. It improved coagulation dysfunction, as evidenced by sharp reductions in D-dimer, and also exerted anti-inflammatory effects by reducing the levels of the inflammatory cytokine Il-6, as well as increasing the abundance of disease-fighting white blood cells (lymphocytes).
