Health in the time of Covid

Battling inflammation, insomnia and toxicity.

DISCLAIMER:

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you are seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.

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Many people have been asking for more information on how to keep our bodies in good condition to make things easier if we are exposed to toxins in the environment. As I am not a doctor, I will speak about the experiences individuals have had from our research groups. I will look briefly in to the mechanisms that cause certain symptoms and how we are attempting to mitigate them.

Inflammation is one of the key factors in many illnesses, including of course Covid-19. New research papers indicate that it might even cause or exacerbate heart disease for example, narrowing the arteries and subsequently causing blockages and stress on the heart muscle.

What are the causes of inflammation? Inflammation is an immune system reaction to damaged cells. If you cut your hand, you will notice, after the cut has formed a plug of clotting platelets, that the sides of the cut start to swell a little and go red. This indicates that the site of the cut is being flooded with neutrophils, which release cytokines and other wound healing mediators. It is the neutrophils, which neutralise toxins and pathogens, that cause the inflammation (swelling) assisted by machrophages (monocytes on alert) that consume all dead cellular matter. How bad the cut is, if it was a clean cut, if dirt/bacteria were introduced, and how efficiently your immune system is able to act on the injury and pathogens, dictate how long it takes, and how well the wound will heal. The same applies to any cell based injury throughout the body.

With Covid-19 we are seeing what appears to be multi system inflammation, which implies that damage is being done to cells throughout the body. Connecting back to the article on ‘Is it really the Great Awakening?’, extensive damage that might be caused by radiation or chemicals. DNA damage through the course of our daily lives is fairly easy for the body to deal with and mend. It is when the body becomes overwhelmed by the scale of damage that we need to take steps to help our bodies cope.

Clearing out the bad

Many of us started this health journey understanding that the initial goal was to clean our systems of anything toxic that might be embedded in our cells already, and to develop a protocol for daily cleaning to support us through high levels of toxic exposure.

We have found some of the best cleaners of toxins and particularly heavy metals are single cell blue/green algae and other powders. Taking a daily juice with up to 9 grams of chlorella for example, has helped remove whatever was causing the magnetic shoulders and sternum. Not only that, it is incredibly nutrient dense with multiple essential vitamins minerals and protein. Chlorella seems very good at releasing heavy metals from the tissues, and barley grass juice powder is good at soaking them up and eliminating them through the gut. Spirulina is another single cell algae, which has slightly larger cells than Chlorella, so very good for soaking up heavy metals in the gut. Wild Blueberry powder is indicated in the removal of toxins, also incredibly nutritious.

Image from Further Food dot com

You may have noticed over the last few years, the increase of green algae on the surface of ponds and waterways, and read stories about dogs getting sick when they swim in it. We surmised that it wasn’t the algae making the dogs sick, but what it was soaking up. Algae seems to bloom when toxins are present, providing a much needed buffer between toxic elements and the life in the water. Therefore, it is important to source all your powders and algae from reputable companies. Call them and ask where these are grown. We pick from areas we know are not currently contaminated, such as Scandinavia, Canada and some eastern European countries. Chlorella we get from a specific supplier as it is grown in China, and this one we know is uncontaminated. (Details in post on the Emergency News Channel, Telegram together with the link to this article).

Sugar

The process of cleaning the body also involves taking out everything from our diets that might add to the toxic load. Refined sugars from a wide range of sources, and processed grain-based carbohydrates, feed and sustain an inflamed system. Excess sugars in the blood stream and tissues suppress essential neutrophil activity. This results in proliferation of bacteria, fungi, and prevents clearance of toxins, leading to a rise in acidity in the blood. So it might not be the acidic state of the body that is the cause of illness, it is how it becomes acidic that causes the illness. Bacteria and fungi are opportunists and will settle in to whatever tissues have been compromised by toxin damage, or merely because the system is too full of blood glucose (sugar) to be able to clean normally.

Avoiding more chemicals

Whatever we eat should be as devoid of chemicals or other additives as possible. Again these seem to be present in most processed foods, so sticking to a diet of fresh meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and fruit is highly beneficial. We have been asked if organic food is still organic, given the current contamination in the soil and air. The answer to that is probably not, in terms of what it is exposed to in the process of growing - soil, air and water. Can organic produce from good seed stock be more nutritionally beneficial overall than non organic seed stock produce? Harvard thinks not.

We look carefully at where produce is grown or reared, and match up to where we know contamination has been higher or lower and prepare accordingly. Cutting the animal fats out of the diet is beneficial unless animals have been reared indoors or in cleaner climates. Toxins can accumulate in fat reserves. Dairy cows, if their grasslands are exposed to radiation and toxins, will concentrate those in their milk. Peeling vegetables and fruit, if grown in more contaminated areas, is also useful. Some countries, like Spain and Holland, grow under greenhouse conditions to allow produce all year round, so winter salad produce from Europe should be relatively clean. We eat root vegetables and peel according to how healthy the crop looks. The less uniform the growth, the more we peel!

Image from Grosvenor Market dot com

What are you drinking?

What about the Water? We started filtering water with a carbon or ceramic filter system, but some people still noticed stomach, skin and other issues despite the clean diet and water filtering. Switching to distilled water seemed to resolve much of these whilst aerial contaminants were at a minimum. Distilling removes all particulates, minerals and heavy metals from the water and a carbon filter bag in the nozzle of most machines removes any volatile compounds. Some people add electrolytes back in to the water, some choose not to. Reverse osmosis is a good alternative. While the set up can be prohibitive, the running costs are comparable to distilling. Many people switched their pets to drinking filtered water and they have also shown improvements. There is some disagreement about the benefits of distilled water. Some say that we loose essential minerals, however, from research it appears that minerals present in ground source water are non-organic, therefore less bioavailable to the body. Minerals found in fresh food is organic, therefore more easily utilised by the body. Some of the most hydrating fluids are obtained from eating watermelon and other high water content fruits, and coconut water.

Supplementing for health

Vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplements are very useful where levels are depleted in illness. The antioxidant group sets to work when there are free radicals in the system - free radicals are ‘an especially reactive atom or group of atoms that has one or more unpaired electrons [ … ] produced in the body by natural biological processes or introduced from an outside source [ … ] that can damage cells, proteins, and DNA by altering their chemical structure’ [Merriam Webster]. Radiation can also ‘break the bonds holding water molecules together. This creates hydrogen (H+) and hydroxyls (OH-) ions.’ [Let’s talk science] otherwise known as free radicals. This process can also lead to dehydration.

Antioxidants that neutralise free radicals are Vitamins A, C, E, Carotenoids (produce with red/orange/yellow colour), Zinc, Selenium, Copper and Flavonoids. They lend free radicals electrons, making them less harmful. If your body is teaming with free radicals from exposure to a particularly polluted environment, then extra intake of these antioxidants is important, as your levels will be depleted by dealing with the toxins.

In addition, where radiation and other contamination is involved, the balance of electrolytes can become disturbed in the body. This is down to the destruction of the bacteria in the gut, (gamma rays are sterilising) which makes the wall of the gut leak fluids, from the attempts of the body to flush the toxins clear through vomiting and diarrhoea, and from cellular damage itself. Maintaining electrolyte balance is key to healing, through fruits and vegetables, and supplementary replacement of salt, potassium, magnesium, calcium and other minerals. It is also crucial in preventing isotope infiltration in to the tissues and bones. Bone broth can be of particular use here if you cannot get enough from other foods.

Probiotics, in maintaining gut health when exposed to toxins, are incredibly helpful. No only do they help the gut, maintaining the microbiota, increasing food nutrient absorption, maintaining effective elimination and balancing electrolytes, but as research suggests the gut is the second brain. Keeping the gut balanced really can help our mental health. We can buy or make our own live sauerkraut loaded with natural probiotics, or buy from many different brands of prepackaged capsules. Not all are equal. Here is a comprehensive review of 8 brands available in the UK.

Vitamin D3 has been the recent subject of much research and analysis for its role in aiding lung health, but it is also essential for calcium absorption. Good calcium absorption can prevent take up of Strontium 90 isotope. Whilst our skies have been less than cooperative in giving us the unhindered sunlight that our skin requires to make D3 naturally, it is sometimes necessary to supplement. Otherwise we are faced with a vicious cycle of lack of D3, low calcium absorption, and potential take up of Strontium. The isotope Strontium 90 is known as the bone seeker for that reason. D3 uptake is aided by Vitamin K2, present in a lot of cheese, meats, including salami and chicken (that will explain the cravings!).

A number of people have commented on loss of hair, and a sensation that their thyroid gland is swollen (slight feeling of strangulation). This has been accompanied by excessive lethargy and tiredness, female cycle disturbance and weight gain. Anecdotally, we have been told of immune compromised patients being advised to use nasal rinses of iodine solution in the run up to first lock down. Some people have also been taking lugol’s iodine internally. Whilst we know that iodine is crucial in maintaining thyroid health, we do not take it in supplement form internally. It is incredibly easy to overdose which is poisonous for the body. The most abundant natural dietary sources are from Bladderwrack, kelp, crustaceans and fish (the later two also very good sources of zinc). As an emergency measure some have been mixing a few drops of Lugol’s iodine in coconut oil (tsp) and applying to arms and stomach - AFTER a patch test. The speed of absorption (disappearance of yellow tone) gives some idea of how deficient you are (24 hours levels are ok, 12 hours levels are lower). Whilst Iodine 131 isotope is short lived with a half life of 8 days, the damage it can do to the thyroid can be long lasting. Making sure you have enough iodine in your diet can prevent isotope absorption.

There are many other foods and supplements that can help us in our quest to remain healthy in these challenging times. A final list would include garlic, ginger, oil of oregano, pine needle tea, camphorous inhalations (Tiger balm or Olbas oil), onion and dandelion tincture or tea for liver health. N-Acetyl Cystein (NAC) and Choline Bitartrate are both really good in helping maintain cell integrity in the face of toxins.

As individuals we know our bodies best, but we are not used to listening to them. If you are craving cheese, or watermelon, or prawns, listen to that craving. Indulge in these foods when your body is asking for them and undoubtedly you will be delivering essential nutrients at the time they are needed.

Above all sleep. We know people are struggling to sleep at times during this onslaught. There are some amazing guided sleep meditations on YouTube. Try to choose ones that are either just voice, or use rain water, sea, or wind background sound… all natural sounds. Also you can apply Tiger Balm or Vicks to the soles of your feet before bed. It seems to calm the mind, perhaps also stimulating the energetic pathways. If you feel drawn to sleep at odd times of the day do. Make sure you get up at a good time of the morning, drink a lemon water or tea, even if you have not slept well, then sleep when the feeling returns, just to keep a rythm.

Have a good night….