A big part of why I became a functional medicine practitioner is the lack of options traditional medicine has to offer, and it’s never been more clear how lacking it is than now. Don’t get me wrong, if I have an accident, or need surgery I’m all in, but when it comes to prevention, supporting the immune system, and in this case, healing from a virus, it’s lacking.
I understand why so many people are living in fear right now. There is such an overwhelming sense of having no control, no options, and most people just feel like they are waiting to take the bullet at any second. I know I would feel the same way if functional medicine hadn’t saved my ass so many times.
Everyone wants a pill or a vaccine to make everything ok, but traditional medicine doesn’t have any of that right now so people are freaked out.
I’ll play to that group and offer a list of supplements that have proven to be lifesaving, but I would be remise not to cover lifestyle changes as they are at the core of how to avoid getting ill regardless of what the name of the illness is.
The practice I go to as a patient is The Center for Holistic Medicine in West Bloomfield, Michigan. First, I want to show you a video from Dr. Brownstein (with The Center for Holistic). It’s an interview with Dr. B and a Covid 19 survivor. I’ll give you a list of what they did to help turn everything around for the Covid 19 patient, as well as adding a few things. The methods discussed in the video are nothing new, and are widely known about and used throughout the functional medicine community. The methods discussed are things I’ve been doing every year for the past ten years to get us through our yearly flu season that kills tens of thousands of people every year. UPDATE: THE VIDEO WAS TAKEN DOWN AND LL DR.B’S blog posts were forced to be taken down. This is the world we live in folks. Modalities that work are being suppressed. Not conspiracy theory here, just reality. I’m keeping it up, as it is, as a reminder. We do have control over our health, you just have to know how to find the information. All the information in this blog post has what is in the video. The video was nice because it humanized things. The man in the video was crying and thought he was going to die, but then he started nebulizing the hydrogen peroxide solution (mixed in proper ratios) and immediately started to recover. Dr. Brownstein’s practice treated well over 100 people who tested positive for Covid with a 100% success rate. Those people included the elderly, obese and diabetic. There were multiple You Tube videos of patients in tears talking about how scared they were that they were going to die, and knew they didn’t want to die alone in a hospital. Dr. B helped them all with nebulizing treatments, supplements and ozone in many cases.
Let’s go over the recommendations discussed in the interview, and Dr. B’s recommendations and then I’ll add to the list. I have to preface this by saying some of these supplements are difficult to get right now because in my circles everyone was stockpiling these months ago (not toilet paper), but the suppliers are hard at work to get them back into circulation. Also, quality matters! You get what you pay for. People often complain that they are taking supplements but they aren’t working. It’s usually because the ones they are taking are garbage, or they are taking them incorrectly.
All the items I’m going to go over in this post are controversial, but there is an abundance of data to back it all up. Given the fact that I’m juggling homeschooling and caring for four children, I simply cannot fully explain in detail each and every suggestion,so I’ll just attach hyperlinks throughout the post for you to research more if you choose to. You could write many books on each and every one of these therapies, but I’m going to make this as concise as possible.
Dr. B’s antiviral protocol for his patients during acute illness or exposure to someone ill:
Vitamin A (NOT beta carotene)
– Adults: 100,000 IU/day for four days for adults (not pregnant or breast-feeding women)
– Children 25-50 pounds: 20,000 IU/day for four days
– Children 50-100 pounds: 50,000 IU/day for four days
Vitamin D3
– Adults: —50,000 IU/day for four days
– Children 25-50 pounds: 10,000 IU/day
– Children: 50-100 pounds: 25,000 IU/day
(Note: Both Vitamin A and D are fat-soluble vitamins. They can build up in the body. These doses are NOT meant to be taken for longer than four days at time. If you need to repeat the doses, seek advice from your physician.)
Vitamin C: 5-10,000 mg/day. If you can take more, do it. If you get loose stools, lower it.
Iodine: 25-100 mg/day and more if ill. Kids can take lower doses.
-Children: A useful number is to use 0.08mg/pound.
Those recommendations – or close to it- are given by most functional practitioners at this time across the board.
My added side note about Vitamin C: Not all are created equal. Taking a vitamin C pill with lunch won’t do the trick. It needs to be intravenous (IV) or Lipsomal (taken two hours after meals or 45 minutes before). I know large quantities of Vitamin A can make some people nervous, but megadosing is just for a few days. Renowned Harvard Professor Dr. David Sinclair and author of Lifespan (which I highly recommend reading)also recommends this dose for Covid, as does Dr. Ben Lynch. Dr. Lynch’s company, Seeking Health, makes my favorite Vitamin A supplement, but it’s been out of stock for awhile. He’s diligently trying to get more back on the shelves so keep checking.
Since this situation began months ago (not weeks) I’ve been routinely doing vitamin C IVs with B vitamins, zinc and glutathione.
I do not take the same supplements everyday. This is super important to remember. Every vitamin and mineral has pros and cons. The body is complex and it cannot be simplified the way most people would like it to be. For example, Vitamin C is high in oxalates, so while it can be great, I don’t take it everyday. During this pandemic era we are living in I take 2,000 mg liposomal C every other day, liposomal glutathione every other day (when I get an IV I do a double dose). I take 50-100 mg zinc on alternate days, Moringa, Krill oil, and a polyphenol supplement. Yes polyphenols are found in wine and some foods, but to get the amount you need to reap their benefits, adding in a supplement -especially during this time- is not a bad idea.
Quercetin also plays a major role here. Covid 19 creates a cytokine storm – as does the flu and other viral infections. Cytokines are a normal inflammatory response to illness – yes inflammation can be a good thing when you need it -but when it gets out of control it leads to sepsis – which is what you see many Covid 19 patients dying from. 500 mg of quercetin 3 times a day can greatly help calm the inflammatory response. I’m currently taking 500 mg once a day while this virus is running it’s course in the world. Quercetin is amazing for seasonal allergies as well. It was also useful when I was recovering from mold toxicity.
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is another supplement I would add in if I thought I was having Covid 19 symptoms. I first fell in love with NAC when I started using it for one of my son’s yearly bouts with Croup cough. Now that we are free of mold, he no longer gets croup, but at the time I would give him one pill and within 15 minutes his coughing would stop.
I’m currently taking 5,000 mg of D3, but if I fell ill I would take the dosage Dr. B recommends.
I’ve written about iodine in the thyroid post I did, and I take it daily. I also use iodine in a nebulizer (and alternate with hydrogen peroxide) if anyone in the house has the flu, or any other respiratory illness. It’s been a life ever many times! When my son used to get the croup I would give him and NAC and do a nebulizer treatment and he would go to sleep right after for the rest of the night. I always take a nebulizer with us when we travel as well. Before I discovered this holistic way of addressing respiratory illnesses we would just run to the ER in the middle of the night for steroid treatments. That was over ten years ago and it’s still shocking to think we used to live that way.
Dr. B discusses nebulizing iodine and hydrogen peroxide so I’ll quote him directly:
With my patients, I have them nebulize Lugol’s 5% solution. I tell them to put 1-2 drops of Lugol’s 5% in 3cc of normal saline and nebulize the mixture. For hydrogen peroxide, food grade hydrogen peroxide should be used. We mix up a bag of normal saline and add hydrogen peroxide along with minerals. It is similar to the IV version that we infuse into patients. My cousin, (from the video), was experiencing shortness of breath and had flu-like symptoms. We were in a pinch since he was 200 miles away. In this case, I had his wife dilute food grade—35%–peroxide down to 3% using clean, sterile water. Then, 3cc of that diluted mixture was further diluted in 250 cc of normal saline. Finally, 3 cc of the saline-diluted mixture can be nebulized. With hydrogen peroxide, it is much more effective to use the version compounded in our office. The office version is only available to our patients. We do not sell that to the public. I often have my patients alternate nebulizing between H202 and iodine. I would not recommend nebulizing more than 3 times per day. Iodine can cause some dryness of the throat. Peroxide usually causes no adverse effects.” People are really responding to the idea of nebulizing and Dr. B addresses it in more detail in subsequent blog posts.
I use the ratio of 3mL 3% food grade hydrogen peroxide to 200mL of normal saline (make sure no preservatives in saline solution). Then, 3mL of this solution can be used to nebulize, but it only lasts for a few days before a new batch should be made.
Two therapies that I have at home that aren’t that widely used in most homes are PEMF and Ozone therapy. I used to go to the Center for these treatments frequently so we invested in having them at home, and they are really paying off at a time like this. PEMF machines lower inflammation and help heal physical injuries, but they also help lower cytokine levels. I used to get ozone therapy for dealing with lyme co-infections and mold, but now I have an ozone sauna that I use a few times a week. Ozone kills viruses and bacteria while simultaneously making your immune system stronger. Traditional medicine does have antibiotics to kill bacteria, but they definitely don’t make you stronger at the same time – they do however make the bacteria stronger and turns them into super bugs who are becoming resistant to antibiotics. They are not however resistant to ozone. While the world was fearing Ebola, functional medicine was eradicating it with Ozone. For those of you who don’t have ozone therapy at home, you may want to find a practitioner who offers it.
The last supplement I like as it relates to Covid 19 is melatonin. I saved it for last because it leads us into the importance of lifestyle choices and why they are so critical right now. Melatonin helps reduce inflammation, and will help reduce the cytokine storm. Melatonin production declines as we age. It’s one theory why Covid 19 is largely affecting the older population while the youth is in large part being spared. Melatonin is produced in the gut, and most people in this country have poor gut health so they don’t produce enough. (my past posts explain in more detail how glyphosate and gluten play large roles in gut health) If you were ever looking for the right time to take care of your gut health, now is the time. It also has the added benefit of helping you sleep, which many people are struggling with right now. Screen time (light) inhibits our body’s natural ability to produce melatonin, so cutting off the emails, social media, and news as early as you can is best.
Sleep is the number one thing we need to be doing right now – and doing it properly. Interference with Melatonin production is also a result of those working night shifts. This puts our frontline medical workers at increased risk of illness. Timing does matter. Every hour of sleep we get before 10pm equals two hours of sleep after 12 am. Getting to bed by ten is really critical, so is staying on a consistent sleep schedule to optimize, and be true to your body’s circadian rhythm. Again , as with any supplement, I wouldn’t use melatonin everyday.
Every bite of food we put in our mouth either creates inflammation, or reduces it. Now is the time you want to be aware of your own individual food sensitivities. Pay attention to the way you feel after you eat certain foods, and eliminate those that make you feel tired or bloated. Stabilizing blood sugar is crucial. Blood sugar spikes creates inflammation, and lowers your immune system, making you susceptible to illness and viruses. I’m sure you’ve heard over and over on the news, that a large portion of Covid 19 mortalities are overweight individuals. Obesity in a chronic state of inflammation – the exact thing Covid creates. So chill on those trips to the kitchen while we’re all at home. That can be difficult, but I’m hoping this information will motivate you to make better lifestyle choices to protect yourself as much as possible from getting sick.
Drinking alcohol is also going to make you more susceptible to viruses, and it will decreases your natural ability to fight them off. It disrupts blood sugar levels, hormones, increases inflammation, interferes with sleep, and lowers your immune system. I get why everyone wants to drink their way through quarantine, but now is really the time to strengthen our bodies in every way we can.
Even though we are indoors, we need to make an effort to exercise at least five days a week. Endurance activities like biking or running for prolonged periods of time can actually lower your immune system, but short bursts of cardio, and weights keep your muscles strong and increases lung capacity. Strong lungs are a necessity when there’s a respiratory virus making it’s rounds – whether it’s corona or the flu.
I realize most people lost interest during the end of this post. Most people know what they should and shouldn’t be doing, but it’s not easy, and kind of boring. Getting proper sleep and not overindulging in the wrong foods and alcohol is like quarantine. Doing little to nothing, and yet having the greatest impact. People like supplements because it makes them feel like they are actively doing something, but it’s our daily, mundane lifestyle choices that have the greatest influence over our health. You keep hearing the concept of underlying conditions being the greatest risk factor for Covid, but underlying conditions are created by lifestyle choices.
I would also like to point out that many “underlying conditions” are often not known by individuals. We keep hearing stories of “healthy” people who are currently on ventilators. Many Americans are unknowingly living with an autoimmune disease. Many Americans are pre-diabetic and don’t know it. Many Americans (1/4) are genetically susceptible to mold and living in moldy homes and don’t know it. 50% of buildings in this country have water damage – especially in big cities. Not to mention all the people who have Lyme disease in this country and areLyme that they do. Now is the time to get to know your body, and your environment on a deeper level. My kids and I used to be really susceptible to respiratory illnesses, but aren’t anymore because we cleared our bodies of mold, and we do not live in a moldy home.
Before I conclude, I have a quick side note about the flu vaccine. I’m not anti vaccine, and I really don’t want to get into this area, but there is research showing the flu vaccine actually increases your risk for Covid 19 and I feel compelled to share. I’ve provided links if you would like to read more. I’ve also included a great deal of links throughout this post if you’re interested in diving deeper into any of the topics.
Although I’m usually not one to support the pharmaceutical industry, this is a case study from 2005. Dr. Fauci was actually in agreement with this study (well documented) and supported they use of Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine for PROPHYLACTIC and THERAPEUTIC use. That was SARS 1, this is SARS 2, but the efficacy has been shown time and time again during this pandemic. One of the reasons hydroxychloroquine is so effective is that it suppresses the overreactive immune response, but it also serves as a zinc ionophore, which allows zinc to be pushed into the cell to stop the virus’ replication. Quercetin is also an zinc ionophore, and is highly effective at pushing zinc intercellular.
This is not a full and complete list of all the supplements I take. It’s just what I’m adding to my routine for the current Covid 19 outbreak. I’m not a doctor, and this is not intended to be medical advice. This is merely meant to be a resource, and to encourage further research on the part of the reader. Please consult your physician before changing your supplement or health regimen.
Final Thoughts From Dave Asprey
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