Although these stressful times can lead to sleepless nights, it’s important for all kinds of health reasons to make the effort to get enough good quality sleep.  But the most pertinent reason right now is that it helps prevent viral infections. But how much sleep do you need to avoid getting a cold or perhaps COVID-19? According to a 2015 study, the answer is more than 6 hours a night. While poor sleep and not getting enough sleep had been implicated before in increased susceptibility to infectious illness, prior studies relied on subjective measures—that is individuals’ own assessments of their experience.  This study was different in that it used an objective measure called wrist actigraphy to assess occurrences of the common cold after the researchers gave 164 healthy participants nasal drops containing the rhinovirus.  Like COVID-19, the common cold is a coronavirus that infects the respiratory system. The study’s conclusion? Less sleep increased ris…

On March 19, President Donald Trump announced that he was very encouraged by what he had been hearing about chloroquine to treat the COVID-19 virus. His sentiments were based on a recently published Chinese study which showed that chloroquine could completely eradicate COVID-19 in a cell culture and on the subsequent successes reported by Chinese and South Korean doctors who were curing very sick patients with chloroquine and its derivative, hydroxychloroquine (which works in the same ways) often along with high-dose vitamin C and/or the antibacterial drug azithromycin. A French study published online in March reported using hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin to cure six COVID-19 patients. Eager to find a treatment for this devastating virus, researchers and doctors in the US and other countries have been experimenting with chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, with mixed results.  Unfortunately, these drugs can have pretty bad side effects, including organ damage and altering…

Government policies that throttle natural medicine are causing real harm right now by hampering our ability to take control of our own health during this pandemic. — Alliance for Natural Health “Some physicians would stand by and see their patient die rather than use ascorbic acid [vitamin C] because in their finite minds it exists only as a vitamin.” — F. R. Klenner, MD We invite you to add your voice to that of the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) in speaking out about the harm being done by our government’s single-minded focus on finding a pharmaceutical treatment for the COVID-19 virus while restricting what supplement manufacturers may say about the potentially life-saving abilities of vitamins and minerals supplements. Current law makes it illegal for manufacturers to claim that their supplements can help to prevent or treat disease even when good science backs up these claims.  Bedazzled by Big Pharma’s money and power, our government’s position inflates…

As we arm ourselves for our battle with COVID-19, we must not forget zinc.  This is especially true for those over the age of 40, and the need increases with increasing age. According to the US Department of Agriculture, 73% of Americans are deficient in zinc, and deficiency is especially found in older people—even those who report taking zinc supplements.  Zinc is one of the foundation nutrients needed for building a strong immune system. Even a small deficiency can significantly impair immune function. Research over the past twenty years has shown that having adequate zinc reserves in cells inhibits replication of the coronavirus family of viruses, of which COVID-19 is a member. If a virus can’t replicate (reproduce itself), it can quickly and easily be eradicated by the immune system.  Zinc has also been shown to restore vigor to immune cells and to reduce excess inflammation. Controlling excess inflammation is extremely important in COVID-19 infections b…

Our immune systems are exquisitely designed to protect us from pathogens, but we have to do our part by supplying our bodies with all the nutrients they need, by protecting them from toxins, and by exercising appropriately, getting enough sleep, and minimizing stress so our immune systems can work the way nature intended. We need essential vitamins and minerals to build a healthy immune system, particularly vitamins A, C, E, and many of the B vitamins, and the minerals zinc and selenium. With a virulent pathogen like the Coronavirus, it’s advisable to add herbals like Oregano Oil and Olive Leaf Extract. But one vitamin is especially critical to immune function: vitamin D. The immune system’s Natural Killer cells, which attack and kill bacteria, viruses and cancer cells, can’t be activated unless sufficient vitamin D is present. Vitamin D is also necessary for manufacturing the immune system’s own antivirals and antibiotics. When confronted by a virus almost all immune c…

When Dr. John J. Cannell was a psychiatrist working at a state prison hospital, unlike fellow doctors he gave his patients nutritional supplements to help them achieve better mental health.  Among these supplements were relatively large doses of vitamin D.  When a virulent influenza epidemic hit the hospital, every ward fell prey to the disease … except his ward, which remained disease free! This was one of many experiences with vitamin D that motivated Dr. Cannell to found the Vitamin D Council, a nonprofit educational organization that promotes vitamin D research and publicizes the widespread vitamin D deficiencies in our world population that have been implicated in all kinds of disease, including arthritis, cancer, heart disease, depression, diabetes, inflammation, musculoskeletal disorders, neurological problems, women's health issues, and weak immunity.  One reason the Coronavirus is ripping through the world’s population so ferociously is that coll…

For decades, pioneer doctors have used vitamin C with spectacular results when nothing else was working to save patients’ lives during viral epidemics and pandemics. Not in the puny doses employed by researchers who sought to discredit Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling’s claim that he’d found the cure for the common cold, but in megadoses, up to 150 grams a day intravenously (IV). However their work, even when they painstakingly recorded it in medical journals, was summarily dismissed by the medical establishment.  In a desperate search to help patients dying of COVID-19 related respiratory failure, the Chinese began using high-dose IV vitamin C, and last month the Shanghai government announced its official recommendation that COVID-19 should be treated with intravenous vitamin C at dosages equal to about 4-16 grams depending on body weight and severity of disease. Since IV vitamin C is ten times more powerful than oral vitamin C, this dosage would equal 40-160 grams of vitamin…

The good news about COVID-19 is that we can defeat this virus!  We’re learning more all the time about how to avoid contact with it, but even if the virus should find its way into our bodies, we can fortify our immune systems with nutrients comprising a mighty internal armoring system. Combining vitamin C, vitamin D, quercetin and zinc with a good diet and a high-quality multivitamin-mineral offers powerful protection against any virus that comes our way.   Ignored, minimized and invalidated by major media, building and maintaining a strong immune system is our only real defense against COVID-19. Focusing only on avoidance and waiting like sitting ducks for a vaccine to save us is dis-empowering and strips us of potent tools that are at our disposal—nutrients that have been shown in numerous studies and clinical situations to ramp up immune defenses in an extremely effective way. It’s not that easy for a virus to take hold in the body. Should it gain entry, it must first att…

COVID-19’s preferred habitat is the respiratory tract, where it is most life-threatening in the lungs.  Infected lungs can become so congested that breathing becomes impossible without the help of a ventilator, and even using a ventilator hasn’t been enough in some cases to prevent death. So now is a good time to give your lungs some special care and consideration.  If you already have lung problems, such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, you’re more apt to get serious complications like pneumonia from COVID-19.  And whether or not you have existing lung problems, air pollution exposure increases your risk.  According to Dr. Meredith McCormack, a spokeswoman for the American Lung Association and associate professor of pulmonary and critical care at Johns Hopkins University, recently quoted in the New York Times , “Increased pollution increases susceptibility to infection. . . . All things being equal, a person exposed to…

Although hand sanitizers and other antiviral cleaning products are disappearing from supermarket shelves, you may already have all the products you need to combat COVID-19, and they’re non-toxic and cheaper. Much of the information here is taken from a recent article in Consumer Reports. COVID-19 is enveloped in a coating that allows it to merge with our body cells and infect them.  If you can disrupt this coating, you can deactivate the virus.  Fortunately, this is pretty easy to do. Soap and water do this job very well. The friction from scrubbing a surface with soap and water can break the virus’s protective coating. The operative word here is “scrub.”  Don’t just wipe the surface lightly; bear down as if you’re removing dirt or something sticky.  Leave the rag you’ve used in a bowl of soapy water for a while to destroy any remaining virus particles.  (A note of interest, if the virus makes its way inside your body, vitamin D…

Most people have heard of Louis Pasteur, a famous French biologist and chemist who lived during the 19 th century and invented “pasteurization.” As a proponent of the “germ theory of disease” (the belief that disease is caused by germs), Pasteur is one of the fathers of modern medicine.  However there were equally well-known scientists in Pasteur’s day who didn’t agree with him. Germs, they argued, couldn’t gain a foothold in a truly healthy body.  Chief among these critics was physiologist Claude Bernard. Bernard held that our body’s “inner terrain” (or immune system) determines our health. He is unknown today because his ideas lost out to the germ theory. But Pasteur himself is reputed to have said on his deathbed, “Bernard was right. The microbe [germ] is nothing; the terrain is everything.”  So it’s dismaying that the advice given to the public regarding COVID-19 seems to be based on the theory that “the virus is everything; the terrain…

As studies on its remarkable benefits continue to accumulate, supplemental curcumin is becoming increasingly popular, with a host of different products and formulations, at a wide range of prices, each claiming to be the best.  As a consumer, how can you evaluate the different products out there?  There are certain things you can look for on a product label, but all too often the information you really need isn’t on the label, and sometimes what’s on the label isn’t even in the product!  For example, a report from Consumer Lab, which tests various supplements and makes this information known to the public, found that 20% of the turmeric/curcumin supplements they tested delivered less than 15% of the amount of curcumin claimed on the product label! Also, contaminants, like lead, which was recently found in curcumin coming from Bangladesh, would hardly be listed on any label. A major question when it comes to curcumin is bioavailability. There are various…

If you come from a family where heart disease has affected loved ones, or if you have heart disease yourself, you no doubt have a special anxiety about having a sudden heart attack or stroke. But heart attacks and strokes, like all forms of disease, are preventable.  It takes care and attention, but the rewards are great and the penalties severe. Anyone worried about heart disease needs to know about the wonderful things the supplement curcumin can do to help strengthen your cardiovascular system and reverse many of the risk factors involved in heart disease. High Blood Pressure. Curcumin lowers high blood pressure through multiple means. As a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, curcumin protects blood vessels from oxidation and inflammatory damage. Curcumin improves the function of the inner lining of blood vessels, called the endothelium, which secretes signaling molecules that control blood pressure. Curcumin improves blood vessel elasticity; in one…

The secret to erasing arthritic pain is reducing inflammation. This is because inflammation does two things: it produces the swelling and sensitivity that causes pain, and it releases chemicals that break down protective cartilage around your joints, which causes even more pain over time. So if you can reduce inflammation, you can both alleviate pain and disability now AND prevent further deterioration of your joints.  Anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil and Tylenol are generally recommended for this purpose, however every one of them has serious harmful side effects, one of them being long-term destruction of joint cartilage ! As the drugs cause your joints to continue to deteriorate, you will of course need more and more of the drug to manage your pain, and this will cause even more deterioration. The good news is that it’s possible to live a pain-free life even with advanced osteoarthritis! In fact, patients with no cartilage left to cushion one or m…

There’s a good reason why Asians who consume lots of curries retain sharp mental function and little cognitive decline with age. It’s turmeric, the spice that gives curries their golden color. More specifically, it’s the curcumin found in turmeric. The best way to maintain a healthy, highly functional brain is to prevent out-of-control brain oxidation (“brain rust”) and its partner in crime, brain inflammation (“brain on fire”). And one of the best supplements you can take to do this is curcumin, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory that is uniquely beneficial to the brain. A recent double-blind, placebo-controlled trial done at UCLA found that when older adults with mild memory complaints were given just 180 milligrams of curcumin a day for a year and a half, they significantly improved their performance on memory and attention tests, enhanced their mood, and had less amyloid and tau (associated with Alzheimer’s disease) in the parts of their brains that control memory and…

“Controlling the triggers of age-related inflammation could extend healthspan.”–Yale School of Medicine. Allergies, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease—almost every American today is already suffering or will suffer at some point in their lifetimes from an inflammatory-related disease like these. But it doesn’t need to be that way! You can spot inflammation and subdue it before it gets out of control and leads to a chronic disease! What exactly is inflammation? Inflammation is the body’s healing response to injury, illness or infection. It brings heat and extra blood supplies where repairs are needed. After the job has been done, the inflammatory process should shut down.  But sometimes it doesn’t.  Instead, it smolders on, becoming chronic inflammation. Nutrient deficiencies and toxicities encourage chronic inflammatory fires that smolder and build until one day they flare up and burn out of control, producing disease. I…

Researched extensively since the 1990s, more than 120 clinical trials and thousands of research papers have focused on curcumin’s remarkable health benefits. What is curcumin?  Curcumin is the principal active ingredient of turmeric, the spice that gives Indian curries their golden color. In India, turmeric is revered as “holy powder,” and it has played a major role in traditional Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine for centuries. Curcumin is now being studied in search of possible remedies for some of the major epidemics of our time. Curcumin beneficially affects the expression of more than 700 genes and influences numerous biochemical pathways at the same time. Its unique and powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects make it extraordinarily beneficial for every system in the body.  Arthritis and any other "itis."  If you've got any of the "itis" diseases, your symptoms are caused by chronic inflammation. Studies have shown that curc…

About one in 23 men and one in 25 women in the US will develop colon cancer during their lifetimes.  Although using colonoscopies to find and remove cancerous polyps has reduced the overall death rate from colon cancer, among people younger than age 55, deaths from colon cancer have increased 2 percent per year from 2007 and 2016. Could there be a relationship between colon cancer and the observation that almost all Americans are deficient in fiber?  We think so. So did a group of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, who joined forces with the University of KwaZulu in rural Africa to compare the diets of African Americans and rural Africans.  African Americans have especially high rates of colon cancer, 13 times higher than rural Africans; and the researchers hypothesized that the rural Africans’ high-fiber, low-fat diets had something to do with this. To test their ideas, the researchers compared the diets and also the microbiota (gut bugs) of a…