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Posted by: admin | Posted on: February 21, 2022

Without Magnesium, Vitamin D Supplementation May Backfire

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Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/02/21/magnesium-vitamin-d-supplementation.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked February 21, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

When taking high-dose vitamin D3, it’s important to also take extra vitamin K2 and magnesium to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification
Magnesium, the fourth most abundant mineral in your body, is a component necessary for the activation of vitamin D, and without sufficient amounts of it, your body cannot properly utilize the vitamin D you’re taking
As many as 50% of Americans taking vitamin D supplements may not get significant benefit, as the vitamin D simply gets stored in its inactive form due to magnesium deficiency
The only way to determine how much sun exposure is enough and/or how much vitamin D3 you need to take is to measure your vitamin D level, ideally twice a year
To assess your magnesium level, check your RBC magnesium level and track signs and symptoms of magnesium insufficiency to determine how much magnesium you need. Low potassium and calcium are also common laboratory signs indicating magnesium deficiency

This article was previously published March 12, 2018, and has been updated with new information.

I’ve previously written about the importance of taking vitamin K2 when you’re taking high-dose supplemental vitamin D to avoid complications associated with excessive calcification in your arteries. Now, research highlights the vital importance of also taking magnesium in combination with vitamin D.

Magnesium, the fourth most abundant mineral in your body, is a component necessary for the activation of vitamin D, and without sufficient amounts of it, your body cannot properly utilize the vitamin D you’re taking.^1,^2,^3,⁴

This may actually help explain why many need rather high doses of vitamin D to optimize their levels — it could be that they simply have insufficient amounts of magnesium in their system to activate the vitamin D. As noted by coauthor Mohammed Razzaque, professor of pathology at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Pennsylvania:⁵

“People are taking vitamin D supplements but don’t realize how it gets metabolized. Without magnesium, vitamin D is not really useful. By consuming an optimal amount of magnesium, one may be able to lower the risks of vitamin D deficiency, and reduce the dependency on vitamin D supplements.”

Without Magnesium, Vitamin D Supplements May Be Ineffective

According to this scientific review,⁶ as many as 50% of Americans taking vitamin D supplements may not get significant benefit, as the vitamin D simply gets stored in its inactive form. As reported in the press release by the American Osteopathic Association:⁷

“… [C]onsumption of vitamin D supplements can increase a person’s calcium and phosphate levels even if they remain vitamin D deficient. The problem is people may suffer from vascular calcification if their magnesium levels aren’t high enough to prevent the complication. Patients with optimum magnesium levels require less vitamin D supplementation to achieve sufficient vitamin D levels …

Deficiency in either of these nutrients is reported to be associated with various disorders, including skeletal deformities, cardiovascular diseases, and metabolic syndrome. While the recommended daily allowance for magnesium is 420 mg for males and 320 mg for females, the standard diet in the United States contains only about 50 percent of that amount.

As much as half of the total population is estimated to be consuming a magnesium-deficient diet.”

Higher Magnesium Intake Lowers Risk of Vitamin D Deficiency

Indeed, previous research has indicated that higher magnesium intake helps reduce your risk of vitamin D deficiency — likely by activating more of it. As noted in one 2013 study:⁸

“Magnesium plays an essential role in the synthesis and metabolism of vitamin D and magnesium supplementation substantially reversed the resistance to vitamin D treatment in patients with magnesium-dependent vitamin-D-resistant rickets … High intake of total, dietary or supplemental magnesium was independently associated with significantly reduced risks of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency respectively.

Intake of magnesium significantly interacted with intake of vitamin D in relation to risk of both vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency. Additionally, the inverse association between total magnesium intake and vitamin D insufficiency primarily appeared among populations at high risk of vitamin D insufficiency.

Furthermore, the associations of serum 25(OH)D with mortality, particularly due to cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancer, were modified by magnesium intake, and the inverse associations were primarily present among those with magnesium intake above the median. Our preliminary findings indicate it is possible that magnesium intake alone or its interaction with vitamin D intake may contribute to vitamin D status.”

Vitamin D Lowers Mortality Risk of Heart Disease

Vitamin D, a steroid hormone, is vital for the prevention of many diseases, including but not limited to Type 2 diabetes, age-related macular degeneration (the leading cause of blindness), Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and well over a dozen different types of cancer (including skin cancer). Vitamin D also exhibits its infection-fighting abilities in the treatment of tuberculosis, pneumonia, colds and flu.

Studies have also linked higher vitamin D levels with lowered mortality from all causes.^9,^10,¹¹ Most recently, a Norwegian study¹² published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found “a normal intake of vitamin D” significantly reduces your risk of death if you have cardiovascular disease.¹³

About 4,000 patients diagnosed with stable angina pectoris (chest pain caused by coronary heart disease) were followed for 12 years. The average age at the outset of the study was 62. Overall, those with vitamin D blood levels between 16.8 and 40 ng/mL (42 to 100 nmol/L) had the lowest mortality risk.

Vitamin D Deficiency Could Increase Your COVID-19 Risk by 12x

Mounting evidence demonstrates that vitamin D has important roles in regulating the immune system that should reduce COVID-19 risks; primarily by reducing survival and replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and by reducing the risks of “cytokine storms” by reducing proinflammatory cytokine production and increasing anti-inflammatory cytokine production.

In the comprehensive vitamin D report below — which has been reviewed by many vitamin D scientists for accuracy — I detail how vitamin D works to fight COVID. I consider this the most important paper I’ve ever written and you can access this paper, free, here.¹⁴

Evidence Suggests Higher Vitamin D Levels Are Better

Interestingly, these findings are actually at odds with mounting research showing 40 ng/mL is at the low end of optimal. The new target is 60 to 80 ng/mL, but even a level upward of 100 ng/mL appears safe and beneficial for certain conditions, especially cancer. For example:

Having a serum vitamin D level of 40 ng/mL has been shown to reduce your risk for cancer by 67%, compared to having a level of 20 ng/ml or less; most cancers were found to occur in people with a vitamin D blood level between 10 and 40 ng/mL^15,¹⁶
Research published in 2005 showed women with vitamin D levels above 60 ng/mL had an 83% lower risk of breast cancer than those with levels below 20 ng/mL¹⁷
A 2007 study found women over 55 who raised their average serum level to 38 ng/mL lowered their risk of all invasive cancers, including breast cancer, by 77%¹⁸

Other recent research¹⁹ has also highlighted the importance of vitamin D for the prevention and treatment of heart disease, showing it plays a vital role in protecting and repairing damage to your endothelium. The findings also suggest vitamin D3:

Helps trigger production of nitric oxide — a molecule known to play an important signaling role in controlling blood flow and preventing blood clot formation in your blood vessels
Significantly reduces oxidative stress in your vascular system, which is important to help prevent the development and/or progression of cardiovascular disease

According to vitamin D researcher Dr. Michael Holick, author of “The Vitamin D Solution: A Three-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problem,” vitamin D deficiency — defined as a level below 20 ng/mL — can raise your risk of heart attack by 50%. What’s worse, if you have a heart attack while vitamin D deficient, your risk of dying is nearly guaranteed.

Vitamin D Levels Below 20 ng/mL Are Inadequate

Vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL have repeatedly been shown to raise your risk for a number of other problems as well, including depression²⁰ and Type 2 diabetes. Research suggests 20 ng/mL is not even adequate for the prevention of osteomalacia (softening of your bones).

In the case of depression, studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency is linked to even mild depression,²¹ and evidence suggests vitamin D deficiency may be a significant driver of the rise we see in both mood and mental disorders such as psychotic²² and obsessive-compulsive²³ disorders.

As for diabetes, an analysis²⁴ by GrassrootsHealth reveals people with a median vitamin D level of 41 ng/mL have a diabetes rate of 3.7 per 1,000, whereas those with a median serum level of just 22 ng/mL have a diabetes rate of 9.3 per 1,000. In other words, raising your level above 40 ng/mL can lower your risk of Type 2 diabetes by nearly 60%.

All in all, there’s very little reason to believe that a level as low as 16 ng/mL would be protective against death if you have heart disease. Research also shows higher vitamin D levels can help prevent and/or treat:

Dry eye syndromes^25,²⁶ and macular degeneration^27,²⁸

Autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis

Gastrointestinal diseases²⁹

Infectious diseases, including influenza and HIV^30,³¹

Inflammatory rheumatic diseases³² such as rheumatoid arthritis

Osteoporosis and hip fractures

Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease^33,³⁴ and epilepsy. In one study,³⁵ epileptics given a one-time megadose of vitamin D3, ranging from 40,000 IUs all the way up to 200,000 IUs, followed by a daily dose of 2,000 to 2,600 IUs a day for three months to bring each individual’s vitamin D status to at least 30 ng/mL, resulted in significant improvements.

Ten out of 13 had a decrease in the number of seizures, five of whom experienced more than a 50% reduction. Overall, the group had a 40% reduction in the number of seizures.

Lupus — According to researchers in Cairo,³⁶ most patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have some level of vitamin D deficiency, defined as a level of 10 ng/mL or less, or insufficiency, a level between 10 and 30 ng/mL.

Obstructive sleep apnea — In one study, 98% of patients with sleep apnea had vitamin D deficiency, and the more severe the sleep apnea, the more severe the deficiency.³⁷

Falls, fractures, dental health and more — A 2006 review³⁸ looking at vitamin D intakes and health outcomes such as bone mineral density, dental health, risk of falls, fractures and colorectal cancer, found “the most advantageous serum concentrations of 25(OH)D begin at 30 ng/mL, and the best are between 36 to 40 ng/mL.”

Obesity — Research³⁹ has shown vitamin D supplementation (4,000 IUs/day) combined with resistance training helps decrease your waist-to-hip ratio — a measurement that is far better at determining your risk for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease than body mass index.

Neurodegenerative diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS).⁴⁰ Research shows MS patients with higher levels of vitamin D tend to experience less disabling symptoms.⁴¹

Assess Your Vitamin D and Magnesium Levels

The best way to optimize your vitamin D level is through sensible sun exposure. Unfortunately, this can be difficult for many, especially during the winter season and/or if you live in northern regions. If you cannot obtain sufficient amounts of vitamin D through sun exposure, taking a supplement is recommended.

Remember that the only way to determine how much sun exposure is enough and/or how much vitamin D3 you need to take is to measure your vitamin D level, ideally twice a year.

The D*Action Project by GrassrootsHealth is a cost-effective way to do this, while simultaneously progressing valuable research. To participate, simply purchase the D*Action Measurement Kit and follow the registration instructions included.

To assess your magnesium level, check your RBC magnesium level and track signs and symptoms of magnesium insufficiency to determine how much magnesium you need. Low potassium and calcium are also common laboratory signs indicating magnesium deficiency.

The Interplay of Vitamin D, Calcium, Magnesium and Vitamin K2

When supplementing, also remember to take synergistic effects with other nutrients into account. If you take high-dose vitamin D, you may also need to increase your intake of:

Magnesium
Vitamin K2
Calcium

These four nutrients — vitamins D and K2, calcium and magnesium — all work in tandem, and rely on sufficient amounts of each to work optimally. Lack of balance between these four nutrients is why calcium supplements have become associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke, and why some experience symptoms of vitamin D toxicity. Here’s a summary of some of the most important correlations between these nutrients:

•Excessive vitamin D in combination with lack of vitamin K2 may cause overabsorption of calcium, which in turn may result in calcium deposits in your heart and kidneys. Part of the explanation for these adverse side effects is that vitamin K2 keeps calcium in its appropriate place — in your teeth and bones and out of soft tissues and arteries.

While the optimal ratios between vitamin D and vitamin K2 have yet to be established, taking somewhere between 100 to 200 micrograms (mcg) of K2 is beneficial. Telltale signs of vitamin K2 insufficiency include osteoporosis, heart disease and diabetes. You’re also more likely to be deficient if you rarely eat vitamin K2-rich foods (see listing below).

•Vascular calcification is also a side effect of low magnesium, so when taking vitamin D3, you need both vitamin K2 and magnesium to make sure everything is working properly.

•Maintaining an appropriate calcium-to-magnesium ratio is also important, as magnesium helps keep calcium in your cells so they can function better. Based on your personal health needs an ideal ratio of calcium-to-magnesium may vary from 1-to-1 to an optimal 1-to-2.^42,⁴³

•Magnesium and vitamin K2 also complement each other, as magnesium helps lower blood pressure, which is an important component of heart disease.

Eat a Varied Diet and Get Sensible Sun Exposure

The take-home message is that anytime you’re taking supplemental magnesium, calcium, vitamin D3 or vitamin K2, you must take all the others into consideration as well. While supplements can be helpful in some instances, your best and safest bet is to simply eat more calcium-, magnesium- and vitamin K2-rich foods, along with sensible sun exposure.

Food-derived nutrition is typically going to be the most beneficial, and this is particularly true for calcium. When you take a biologically foreign form of calcium, or when your body’s ability to direct calcium to the right places becomes impaired (as when you are deficient in vitamin K2 and/or magnesium), calcium is deposited where it shouldn’t be, such as in your arteries.

It’s more likely your body can use calcium correctly if it’s plant-derived calcium. Here’s a quick summary of foods known to be high in these important nutrients:

• Vitamin K2 — Grass fed organic animal products such as eggs and butter, fermented foods such as natto, goose liver pâté and vitamin K2-rich cheeses such as Brie and Gouda

• Magnesium — Almonds and cashews, bananas, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, brown rice, free-range pastured egg yolk, flaxseed, grass fed raw milk, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and leafy green vegetables, especially spinach, Swiss chard, turnip greens, beet greens, collard greens, kale, Bok Choy and romaine lettuce

• Calcium — Raw milk from grass fed cows (who eat plants), leafy green vegetables, the pith of citrus fruits, carob and wheatgrass

– Sources and References

Posted in Auto-Immune, Bones, Cardiovascular, Coronavirus, Gut, Immunity, Inflammation, Minerals, Vitamins | No Comments »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: February 18, 2022

It’s Official: Vitamin D Reduces the Incidence of Autoimmunity

Reproduced from original OMNS article (OrthoMolecular News Service):
https://orthomolecular.activehosted.com/index.php

Subscribe to the free Orthomolecular Newsletter: http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html
Go to the OMNS Archive: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml

And a brief review of the growing body of knowledge of vitamin D

by Michael Passwater

OMNS (Feb. 17, 2022) The Harvard led Vitamin D and Omega 3 trial (VITAL), recently published findings showing a meaningful (22%) and statistically significant (p = 0.05, Hazard ratio = 0.78 95% CI = 0.61 – 0.99) reduction in the incidence of autoimmune disease in older adults taking 2000 IU (50 mcg) per day for 5 years. [1] This was a large nationwide study involving 12,786 men 50 years or older and 13,085 women 55 years or older. It was a randomized double blind, placebo-controlled trial. The British Medical Journal notes, “The clinical importance of this trial is high because these are well tolerated, non-toxic supplements, and other effective treatments to reduce the incidence of autoimmune diseases are lacking”. In 2017, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimated that 23.5 million Americans, >7% of the population, suffered from an autoimmune disease. The NIH noted that the prevalence appeared to be rising. [2]

Illustrating the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in the USA, 13% of participants in the VITAL trial had vitamin D levels < 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L) at the start of the trial, and 45% had levels < 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/L). A subgroup of participants (1,644 people) had vitamin D levels tested one year into the study. In aggregate, participants taking 2000 IU vitamin D had an increase of 40% in vitamin D levels to 41.8 ng/mL (104.5 nmol/L), while participants in the soybean oil placebo group remained similar to baseline (30.7 ng/mL, 77.1 nmol/L). Strengths of this study include its size and diversity; its design as a prospective, placebo controlled, randomized trial — the “gold standard” for medical drug studies; its baseline measurement of blood levels of vitamin D and follow-up testing of a sample of participants, rather than relying on intake estimates; the use of a meaningful, safe dose more than double the US RDA for vitamin D, and its duration with a median follow-up time of 5.3 years.

“P values” are an expression of the degree of probability that the results of an experiment testing a hypothesis are due to chance. Generally speaking, the lower the P value, the higher the reliability of the data.

But nutrient studies require different approaches than drug studies. [3,4,5] A weakness of the VITAL trial was the absence of evaluation of synergistic nutrients. Additionally, with appreciation for Roger Williams’ principle of biochemical individuality, [6] it would have been interesting and helpful to compare the outcomes for each range of vitamin D levels achieved after the fixed dose intervention (e.g. stratifying participants by vitamin D levels achieved < 20, 20 – 29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59). However, this would have required more measurements, thus increasing the expense of the trial.

The 3 Ds for vitamin D (and any nutrient) assessments:

Dose – how much of the nutrient reached the blood/tissue; whether the individual achieved and maintained sufficient or therapeutic levels.

US RDA (2010)		Recommendation of 220 vitamin D experts [7]	Personal D3 supplementation of 193 vitamin D experts [7] *excludes professor taking 200,000 IU/day for autoimmune disease
0 – 12 months	400 IU / day	2000 – 4000 IU/day	Range = 0 – 50,000 IU/day 29 take ≥ 10,000 IU/day Average = 5,175 IU/day Median = 4000 IU/days Mode = 4000 IU/day
1 – 70 years	600 IU / day
71+ years	800 IU / day
Pregnant or Breast Feeding	600 IU / day
People with kidney disease should monitor vitamin D levels closely
Adjusting sunlight exposure, D3 intake, and co-factors to maintain vitamin D levels in the 40-60 ng/mL range is associated with lower risk of autoimmunity, respiratory disease, and other illnesses. Blood levels up to 100 ng/mL are generally safe with adequate vitamin K2.
Daily intake necessary from all sources (sunlight, food, and/or supplementation) of vitamin D for 97.5% of people to reach: 20 ng/mL = 3,875 IU D3 (97 mcg); 30 ng/mL = 6200 D3 (155 mcg) [7]

Duration – how long sufficient or therapeutic levels were maintained. Vitamin D has extensive epigenetic effects, impacting over 3,000 genes. It has been estimated that as much as 3-4% of the genome may be influenced by vitamin D. These genetic influences may be especially important during fetal development. [8] The half-life of the active form of vitamin D is about 4 hours, and the half-life of the pre-hormone form of vitamin D is 2-3 weeks. However, it may take even longer for the effects of proteins from genes upregulated and downregulated by vitamin D to make their biological impact. Bruce Ames’ concept of “longevity proteins” applies. [9] With saturation of a full set of nutrients, cell metabolism is able to expand from production of only survival proteins to producing additional proteins he called “longevity proteins”. For these reasons, it is important to maintain vitamin D in the healthy range on an ongoing basis rather than waiting until illness occurs. When rescue therapy is needed, calcifediol (25OHD) increases active vitamin D levels more rapidly than cholecalciferol (D3). [10-12] (see http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v17n17.shtml and http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n55.shtml for discussions of nutritional support in critical illness).

Dynamic interactions – were sufficient levels of synergistic cofactors maintained? Magnesium is necessary in eight steps of vitamin D metabolism. [13,14] Intracellular selenocysteine can also be a rate limiting factor in vitamin D production and function. Increasing glutathione and cysteine can increase production of vitamin D even without vitamin D intake or sunlight exposure. In turn, vitamin D increases production of several selenoproteins. [15-17] Vitamin C and zinc also assist actions of vitamin D, and it is important to balance vitamin D with vitamin K2 to ensure mobilized calcium gets where it is needed rather than being deposited in arteries. 100 mcg K2 for every 5000 IU D3 is a good ratio for wellness. [18,19]

In research, controls matter too. This same VITAL study also looked at the effects of supplementing 1000 mg/day of omega-3 vs. placebo. A 15% reduction in the incidence of autoimmune disease was seen compared to the control group. However, this did not reach statistical significance. Interestingly, olive oil, which is known to be anti-inflammatory and a source of vitamin K, was used as the placebo for comparison. It is possible that the choice of a non-inert placebo blunted the signal of true benefit from the omega-3 intervention.

Vitamin D: influence on the immune system

The VITAL study adds important support on the benefits of vitamin D for the immune system. Vitamin D regulates calcium and phosphate homeostasis in the body. Calcium is important for much more than strong bones. [20-23] Mobilized ionized calcium is essential for muscle contractions, nerve impulses, cell signalling, blood clotting, immune function, and catalyzing hundreds of enzymatic reactions throughout the body. Nearly all cells in the body have vitamin D receptors (VDRs). Intestine, bone, kidney, parathyroid glands, and immune cells (T cells, B cells, Dendritic Cells, Macrophages) have high levels of VDRs. The CYP27B1 enzyme which produces the active form of vitamin D and the ligand for VDR is also widely expressed in many cells throughout the body. The liver and kidney produce much of the active vitamin D in the body, however activated immune cells will also produce 1,25(OD)2D when the 25OHD substrate is present for conversion into the active hormone. Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) regulates the production of the active form of vitamin D in non-immune cells. Active vitamin D production in immune cells is not influenced by PTH, but is instead regulated by cytokines and the availability of the prehormone 25OHD in the local cellular environment.

Vitamin D has important influences on many phases in the innate branch of the immune system (cellular, complement, antimicrobial peptides, lectins, non-antibody producing aspects of immunity), and also in the adaptive branch of the immune system (antibody-producing aspects of immunity). The adaptive branch of the immune system has two major phases. The effector phase involves antibody production while the regulatory phase involves removal of B cells producing antibodies that cross-react with self-cells. The antibody-antigen lock and key fit isn’t always exact. Even healthy people have self-reactive B cell clones. [24] Similarity between a “foreign” antigen and a host cell membrane element may exist or an antibody may overlap the membrane portion of a neoantigen-membrane complex. When B cells with these self-reacting or self-cross-reacting antibodies are stimulated to mass divide and produce their antibodies, they must be destroyed by the regulatory immune cells (Tregs) to minimize self-injury. Imbalance or dysfunction in the regulatory phase of the adaptive immune response is the major mechanism of autoimmune diseases in humans. [25] Interestingly, several sensitive areas of the body, the brain, anterior chamber of the eyes, and testes, are devoid of adaptive immune responses. The risk of collateral damage from antibody production in these areas is too great.

The active form of vitamin D: [26,27]

Increases production of cathelicidin and defensins
Decreases the maturation of dendritic cells, the expression of HLA DR antigen presenting molecules, and expression of co-stimulation molecules such as CD40, CD80, and CD86
Decreases Th1, Th9, Th17 lymphocytes, decreasing IL-2, IL-6, IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-17, IL-23
Increases Treg production and production of the cytokine IL-10
Increases production and maintenance of immune memory cells

The overall effect is a stronger innate immune response, and a safer adaptive immune response.

A short history of clinical observations about vitamin D

In 1903, Niels Ryberg Finsen received the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine “in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases…with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science.” [28]
Sanatoriums and cod liver oil were common treatments for tuberculosis and other infections for many decades. [29]
Two studies in South Carolina in the past decade showed significant reductions in preterm births (57% fewer 95% CI RR = 0.22 – 0.83, and 62% fewer p = 0.002) in women with vitamin D levels ≥ 40 ng/mL compared to women with vitamin D levels < 20 ng/mL. [30,31]
A pooled analysis of over 2300 women ≥ 55 years of age from a randomized controlled trial and a prospective cohort study showed participants with a vitamin D level ≥ 40 ng/mL had a 67% lower risk of invasive cancer compared to participants with a vitamin D level < 20 ng/mL. [32] Similar results were seen with breast cancer when people with vitamin D levels >60 ng/mL were compared to people with vitamin D levels < 20 ng/mL. [33]
In 2018, the VITAL trial research group published a conclusion that 2000 IU of supplemental vitamin D per day had no impact on cancer risk. [34] However, their data show a 25% reduction in cancer risk after the first 2 years of the study. [35]
A meta-analysis of 32 studies was published in 2014 showing a greater risk of all-cause mortality in people with a vitamin D level = 30 ng/mL compared to those with a vitamin D level > 30 ng/mL (Hazard Ratio = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.6 – 2.2, p=0.001). [36]
From Tuberculosis to COVID
- Two recent Spanish studies on treatment of acute Covid-19 showed the efficacy of calcifediol for reducing ICU admission and mortality. [11-12]
- In February 2022, a retrospective study in Israel of 253 consecutive adults admitted to the hospital for treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection with a vitamin D measurement available 14 – 730 days prior to admission showed a greater risk of severe illness (48.1% vs. 10%) and death (25.6% vs. 5%) in those with vitamin D levels < 20 ng / mL vs. ≥ 20 ng / mL. [33] This was a follow up study to a large retrospective case-controlled population study associating vitamin D deficiency with a higher risk of Covid-19 infection. [37,38] Studies in three different countries showed an association between selenium deficiency and severe SARS-CoV-2 disease [39-41]. Even though relationships between vitamin D and selenoproteins are now established, no studies measuring both selenium and vitamin D in SARS-CoV-2 patients have been published.
- A study published in February 2022 from Mexico showed improved survival of high risk SARS-CoV-2 patients admitted to the hospital when given extra nutritional support. [42] 7 (17.5%) of 40 patients given standard of care died, while 1 (2.5%) of 40 patients given special nutritional support died. The extra nutritional support consisted of:
  - B-complex: 10 mg of cyanocobalamin, 100 mg of thiamin, and 100 mg of pyridoxine administered intramuscularly every 24 h for the first 5 days.
  - One envelope package taken orally after morning meals and another after evening meals, diluted in 400 mL of water each, during the whole intervention for a maximum of 21 days. Each envelope contained: Spirulina Maxima 2.5 g, folic acid 5 mg, glutamine 5 g, vegetable protein 10 g, brewer’s yeast, amaranth, ascorbic acid 1 g, zinc 20 mg, selenium 100 mcg, cholecalciferol (D3) 2000 IU, resveratrol 200 mg, Omega-3 fatty acids 1 g, L-Arginine 750 mg, inulin 20 g, and magnesium 400 mg.
  - Probiotics: Saccharomyces boulardii 500 mg daily for 6 days orally
- A robust series of publications from 2021 showed the benefits of vitamin D for Covid-19 and other major diseases. See “Top Vitamin D Papers in 2021: Benefits ignored at a time they are most needed” by William B. Grant, PhD http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v18n02.shtml

Summary

Vitamin D is important for a wide range of functions in human biology from conception onward. We now have more evidence pointing towards the importance of maintaining a vitamin D level in the 40-60 ng/mL range, along with maintaining adequate levels of synergistic nutrients to fight infections, sustain helpful immunity, and also to prevent harmful autoimmune reactions.

References

1. Hahn J, Cook NR, Alexander EK, et al. (2022) Vitamin D and marine omega 3 fatty acid supplementation and incident autoimmune disease: VITAL randomized controlled trial. BMJ 376:e066452. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35082139

2. NIH Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee: Autoimmune Diseases Research Plan, March 2005. https://www.niaid.nih.gov/sites/default/files/adccfinal.pdf

3. Heaney RP. (2014) Guidelines for optimizing design and analysis of clinical studies of nutrient effects. Nutr Rev 72:48-54. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24330136

4. Smith RG. (2022) Vitamins and Minerals for Lowering Risk of Disease: Adding to the Evidence. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v17n10.shtml

5. Cheng RZ. (2020) Covid-19 Highlights the Shortcomings of Evidence-based Medicine. J Orthomol Med. 35:1-7. https://isom.ca/article/covid-19-highlights-the-shortcomings-of-evidence-based-medicine

6. Williams RJ (1998) Biochemical Individuality. McGraw Hill; 1st edition (September 11, 1998) ISBN-13: 978-0879838935

7. Over 200 Scientists, Doctors, & Leading Authorities Call For Increased Vitamin D Use To Combat COVID-19 Scientific evidence indicates vitamin D reduces infections & deaths. Open Letter #VitaminDforAll, October 2020. https://vitamind4all.org/letter.html

8. Wagner CL and Hollis BW (2018) The Implications of Vitamin D Status During Pregnancy on Mother and her Developing Child. Front Endocrinol. 9:500. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30233496

9. Ames BN (2018) Prolonging healthy aging: Longevity vitamins and proteins. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 115:10835-10844. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30322941

10. Bouillon R, Quesada-Gomez JM (2021) Vitamin D Endocrine System and COVID-19. JBMR Plus. 5:e10576. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34950831

11. Entrenas Castillo M, Entrenas Costa LM, Vaquero Barrios JM, et al. (2020) Effect of calcifediol treatment and best available therapy versus best available therapy on intensive care unit admission and mortality among patients hospitalized for COVID-19: A pilot randomized clinical study. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 203:105751. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32871238

12. Nogues X, Ovejero D, Pineda-Moncusí M, et al. (2021) Calcifediol Treatment and COVID-19-Related Outcomes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 106:e4017-e4027. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34097036

13. Dean C (2017) The Magnesium Miracle, 2nd Ed. Ballantine Books. ISBN-13 : 978-0399594441

14. Deng X, Song Y, Manson JE, et al. (2013) Magnesium, vitamin D status and mortality: results from US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2001 to 2006 and NHANES III. BMC Med 11:187. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23981518

15. Jain SK, Parsanathan R, Achari AE, et al. (2018) Glutathione Stimulates Vitamin D Regulatory and Glucose Metabolism Genes, Lowers Oxidative Stress and Inflammation, and Increases 25-Hydroxy-Vitamin D Levels in Blood: A Novel Approach to Treat 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency. Antioxid Redox Signal. 29:1792-1897. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30160165

16. Alvarez JA, Chowdhury R, Jones DP, et al. (2014) Vitamin D status is independently associated with plasma glutathione and cysteine thiol/disulphide redox status in adults. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 81:458-466. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24628365

17. Parsanathan R, Jain SK. (2019) Glutathione deficiency induces epigenetic alterations of vitamin D metabolism genes in the livers of high-fat diet-fed obese mice. Sci Rep. 9:14784. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31616013

18. Flore R, Ponziani FR, Di Rienzo TA, et al. (2013) Something more to say about calcium homeostasis: the role of vitamin K2 in vascular calcification and osteoporosis. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 17:2433-2440. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24089220

19. Schwalfenberg GK. (2017) Vitamins K1 and K2: The Emerging Group of Vitamins Required for Human Health. J Nutr Metab. 2017:6254836. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28698808

20. Bikle DD. (2016) Extraskeletal actions of vitamin D. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1376:29-52. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27649525

21. Aranow C (2011) Vitamin D and the Immune System. J Investig Med. 59:881-886. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21527855

22. Fan YG, Pang ZQ, Wu TY, et al. (2020) Vitamin D deficiency exacerbates Alzheimer-like pathologies by reducing antioxidant capacity. Free Radic Biol Med. 161:139-149. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33068737

23. Gönen MS, Alaylioglu M, Durcan E, et al. (2021) Rapid and Effective Vitamin D Supplementation May Present Better Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Patients by Altering Serum INOS1, IL1B, IFNg, Cathelicidin-LL37, and ICAM1. Nutrients 13:4047. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34836309

24. Male D, Brostoff J, Roth DB, Roitt I. (2006) Immunology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier.

25. Rosenblum MD, Remedios KA, Abbas AK (2015) Mechanisms of human autoimmunity. J Clin Invest. 125:2228-2233. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25893595

26. Cantorna MT, Snyder L, Lin Y0D, Yang L. (2015) Vitamin D and 1,25(OH)2D Regulation of T-cells. Nutrients 7:3011-3021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25912039

27. Looman KIM, Jansen MAE, Voortman T, et al. (2017) The role of vitamin D on circulating memory T cells in children: The generation R Study. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 28:579-587. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28686349

28. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1903. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Media AB 2020. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1903/summary

29. Williams C. (1849) On the use and administration of cod-liver oil in pulmonary consumption. London Journal of Medicine 1849, 1:1-18.[Google Scholar]

30. Wagner CL, Baggerly C, McDonnell S, et al. (2016) Post-hoc Analysis of Vitamin D Status and Reduced Risk of Preterm Birth in Two Vitamin D Pregnancy Cohorts Compared with South Carolina March of Dimes 2009-2011 rates. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 155:245-251. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26554936

31. McDonnell SL, Baggerly KA, Baggerly CA, et al. (2017) Maternal 25(OH)D concentrations >40 ng/mL associated with 60% lower preterm birth risk among general obstetricalpatients at an urban medical center. PLoS One 12: e0180483. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28738090

32. McDonnell SL, Baggerly C, French CB, et al. (2016) Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Concentrations >40 ng/mL Are Associated with >65% Lower Cancer Risk: Pooled Analysis of Randomized Trial and Prospective Cohort Study. PLoS One 11:e0152441. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27049526

33. McDonnell SL, Baggerly CA, French CB, et al. (2018) Breast cancer risk markedly lower with serum 25- hydroxyvitamin D concentrations > 60 vs < 20 ng/mL (150 vs. 50 nmol/L); Pooled analysis of two randomized trials and a prospective cohort. PLoS One 13:e0199265. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29906273

34. Manson JE, Cook NR, Manson I-ML, et al. (2019) Vitamin D Supplements and Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease. N Engl J Med. 380:33-44. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30415629

35. GrassRoots Health Nutrient Research Institute. Risk Reduction with Vitamin D and Omega-3: VITAL Trial Results (2018). https://www.grassrootshealth.net/document/risk-reduction-vitamin-d-omega-3-vital-trial-results-2018

36. Garland CF, Kim JJ, Mohr SB, et al. (2014) Meta-analysis of All-cause Mortality According to Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D. Am J Public Health. 104:e43-e50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24922127

37. Dror AA, Morozov N, Daoud A, et al. (2022) Pre-infection 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and association with severity of COVID-19 illness. PLoS One 17:e0263069. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35113901

38. Israel A, Cicurel A, Feldhamer I, et al. (2022) Vitamin D deficiency is associated with higher risks for SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity: a retrospective case-control study. Intern Emerg Med. 2022 Jan 9; 1-11. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35000118

39. Heller RA, Sun Q, Hackler J et al. (2021) Prediction of survival odds in COVID-19 by zinc, age, and selenoprotein P as composite biomarker. Redox Biology 38:101764. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33126054

40. Moghaddam A, Heller RA, Sun Q, et al. (2020) Selenium deficiency is associated with mortality risk from COVID-19. Nutrients 12:2098. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32708526

41. Zhang J, Taylor EW, Bennett K, et al. (2020) Association between regional selenium status and reported outcome of COVID-19 cases in China. Am J Clin Nutr. 111:1297-1299. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32342979

42. Leal-Martínez F, Abarca-Bernal L, García-Pírez A, et al. (2022) Effect of a Nutritional Support System to Increase Survival and Reduce Mortality in Patients with COVID-19 in Stage III and Comorbidities: A Blinded Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. Int J Environ Res Public Health 19:1172. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031172

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

Find a Doctor

To locate an orthomolecular physician near you: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana)
Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia)
Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia)
Susan R. Downs, M.D., M.P.H. (USA)
Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia)
Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark)
Tonya S. Heyman, M.D. (USA)
Patrick Holford, BSc (United Kingdom)
Suzanne Humphries, M.D. (USA)
Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Dwight Kalita, Ph.D. (USA)
Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, MD, FRCP, DTMH (Ghana)
Jeffrey J. Kotulski, D.O. (USA)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan)
Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Pedro Gonzalez Lombana, MD, MsC, PhD (Colombia)
Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico)
Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA)
Jun Matsuyama, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Joseph Mercola, D.O. (USA)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China)
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia)
Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland)
Thomas L. Taxman, M.D. (USA)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Garry Vickar, M.D. (USA)
Ken Walker, M.D. (Canada)
Anne Zauderer, D.C. (USA)

Andrew W. Saul, Ph.D. (USA), Editor-In-Chief
Associate Editor: Robert G. Smith, Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, Japanese Edition: Atsuo Yanagisawa, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Editor, Chinese Edition: Richard Cheng, M.D., Ph.D. (USA)
Editor, French Edition: Vladimir Arianoff, M.D. (Belgium)
Editor, Norwegian Edition: Dag Viljen Poleszynski, Ph.D. (Norway)
Editor, Arabic Edition: Moustafa Kamel, R.Ph, P.G.C.M (Egypt)
Editor, Korean Edition: Hyoungjoo Shin, M.D. (South Korea)
Editor, Spanish Edition: Sonia Rita Rial, PhD (Argentina)
Contributing Editor: Thomas E. Levy, M.D., J.D. (USA)
Contributing Editor: Damien Downing, M.B.B.S., M.R.S.B. (United Kingdom)
Assistant Editor: Helen Saul Case, M.S. (USA)
Technology Editor: Michael S. Stewart, B.Sc.C.S. (USA)
Associate Technology Editor: Robert C. Kennedy, M.S. (USA)
Legal Consultant: Jason M. Saul, JD (USA)

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United States

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Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 27, 2022

Vitamin C and Infants Determining dose

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 26, 2022
Reproduced from original OMNS article (OrthoMolecular News Service):
https://orthomolecular.activehosted.com/index.php

Subscribe to the free Orthomolecular Newsletter: http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html
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by Helen Saul Case

OMNS (Jan. 26, 2022) I am often asked about the vitamin C dosages that I gave my children when they were very little.
I have not written an article specifically addressing how I got vitamin C into them when they were infants. This article is meant to fill that gap.

Daily Doses of Vitamin C

The day our children were born, we started supplementing with 50 milligrams (mg) per day of oral vitamin C. By age one, they were taking 1,000 mg of vitamin C per day in divided doses. These oral doses were in addition to the vitamin C they received through my breastmilk. (I was taking at least 8,000-10,000 mg of vitamin C per day while I was pregnant and while nursing.) We based these dosages on board certified chest physician Dr. Frederick R. Klenner’s recommendation for infants of 50 mg per day. For healthy children, Frederick R. Klenner, MD, recommended 1,000 mg per day per year of age, leveling off at 10,000 mg per day when the child reaches ten years of age. [1] This is when they were in GOOD health.

During their first year of life, we gradually moved up to Klenner’s recommendation of 1,000 mg per day by age one. So as the months went by, we increased the dose. For example, at 6 months old, we gave them approximately 500 mg per day in divided doses. By age one, they were getting 1,000 mg per day.

Illness and High-dose C

When our infants were sick they received far more vitamin C per day. The amount of vitamin C depended on the child; it depended on the illness; it depended on the day. The goal was a happy, healthy baby.
As my father Andrew W. Saul always says, “Take enough C to be symptom free, whatever the amount may be.”

Practically speaking, we started our infants with a larger “loading dose” in the morning, then continued to give C throughout the day, every two hours or so. Once bowel tolerance (saturation) was reached, we cut back how much C we gave and how often we gave it, but we continued to give C regularly. If symptoms of sickness persisted, we did it again the next day, and the next. We wrote down the size of the dose and the time of day it was given. This helped us be consistent with dosing and helped us keep track of how much vitamin C was needed to get to bowel tolerance on a given day. We made sure they were eating well and were well hydrated.

“Every parent, and I mean everybody, wants to know exactly how much vitamin C their sick baby needs. The answer is, you need to determine this by experience on a case-by-case basis. That’s what I did when the author of this article was four years old.” (Andrew W. Saul)

Bowel tolerance is an indicator of oral dose vitamin C saturation. It is indicated by gas, a rumbling stomach, or slightly loose stool. If you take way too much C, very loose stool will result, but that goes away once doses are reduced. [2] To determine bowel tolerance in infants, gassiness is a helpful early indicator of “enough” C. If bowel tolerance is reached and stools become frequent, liquid, or, as in the case of a breastfed baby, frequent and greenish in color (since they are always liquid-like), we know then to reduce the frequency and dose, but continue to give it regularly, ramping the frequency and dose up and down as the situation requires. This takes a little practice, but we know we’re not hurting our children with extra C. It is a very, very safe vitamin.

To help determine therapeutic doses of vitamin C for infants and growing children, I found this dosing table from Dr. Klenner helpful:

A Working Summary of Dr. Klenner’s Formula: 350 mg Vitamin C per kg body weight per day [3]

Infants and RSV

At six weeks old, my son was diagnosed by his pediatrician with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) which caused cough and congestion. He had no fever, a good appetite, and while he was congested, he did not have trouble breathing. His oxygen level hovered around 92 or 93, and sometimes 94. (Even while the oxygen meter kept slipping off his tiny big toe.) The pediatrician wanted to see 95 or above. She recommended a bronchodilator drug. She said if the drug didn’t help, oxygen and hospitalization were recommended. We were not comfortable giving an infant such a powerful drug, especially when we learned from Ralph Campbell, MD, that the drug was unlikely to help with the inflammation of the small branches of the bronchial tree, as seen in RSV. Additionally, the American Academy of Pediatrics said unless the oxygen reader was consistently below 90, supplemental oxygen would not be needed. [4] Based on these facts, we decided to not give the drug and not to hospitalize our baby and would continue with home care. We made another appointment for the following morning for a pediatric checkup on his progress.

RSV can be serious. I wasn’t about to take any chances. I got to saturation-level, bowel tolerance doses of vitamin C so that vitamin C would be available in my breastmilk. I also gave him liquid oral doses of vitamin C every two hours while symptoms persisted, and every three to four hours when they waned.

How did I know he was getting enough C? He got noticeably better: less congestion, no cough, alert, cheery and seemingly comfortable. When he and I had lots of C, his symptoms improved. As the C “wore off” at night when I was not taking C nor giving him oral doses, he would wake up with more prominent symptoms. His cough and congestion would return and he’d be fussy. I would then ramp of my intake of vitamin C and his. I would do this until he was visibly better, which would happen by the end of each day. By the end of the week, he was symptom free and back to his regular vitamin C intake. We avoided drugs. We avoided hospitalization. We gave high-dose C and watched it work.

Administering Vitamin C

While I was breastfeeding my infants, I took plenty of vitamin C to help ensure that it was available in my breastmilk. This was especially important when they were ill or before, during, and after vaccination. Personally speaking, the best way I got large doses of vitamin C into my infants was I myself took saturation level doses of vitamin C.

In addition to the vitamin C they were getting from my breastmilk, my infants could take vitamin C mixed into liquid by sucking it out of a dropper. Vitamin C can be added to baby’s bottle of formula, but the form of vitamin C used matters. Specifically, sodium ascorbate vitamin C can be used because it is a buffered non-acidic form of vitamin C that won’t curdle the milk.

Forms of Vitamin C

Our preferred form of vitamin C to give our children is sodium ascorbate vitamin C. This has come about after a great deal of experience using other forms of C. Sodium ascorbate vitamin C is easy on their stomachs and their taste buds, whereas ascorbic acid vitamin C is not. Sodium ascorbate just has a bit of a mild salty flavor, as its name suggests.

When my children were infants, I did not know about sodium ascorbate. At the time, I purchased a sweetened, prepared, children’s liquid vitamin C. (I did not find a vitamin C liquid specific to infants.) It had a consistency that was a little thicker than orange juice, which made it easier for baby to drink out of a dropper. We would add extra vitamin C powder to the liquid C to increase the potency as needed, a mixture of about 80% ascorbic acid crystals buffered with 20% calcium ascorbate vitamin C powder. The liquid’s sweetness helped mask the bitter taste of ascorbic acid. The liquid C contained a preservative, which normally I would avoid. However, the importance of having a delivery device for the vitamin C (one that baby would actually ingest) outweighed the presence of the preservative. Keeping C tasty is important, especially with children.

I would have much preferred to have known about (and used) sodium ascorbate vitamin C when my children were infants. A close family member mixes sodium ascorbate right into baby’s formula bottle before each feeding, and the baby has always taken it without complaint. This is the method by which they give regular daily doses. This is also the method by which they get their baby to vitamin C saturation when warranted. (You would NOT want to mix ascorbic acid vitamin C into milk. It would taste awful.)

Daycare and School

The easiest way we got vitamin C into our children when they were away from home was to pre-mix the C into their food or beverages. For infants, sodium ascorbate C can be added to prepared bottles of milk. As they get older, vitamin C can be incorporated into yummy solid foods like applesauce. We are careful to give doses that are not too large so the child does not reach saturation while in the care of school or daycare personnel.

Vaccination

We gave saturation level vitamin C to our children for days before, the day of, and for days after every vaccination. I would get to saturation of vitamin C myself so lots of C was available in my breastmilk. I also gave them oral doses of vitamin C to bowel tolerance. I nursed them immediately after vaccination, right in the doctor’s office. As they got older, I brought vitamin C dissolved in fruit juice and gave it to them right in the doctor’s office. Vitamin C can also be mixed into formula or bottled breastmilk. We greatly prefer using sodium ascorbate for this purpose.

We have watched high-dose vitamin C safely prevent and treat vaccine side effects. We have watched high dose, saturation level vitamin C bring our 15-month-old daughter back to health after a severe vaccine reaction. We don’t only give the amount of vitamin C we think might work; we give enough to get the job done.

Here are the articles I wrote about our experience:

Our 15-month-old daughter’s vaccine reaction and our use of high dose vitamin C: “Don’t Vaccinate without Vitamin C” available at http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v11n09.shtml
Answers questions about why we “chose” to get our children vaccinated: “Vaccinations, Vitamin C, and “Choice” available at http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v12n07.shtml
Our five-year-old daughter’s experience getting two MMR shots a month apart and the role of high-dose vitamin C: “Vitamin C Prevents Side Effects from the MMR Vaccine,” available at http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v12n16.shtml When our younger son received the first of two MMR shots at age four, in addition to giving him saturation level, high-dose vitamin C before, during, and after his vaccination, we also followed the advice of pediatrician Ralph K. Campbell, MD, and gave him extra vitamin A. In addition to the beta-carotene present in his multivitamin and in the fresh, raw vegetable juice we give the kids each morning, he received 5,000 to 10,000 IU of oral supplemental preformed fish oil vitamin A the day before and the day of his MMR shot. We would administer the vitamin A by squeezing the contents of a gel tab onto a bit of yogurt. He, too, did not experience a single side effect due to the MMR vaccine.

Brands of Vitamin C

I don’t endorse or recommend any vitamin brand. I do my very best to buy vitamins free of artificial sweeteners, artificial colors, and artificial flavors, and I call the company if I have questions about any ingredients or potency. I read and compare lots of labels and choose the best possible (and most affordable) option that gets results.

Disclaimer

I am not a doctor, and I believe you should work with yours. Diagnosis can be a valuable tool. I also know that if our children’s pediatrician hands us a prescription for an antibiotic, antiviral, antihistamine, or antipyretic, most likely high-dose vitamin C can be used in place of any of them. But don’t take my word for it. Look into vitamins and nutrition for yourself, and do what is best for you and your family. I believe we can be in charge of our own health and our children’s health. Doing it ourselves does not mean it will be easy. It is an incredible amount of work to keep kids healthy. But it is worth it. As I’ve said before, sure, take your kids to their pediatrician. But wouldn’t it be nice not to need to go?

(OMNS Assistant Editor Helen Saul Case is the author of The Vitamin Cure for Women’s Health Problems; Vitamins & Pregnancy: The Real Story, and Orthomolecular Nutrition for Everyone.)

References

1. Klenner FR (1971) Observations on the dose and administration of ascorbic acid when employed beyond the range of a vitamin in human pathology. J Applied Nutrition 23: 61-87. http://www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html

2. Cathcart RF (1981) Vitamin C, titrating to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and acute induced scurvy. Med Hypotheses. 7:1359-1376. Available at: http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html

3. “Therapeutic Level of Vitamin C Supplementation as Employed by F. R. Klenner, MD” available at http://www.doctoryourself.com/klenner_table.html

4. American Academy of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Diagnosis and Management of Bronchiolitis (2006) Diagnosis and management of bronchiolitis. Pediatrics 118:1774-1793. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17015575

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

Find a Doctor

To locate an orthomolecular physician near you:
http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana)
Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia)
Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia)
Susan R. Downs, M.D., M.P.H. (USA)
Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia)
Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark)
Tonya S. Heyman, M.D. (USA)
Suzanne Humphries, M.D. (USA)
Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Dwight Kalita, Ph.D. (USA)
Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, MD, FRCP, DTMH (Ghana)
Jeffrey J. Kotulski, D.O. (USA)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan)
Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Pedro Gonzalez Lombana, MD, MsC, PhD (Colombia)
Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico)
Charles C. Mary, Jr., M.D. (USA)
Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA)
Jun Matsuyama, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Joseph Mercola, D.O. (USA)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China)
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia)
Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland)
Thomas L. Taxman, M.D. (USA)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Garry Vickar, M.D. (USA)
Ken Walker, M.D. (Canada)
Anne Zauderer, D.C. (USA)

This article may be reprinted free of charge provided 1) that there is clear attribution to the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, and 2) that both the OMNS free subscription link http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html and also the OMNS archive link http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml are included.

Riordan Clinic | Orthomolecular.org
3100 N Hillside Ave
Wichita, Kansas 67219
United States

Posted in Children, Vitamins | No Comments »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 23, 2022

A Hallmark of Covid-19: Cytokine Storm/Oxidative Stress and its Integrative Mechanism

Reproduced from original OMNS article (OrthoMolecular News Service):
https://orthomolecular.activehosted.com/

Subscribe to the free Orthomolecular Newsletter: http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html
Go to the OMNS Archive: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml

by Richard Z. Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.

OMNS (Jan. 22, 2022) Cytokine storm has recently been recognized as the key pathology responsible for the severe symptoms of Covid-19 and other viruses and non-viral agents. The underlying biochemical cause of cytokine storm is excessive oxidative stress. Cytokine storm and its associated oxidative stress appears to be a universal non-specific mechanistic pathway common among many causative agents, for example viruses, that leads to severe clinical disease.

A biochemical sequence known as “lipid peroxidase chain reaction” (LPCR) plays a critical role in oxidative stress and cytokine storm. Prevention and blocking the occurrence of cytokine storm/oxidative stress appears to be a logically sound and effective strategy to prevent the severe symptoms of Covid-19. If this could be performed world-wide, it could reduce the devastating medical, economic and societal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Preventing or blocking LPCR and the excessive oxidative stress requires intact antioxidant systems, especially the antioxidant vitamins and nutrients, including vitamins C, E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione and niacin (to promote NADP+/NADP), selenium and others. Insufficiency or absence of any of these antioxidant agents may render these antioxidant systems ineffective, which may be responsible for the inconsistent results of antioxidant therapies in the literature.

Here we propose an integrative and systematic therapy that includes these antioxidant vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. The “universal and non-specific nature” of cytokine storm/oxidative stress makes possible a pre-emptive treatment to prevent or block cytokine storm/oxidative stress induced by severe diseases, even before full recognition of the underlying causative agent. This is very significant because it allows us to potentially prevent and block a pandemic of a new virus or a new viral mutant when it happens without requiring the extended time needed to develop a specific drug or vaccine treatment. With the seemingly endless mutations of SARS-Cov-2, we may still have time to apply this strategy to break the Covid-19 pandemic.

A key hallmark of Covid-19: Cytokine storm/oxidative stress

Cytokine storm with the underlying elevated oxidative stress is a key hallmark of severe Covid-19. [1-12] Cytokine storm was first described 28 years ago [13,14] and is a common mechanism leading to severe symptoms, not only in Covid-19, but also in other respiratory viral infections [15,16], HIV-related infections [17,18], sepsis [19], SARS [20], tick-borne SFTS syndrome [21], autoimmune and viral hepatitis [22,23], Ebola [24], yellow fever [25], and Coronaviral encephalitis [26], immunotherapies [27,28], as well as systemic diseases and anaphylaxis. [29]

Cytokine storm describes the explosive and excessive release of free radicals and cytokines (signaling molecules) in a short period of time, overwhelming the body’s innate antioxidant/anti-inflammatory mechanisms, leading to significant oxidative damage of biologically important molecules such as DNA, proteins and lipids, and severe cellular and organ damage. This can rapidly progress to multi-organ failure with a very high mortality rate. Hence, it is very important to recognize the early clinical signs of cytokine storm and prevent it from developing. If we can interrupt the cytokine storm/oxidative stress before it causes significant cellular and tissue damage, this will provide a way to prevent severe Covid-19 and other severe viral syndromes. One exciting possibility is to administer early and sufficient doses of antioxidants to strengthen the body’s antioxidant defenses. This can play a major role in prevention and intervention of cytokine storm/oxidative stress. [5,6] Antioxidant vitamins and nutraceuticals have been used for this purpose in the management of Covid-19. Some of these nutrients showed significant effectiveness in treating Covid-19 [30-33], and “Long Covid” symptoms. [34]

Lipid peroxidation plays a central and an important role in cytokine storm. Unlike oxidation of DNA and protein, lipid peroxidation is unique in that it usually happens rapidly, damaging many of the lipid molecules in a local cellular environment through a lipid peroxidation chain reaction (LPCR). It can continue until all the unsaturated lipid molecules in cell membranes are damaged or until LPCR is terminated by antioxidants, usually the body’s main lipophilic antioxidant, vitamin E. [35-38] The prevention of lipid peroxidation and termination of LPCR requires a series of antioxidants to work together in a systematic manner, like a cogwheel. Lacking or insufficiency of any one component may render the entire antioxidant cascade ineffective. There is little recognition of this “integrative or systematic” working relationship in the literature. [35] This lack of recognition may be responsible for the failure of some antioxidant studies to show clinical effectiveness.

The main purpose of this article is to analyze and present this “Integrative Antioxidant Therapies” concept.

Cytokine storm/oxidative stress is a pathobiological response that can be induced by various pathogens and by nature is non-pathogen-specific. Thus therapeutic strategies to prevent or block cytokine storm/oxidative stress may be a very effective general method to prevent/treat diseases involving cytokine storm/oxidative stress. This point may have a wide-reaching clinical significance, especially in the current global management of Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the various causes that may induce a cytokine storm and the varied cytokine responses that may happen in a cytokine storm, the associated elevated oxidative stress response for any particular causative agent is very likely similar. This makes it possible to develop an antioxidant therapy to prevent or block the severe diseases that result from the cytokine storm, including severe Covid-19 pneumonia. One of the difficulties in developing preventive treatments for pandemics like Covid-19 is the rapid mutations of these RNA viruses. But with cytokine storm as the common feature of such severe diseases, it may be possible to prevent these severe diseases with integrative antioxidant therapies to prevent or block the cytokine storm, even without detailed studies of new virus mutants. This applies not only to Covid-19; it may be applicable to other future epidemics, and other severe viral diseases. The clinical, societal and economic impact of this strategy is so profound that further research is urgently needed with top priority.

One of the key problems dealing with Covid-19 and other epidemic/pandemic-causing viruses is their rapid mutation rates, which can often obviate the few available virus specific vaccines and/or drugs. We propose an integrative viricidal and antioxidant therapy that may be universally applicable to Covid-19 and other viral infections, including various Covid-19 mutants and future mutants.

Lipid peroxidation chain reaction (LPCR), a key cascade of events in cytokine storm:

LPCR is well studied and established in the field of biochemistry. LPCR has 3 stages: the Initiation stage, the Propagation stage, and the final Termination stage. [39] LPCR not only damages lipid molecules, which make up the cell membrane, but the LPCR process also causes a number of very toxic oxidation products including lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and aldehydes such as malondialdehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE). MDA is the most mutagenic product of lipid peroxidation and is commonly used as a biomarker for oxidative deterioration in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. 4-HNE is the most toxic secondary product of lipid peroxidation.

Lipid peroxidation chain reaction (LPCR) is at the center of the cytokine storm, producing free radicals. [36,40-43] In turn, free radicals oxidize and damage DNA, proteins and lipids. The oxidation of lipids is biochemically called peroxidation. Once a lipid molecule is oxidized (this is called initiation), it becomes a lipid radical. The lipid radical can oxidize the next lipid molecule in the neighborhood very readily and rapidly until this chain event is terminated by antioxidants, especially vitamin E. Lipid peroxidation has been implicated in the development and progression of critical illnesses. [43] High levels of lipid peroxidation are associated with severe Covid-19 symptoms. [44-46] Protein adducts of lipid peroxidation products (4-HNE) were found to be higher in patients who died of severe Covid-19 symptoms than in those who survived Covid-19. [47]

Excessive oxidative stress is common in many, if not all, acute and chronic diseases, including Covid-19.

Oxidative stress describes biochemical reactions involving reactive molecules, including reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), sometimes collectively abbreviated as RONS. Oxidative stress is an important part of redox signaling inherent in cell physiology. [48-50] Lipid peroxidation is also implicated in many chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease [51-56], cancer [57-60], Alzheimer’s, liver diseases, lung diseases (COPD), diabetes mellitus [61-68], autoimmune diseases [69-73], and also Covid-19, chronic Covid-19 symptoms (so-called “Long Covid”) and even Covid vaccine related injuries. [5,34,47,74-84] More advanced atherosclerosis is found to be associated with increased oxidized linoleic acid (LA) than with non-oxidized LA. [85]

Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are the targets of LPCR:

LPCR primarily targets the double bonds in lipid molecules. PUFAs are the fatty acids with unsaturated double bonds between the carbon molecules in their backbone. Hence PUFAs are the primary targets of LPCR. All fatty acids can be oxidized, but with increasing difficulty from PUFAs to MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids) to saturated fats. [86]

The double bonds in PUFAs are relatively unstable and can be readily broken by oxidative free radicals, causing damage to these lipids. Cell membranes, and the membrane of subcellular organelles such as mitochondria are made up mostly of lipids. Once these lipids are damaged, their functions are also impaired. Cardiolipin, e.g., an abundant lipid on the mitochondria membrane, plays a critical role in cellular energy production. Peroxidation of PUFAs in cardiolipin may contribute to age-related decline in the mitochondrial function. [86] Cardiolipin is found to be damaged in many cancer cells as well. [87-90]

Saturated fatty acids don’t have these double bonds, and MUFAs have only one such double bond. Hence saturated fats and MUFAs are more stable and less readily oxidized by free radicals.

The amount of dietary omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (N6 PUFAs) has increased significantly over the past few decades:

Due to decades of widespread misinformation that saturated fats are unhealthy, the intake of unsaturated fats, especially in the form of N-6 rich seed oils has significantly increased in modern diets. [91-93] Although both N-3 and N-6 are essential fatty acids, N-6 PUFA has a pro-inflammation effect, while N-3 PUFA is anti-inflammatory. The N-6 to N-3 fatty acid ratio has increased significantly from a ratio of ~1:1 during prehistoric evolution to 20:1 or even higher in recent decades. The increased N6/N3 ratio has been found to be correlated with various chronic diseases. [39,91,93,94] Although the recent abnormally high N6/N3 ratio may not have a direct impact on LPCR and cytokine storm, the increased total PUFA in our body is a setup for potentially more explosive LPCR. These PUFAs are enriched in cell membranes [95] which allows the membranes to be more readily attacked by the free radicals. This happens especially in a cytokine storm, with a huge outburst of free radicals in a short period of time, which overwhelms the antioxidant capacity of cells, leading to the initiation and propagation of the lipid peroxidation chain reaction. This increase of dietary N-6 PUFA intake is especially found among those with metabolic diseases such as diabetes. [91-93] This may explain why patients with metabolic diseases are prone to severe Covid-19 diseases with a high risk of multiorgan failure and mortality.

Fig. 1 Significant increase of N-6 PUFA and its correlation with major chronic diseases.

Termination of LPCR:

Once LPCR is initiated, it can propagate until all the lipids are oxidized or until it is terminated by antioxidants, especially vitamin E (VE). [35,96-98] VE is the chief LPCR chain-breaking antioxidant. VE is a lipid soluble antioxidant vitamin and is located on cell membranes, sitting among the lipid molecules. These features make VE the key antioxidant vitamin to protect cell membranes from oxidation. Other antioxidants, such as vitamin C, the primary extracellular antioxidant, do not have this LCPR termination effect. [35]

Cascade of Antioxidants:

Vitamin E appears to be required to block the propagation of LPCR and to terminate LPCR. The oxidized VE will not in turn oxidize other lipid molecules, but instead, oxidized VE needs to be reduced by other antioxidants, especially vitamin C (VC). The oxidized VC needs to be reduced by alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, glutathione, selenium and NADP+/NADP. The free radicals will be passed down onto NADP/NADPH cascade to be disposed of in water. These antioxidants work in a systematic manner (Fig. 2).

Fig 2. Antioxidant Cascade

(Adapted from https://www.robertbarrington.net/free-radicals-and-antioxidants)

Systematic and integrative nature of the antioxidant systems:

It should be noted that these antioxidants work in an integrative and systematic manner like a system of cogwheels. Each and every one of the components is required.

It’s been shown that in the absence of VE, VC is not able to prevent lipids from being attacked by LPCR. Sato et al. described in their study of LDP cholesterol that VE and VC together can prevent LDL oxidation. However, in the absence of VE, VC is unable to prevent the LDL oxidation. [35] A recent national survey found alarming high rates of vitamin deficiency among American adults: 45% of American adults are deficient in vitamin A, vitamin C (46% deficient), vitamin D (95% deficient), vitamin E (84% deficient) and zinc (15% deficient). [99] It is conceivable that when individuals deficient in antioxidant vitamins and nutrients are hit by cytokine storm, their innate LPCR prevention and termination mechanisms are severely impaired so they will suffer high rates of cytokine storm/oxidative stress damages, leading to severe diseases and death.

Antioxidation therapies of various single antioxidants or a combination of a selected few antioxidants have been used to clinically treat various diseases. The results have been mixed. Lack of understanding of this “integrative and systematic” nature of antioxidant cascade may be responsible for at least some of the failures observed in those clinical antioxidant studies.

The contribution of N-6 PUFA, LPCR, and the integrative nature of antioxidants in the prevention and termination of LPCR has not been previously addressed. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time this concept is described. In fact, clinical attention of oxidation has been mostly given to DNA mutation, but hardly any attention has been given to the peroxidation of lipids and ways to prevent this life-threatening condition.

Systematic Antioxidant Therapy

The terms cytokine storm and oxidative stress are associated with many viral syndromes and other non-viral infections. Systematic Antioxidants Therapy may have wide clinical application, and deserves further clinical studies.

In summary, cytokine storm and associated oxidative stress appear to be a common mechanistic pathway leading to severe clinical diseases caused by viruses and other non-viral agents, including Covid-19. Lipid peroxidation is a central part of the cytokine storm. Prevention of the lipid peroxidation chain reaction and its termination requires an integrative and systematic antioxidant cascade including sufficient doses of vitamin C, vitamin E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione and NAD+/NADP+ and others. Lacking or insufficiency of any of these components may render the antioxidant cascade ineffective, resulting in failure to prevent/block cytokine storm/oxidative stress. This mechanism is universal and non-specific to causative agents. Epidemics and pandemics are on the rise, despite the significantly improved global economy and technology. [7] This “universal and non-specific nature” makes it possible for preemptive therapy to prevent or block cytokine storm induced severe diseases from happening, even before full recognition of the underlying causative agent. This is important, because it potentially allows us to prevent and block a pandemic of a new virus or a new viral mutant when it occurs, without spending the long time needed for specific drug or vaccine research and development. With the seemingly endless mutations of SARS-Cov-2, we may still have time to apply this strategy to break the Covid-19 pandemic.

Based on the biochemistry and pathology, we recommend high doses and early administration of antioxidants. We recommend vitamin C; vitamin E , alpha lipoic acid, CoQ10, glutathione and other vitamins and nutrients such as B vitamins and mitochondrial nutrients. Vitamin B3 (niacin) is critical in NAD+ biogenesis. NAD+ is involved in the final step of scavenging of free radicals. The rapid recovery in the case presented below highlights this approach.

We recently consulted on a case of severe Covid-19 in a patient who rapidly recovered after the administration of this Integrative Antioxidant Therapy, based on the above understanding and analysis. Robert from Manila, the Philippines, was of advanced age with multiple comorbidities including type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity and history of chronic hepatitis B. Robert was diagnosed of Covid-19 in September 2021, admitted to ICU and received standard Covid-19 care in the hospital for a week without improvement. Instead, his symptoms deteriorated with decrease of oxygen saturation progressed down to as low as 90-92% and rapidly rising cytokine storm markers of CRP, D. Dimer and ferritin (Fig. 3-5). The family requested my consultation and I recommended Integrative Antioxidant Therapy (Fig. 6). However, due to policy restrictions of the hospital, Robert did not receive my recommended protocol. His clinical conditions worsened with continued rise of cytokine storm markers (Fig. 3-5) and I was consulted again 4 days later. At that time, Robert was on a verge of or already in a cytokine storm and his risks of developing multiorgan failure were very high. I strongly urged the attending physician to implement the Integrative Antioxidant Therapy Protocol. Finally, Robert received the recommended protocol (Fig. 6). He rapidly improved on Day 2 after the implementation of the Protocol. He didn’t need the supplemental oxygen on Day 3 to maintain adequate blood oxygen saturation. On Day 5, he was discharged to home care. I recommended continued integrative antioxidant therapy to ensure maximal repair of cellular and tissue oxidative damages and to prevent long term Covid-19 symptoms.

Fig. 3. Robert’s ferritin levels during his hospitalization. Orange line: upper limit of normal range. Blue line: patient’s ferritin values. Blue arrow: my recommendation of Integrative Antioxidant Therapy on my first consultation. Red arrow: implementation of Integrative Antioxidants Therapy. Black Arrow: discharge from hospital.

Fig. 4. Robert’s CRP levels during his hospitalization. Orange line: upper limit of normal range. Blue line: patient’s CRP values. Blue arrow: my recommendation of Integrative Antioxidant Therapy on my first consultation. Red arrow: implementation of Integrative Antioxidants Therapy. Black Arrow: discharge from hospital.

Fig. 5. Robert’s D. Dimer levels during his hospitalization. Orange line: upper limit of normal range. Blue line: patient’s D. Dimer values. Blue arrow: my recommendation of Integrative Antioxidant Therapy on my first consultation. Red arrow: implementation of Integrative Antioxidants Therapy. Black Arrow: discharge from hospital.

Fig. 6. Integrative Antioxidant Therapy Protocol

(The following recommendations should be implemented under the supervision of a qualified healthcare provider):

Vitamin C [5,6,100] : Vitamin C powder is fine, although Liposomal VC is preferred for its better absorption, especially for severe Covid-19 or other severe illnesses. High dose Intravenous vitamin C (30 g/day or higher) is great, although this requires a physician’s supervision. If used early and in sufficient doses, the high dose regular vitamin C powder or good quality liposomal vitamin C suffice.
Vitamin D3: regular vitamin D3 supplements available on the market should suffice. For severe cases, I often give high dose vitamin D3 (as high as 50,000 to 60,000 IU by mouth right away). Vitamin D3 actually is quite safe even at high doses.
Vitamin E: Vitamin E consists of several different forms. Find a quality brand that you trust. A good natural form is “mixed tocopherols”.
Magnesium: there are many forms of magnesium, what I usually use are two: the most common one that I use is a combination of magnesium glycinate and magnesium citrate. Magnesium glycinate is well absorbed into your blood stream. Magnesium citrate is a bit less well absorbed with some remaining in the GI tract, which has the advantage of promoting bowel movements as this is a common health problem for many people. Another form of magnesium is magnesium threonate which is unique in that it can penetrate through the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) and reach a high concentration in the brain. I often recommend magnesium threonate as a sleep aid, for migraine headaches and even for seizure activities. Magnesium chloride is well absorbed, and does not cause a laxative effect.
Hydrogen peroxide: Hydrogen peroxide (3%) nebulization is an excellent safe, effective and inexpensive for prevention and treatment of various types of viruses or bacteria, Covid-19 included. [101-104] Quite contrary to the common belief, hydrogen peroxide (3%) nebulization is actually quite safe, when used under the supervision of a qualified healthcare provider. Hydrogen peroxide has a history of clinical studies and has been found to be effective in tumor and heart disease. [105,106]
Cortisol: a powerful natural anti-inflammatory molecule that regulates the immune system when under stress. It can assist vitamin C in providing its antioxidant function. Under the care of a doctor, high dose intravenous vitamin C therapy can be reinforced with hydrocortisone. [107]

Conclusion

In conclusion, oxidative stress plays a central role in severe Covid-19 diseases and other diseases involving cytokine storm and oxidative stress. Lipid peroxidation is a central part of the cytokine storm. The prevention and termination of the lipid peroxidation chain reaction requires an integrative and systematic antioxidant cascade including vitamin C, vitamin E, CoQ10, alpha lipoic acid, glutathione and NAD+/NADP+ and others. Lacking or insufficiency of any of these components may render the antioxidant cascade ineffective, resulting in failure to prevent/block cytokine storm/oxidative stress. This mechanism is universal and non-specific to pathogens. Recognition of this mechanism may have a wide clinical implication to many viral and non-viral diseases. Clearly further clinical studies are warranted.

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Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 20, 2022

Junk Food Promotes Hunger and Overeating

Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/01/19/junk-food-addiction.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked January 19, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

While the food industry has become notorious for funding anti-obesity programs that focus on physical activity, research clearly shows that processed foods, sugary beverages and high-carbohydrate diets are a primary concern
Processed vegetable oils, which are a staple ingredient in processed foods, also promote obesity and ill health. Soybean oil, the most widely consumed fat in the U.S., upregulates genes involved in obesity and is more obesogenic than fructose
Sugar-rich diets generate excessive reward signals in your brain that can override normal self-control mechanisms and lead to addiction and overeating
Research found a single week of bingeing on fast foods impaired appetite control, making the volunteers more likely to desire more junk food, even if they’d just eaten
The more added sugar your diet contains, the lower your intake of important micronutrients such as calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc

This article was previously published March 4, 2020, and has been updated with new information.

The struggle with weight gain and obesity is a common and costly health issue, leading to an increase in risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and cancer, just to name a few.¹

Obese individuals also have substantially higher medical expenses and indirect costs associated with lost productivity, transportation and premature mortality, and obesity is the reason why 1 in 3 fail to qualify for military service in the U.S.²

According to the 2019 State of Obesity report,³ 18.5% of American children (ages 2 to 19) and 39.6% of adults are now obese, not just overweight. Between the 1988-1994 and 2015-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, the adult obesity rate rose over 70% and the childhood obesity rate rose by 85%, and there are no signs of this trend slowing or reversing.⁴

While the food industry has become notorious for funding anti-obesity programs that focus on physical activity, research clearly shows that processed foods, sugary beverages and high-carbohydrate diets are a primary concern. Sure, inactivity certainly contributes to the problem, but you cannot exercise your way out of a poor diet.

Processed vegetable oils, which are high in damaged omega-6 fats, are yet another reason why processed food diets are associated with higher rates of heart disease and other diseases.

Soybean oil, which is the most widely consumed fat in the U.S.,⁵ has been shown to play a significant role in obesity and diabetes, actually upregulating genes involved in obesity.⁶ Remarkably, soybean oil was found to be more obesogenic than fructose. It’s also been shown to cause neurological changes in the brain.^7,⁸

Junk Foods Addiction Is Real

Processed junk food destroys your metabolism and promotes obesity through a variety of mechanisms. Among them is the way these kinds of foods affect your appetite control. Several studies have also demonstrated that processed foods are addictive.

As detailed in “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” your body is designed to naturally regulate how much you eat and the energy you burn. Food manufacturers have figured out how to override these intrinsic regulators, engineering processed foods that are “hyper-rewarding.”

According to the food reward hypothesis of obesity, processed foods stimulate such a strong reward response in our brains that it becomes very easy to overeat. One of the guiding principles for the processed food industry is known as “sensory-specific satiety.”

In a 2013 New York Times article, investigative reporter Michael Moss described this as “the tendency for big, distinct flavors to overwhelm your brain.”⁹ The greatest successes, whether beverages or foods, owe their “craveability” to complex formulas that pique your taste buds without overwhelming them, thereby overriding your brain’s satiety signals.

Potato chips are among the most addictive junk foods on the market, containing all three “bliss-inducing” ingredients: sugar (from the potato and sometimes additional sugars in the seasoning), salt and fat. And while food companies abhor the word “addiction” in reference to their products, scientists have discovered that sugar, in particular, is just that. In fact, sugar has been shown to be more addictive than cocaine.

Research¹⁰ published in 2007 showed 94% of rats allowed to choose between sugar water and cocaine chose sugar. Even cocaine addicted rats quickly switched their preference to sugar once it was offered as an alternative. The rats were also more willing to work for sugar than for cocaine.

The researchers speculate that the sweet receptors (two protein receptors located on your tongue), which evolved in ancestral times when the diet was very low in sugar, have not adapted to modern times’ high-sugar consumption.

As a result, the abnormally high stimulation created by sugar-rich diets generates excessive reward signals in your brain, which have the potential to override normal self-control mechanisms and thus lead to addiction and overeating.

Junk Foods Interfere With Appetite Control

Most recently, Australian researchers found a single week of bingeing on fast foods impaired appetite control, making the volunteers more likely to desire more junk food, even if they’d just eaten.¹¹ They also scored lower on memory tests, thus confirming previous findings¹² showing a Western-style diet impairs learning and memory. As reported by Science Alert:¹³

“The findings suggest something is amiss in the hippocampus — a region of the brain that supports memory and helps to regulate appetite. When we are full, the hippocampus is thought to quieten down our memories of delicious food, thereby reducing our appetite. When it’s disrupted, this control can be seriously undermined.”

For this eight-day experiment, healthy volunteers between the ages of 17 and 35 with a body mass index¹⁴ between 17 and 26 (slightly underweight to mildly overweight) were instructed to eat:

Two Belgian waffles on four days
A main meal and a drink or dessert from a popular fast food chain on two days

On Days 1 and 8, the volunteers were given a toasted sandwich and milkshake for breakfast at the lab. The control group were given the same breakfast at the start and end of the study, but were instructed to eat normally during the remainder of the week.

On Days 1 and 8, participants also completed pre- and post-breakfast “wanting and liking tests,” in which they were first presented with six sugary breakfast foods and asked to rate how strong their desire to eat the food right now was. Next, they were instructed to consume the samples and rate how much they liked it, and how much more of it they thought they would be able to eat right then. As reported by the authors:¹⁵

“One week’s exposure to a WS-diet [Western-style diet] caused a measurable weakening of appetitive control, as measured by the two key ratings on the wanting and liking test.

Prior to the intervention, participants viewed palatable breakfast foods and judged how much they wanted to eat them, and then how much they liked their actual taste. This test was repeated after participants had eaten to satiety.

Across these pre- and post-meal tests, wanting ratings declined far more than ratings of taste liking. This manifestation of appetitive control — that is the expectation that food is less desirable than it actually tastes — changed in participants following the Western-style dietary intervention.”

High-Sugar Diets Lower Nutrient Absorption

If you eat a fast-food burger, you can easily take in close to half your daily caloric requirements. Add in fries and a soda and you may be nearing an entire day’s worth of required calories. However, you have not received the vitamins and minerals, the live enzymes and micronutrients, the healthy fats or high-quality protein that your body needs to function, let alone thrive.

This was recently demonstrated in a Swedish study,^16,¹⁷ which found that the more added sugar your diet contains, the lower your micronutrient intake (i.e., vitamins and minerals).

To examine this relationship, the researchers examined dietary data collected in two Swedish population based studies (the National Swedish Food Survey and the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study).

Each individual’s added sugar intake was estimated by subtracting naturally-occurring fructose from the total sugar content of the diet as a whole. Energy intake for added sugar was then stratified into six groups:

Less than 5% of energy intake from added sugar	5% to 7.5%
7.5% to 10%	10% to 15%
15% to 20%	Greater than 20%

They also calculated the intake of calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, potassium, selenium, vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc, finding an inverse relationship between added sugar intake and intakes of all nine micronutrients. According to the authors:¹⁸

“These findings suggest that in two Swedish populations the higher the intake of added sugar in the diet, the more likely it is that the intake of micronutrients will be compromised …

However, although the trends are significant and consistent with those obtained in other studies on the subject, future studies are needed in order to build the necessary scientific knowledge to establish a threshold of added sugar intake based on micronutrient dilution.”

When fast food meals are consumed day in and day out, for months and years on end, weight gain is virtually guaranteed, yet your body may still be starving and malfunctioning for lack of essential nutrients.

Depression Is a Junk Food State of Mind

Aside from promoting obesity, processed food and fast food diets have also been strongly linked to depression, especially in teens. In a 2019 study,¹⁹ researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham looked into the role diet plays in symptoms of depression.

To do that, they analyzed the excretion of sodium and potassium in the urine of 84 urban, low‐income adolescents. Higher levels of sodium in the urine can be an indication of a diet high in sodium, such as processed foods and salty snacks. A low level of potassium, meanwhile, is indicative of a diet lacking in fruits, vegetables and other healthy potassium-rich foods.

As expected, higher sodium and lower potassium excretion rates were associated with more frequent symptoms of depression at follow up 1.5 years later. “This study was the first to demonstrate relationships between objective indicators of unhealthy diet and subsequent changes in depressive symptoms in youth,” the authors wrote.²⁰

It’s possible that eating foods high in sodium and low in potassium may lead to depression by negatively influencing neurotransmitters and neural function during a time that is particularly vulnerable.

“Given the substantial brain development that occurs during adolescence, individuals in this developmental period may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of diet on the neural mechanisms underlying emotion regulation and depression,” the researchers said.

In addition, poor diet could influence depression by disturbing the gut microbiome, which could further influence brain function. Past studies have also confirmed the diet-depression link among children and teens.

For example, a systematic review²¹ of 12 studies involving children and adolescents also found an association between unhealthy diet and poorer mental health. Conversely, those with healthier diets had better mental health. The consumption of junk food has also been linked to a higher risk for psychiatric distress and violent behaviors in children and adolescents.²²

Adults may also suffer mentally from a diet based on unhealthy foods. A 2016 study²³ found women who ate a proinflammatory diet (which can include one high in processed foods), were more likely to have recurring depressive symptoms, and a 2018 systematic review and meta-analysis,²⁴ which looked at data from 101,950 participants, also found an association between a pro-inflammatory diet and risk of depression.

The Scourge of Ultraprocessed Food

Unfortunately, Americans not only eat a preponderance of processed food, but 60% of it is ultraprocessed²⁵ — products at the far end of the “significantly altered” spectrum, or what you could typically purchase at a gas station.

Any food that isn’t directly from the vine, ground, bush or tree, is considered processed. Depending on the amount of change the food undergoes, processing may be minimal or significant. For instance, frozen fruit is usually minimally processed, while pizza, soda, chips and microwave meals are ultra-processed foods.

The difference in the amount of sugar between foods that are ultraprocessed and minimally processed is dramatic. Research²⁶ has shown 21.1% of calories in ultraprocessed foods come from added sugar, compared to just 2.4% of the calories in processed food and none in unprocessed foods.

In addition to obesity, depression and other chronic health problems, ultra-processed foods will also shorten your life span. French researchers found that for each 10% increase in the amount of ultraprocessed food an individual consumed, the risk of death rose by 14%.²⁷

This link remained even after taking confounding factors such as smoking, obesity and low educational background into account. The primary factors driving the increased death rate was chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

In my view, eating a diet consisting of 90% real food and only 10% or less processed foods is an achievable goal for most that could make a significant difference in your weight and overall health.

Ultraprocessed foods should be kept to an absolute minimum and consumed only rarely. As noted in a 2016 study,²⁸ “Decreasing the consumption of ultraprocessed foods could be an effective way of reducing the excessive intake of added sugars in the USA.” To get started, consider the following basics. Here are some ideas for making your own nutrition plan:

• Focus on fresh foods, ideally organic, and avoid as many processed foods as possible (if it comes in a can, bottle or package and has a list of ingredients, it’s processed).

Severely restrict carbohydrates from refined sugars, fructose and processed grains, and increase healthy fat consumption. Examples of healthy fats include grass fed butter, ghee, lard, coconut oil and coconuts, avocados, nuts and seeds, raw cacao butter, extra virgin olive oil, organic pastured eggs.

You can eat an unlimited amount of nonstarchy vegetables. Because they are so low in calories, the majority of the food on your plate should be vegetables.

• Replace sodas and other sweetened beverages, including fruit juices, with pure, filtered water.

• Gradually reduce your eating window to six to eight hours with your last food intake at least three hours before bedtime.

• Shop around the perimeter of the grocery store where most of the whole foods reside, such as meat, fruits, vegetables, eggs and cheese. Not everything around the perimeter is healthy, but you’ll avoid many of the ultra-processed foods this way.

• Stress creates a physical craving for fats and sugar that may drive your addictive, stress-eating behavior. If you can recognize when you’re getting stressed and find another means of relieving the emotion, your eating habits will likely improve.

The Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) can help reduce your perceived stress, change your eating habits around stress and help you create new, healthier eating habits that support your long-term health. To discover more about EFT, how to do it and how it may help reduce your stress and develop new habits, see my previous article, “EFT is an Effective Tool for Anxiety.”

– Sources and References

^1, ² State of Obesity 2019 (PDF), Page 7
^3, ⁴ State of Obesity 2019 (PDF), Page 1
^5, ⁸ Eurekalert January 17, 2020
⁶ PLOS ONE July 22, 2015, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132672
⁷ Endocrinology January 8, 2020, bqz044
⁹ New York Times February 20, 2013
¹⁰ PLOS ONE August 1, 2007; 2(8): e698
¹¹ Royal Society of Open Science February 19, 2020, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191338
¹² PLOS ONE 2017; 12(2): e0172645
¹³ Science Alert February 20, 2020
¹⁴ Body Mass Index
¹⁵ Royal Society of Open Science February 19, 2020, DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191338, Discussion
^16, ¹⁸ Nutrition and Metabolism February 11, 2020; 17, Article number: 15
¹⁷ MedicalXpress.com February 14, 2020
^19, ²⁰ Physiological Reports August 23, 2019; 7(16)
²¹ Am J Public Health October 2014; 104(10): e31–e42
²² Nutrition 2014 Nov-Dec;30(11-12):1391-7
²³ Clin Psychol Sci. 2016 Nov;4(6):1125-1134
²⁴ Clin Nutr. 2019 Oct;38(5):2045-2052
²⁵ BMJ Open 2016; 6:e009892
^26, ²⁸ BMJ Open, 2016;6(3):e009892
²⁷ JAMA Internal Medicine 2019;179(4):490-498

Posted in Food, Minerals, Obesity, Omega-3, Omega-6, Vitamins | One Comment »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 17, 2022

The Plan to Tag Us for the New World Order Slave System

Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/01/16/new-world-order-slave-system.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked January 16, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

Dozens of peer-reviewed studies show that when COVID-19 is treated within the first few days of symptom onset, there’s an 85% reduction in hospitalization and death
With Omicron, we have been gifted a best-case scenario. The highly contagious virus can rip through the population, causing only mild cold symptoms, thus producing herd immunity without the risk of mass casualties
Two months before the rollout of the COVID shots, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was aware that they could cause serious problems, including heart attacks, strokes, myocarditis, blood clots, neurological problems and more, yet they pushed them anyway
Dr. Vladimir Zelenko believes SARS-CoV-2 is a bioweapon. Patents spanning two decades support this view. Those who created the weapon also investigated and identified antidotes, which includes the zinc ionophore hydroxychloroquine
The antidote to COVID was intentionally suppressed to encourage people to get the COVID jab, which Zelenko believes is a tool to tag people for the New World Order slave system

Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, whom I’ve interviewed twice previously, was among the first U.S. physicians to develop an early treatment program for the novel SARS-CoV-2 infection. He popularized the use of hydroxychloroquine and zinc, and when hydroxychloroquine became increasingly difficult to obtain, he was also among the first to identify quercetin as a viable alternative.

When the pandemic started, Zelenko was practicing in New York. He has since moved to Florida, where he’s been giving interviews for several hours a day, trying to spread the word about early treatment and prevention. As noted by Zelenko:

“It’s a very treatable infection — or should I say bioweapon? — if done within the first few days, because COVID is two diseases. It’s the infectious stage of the virus, and then a week later, you have the pathogenic inflammatory reaction that does all the damage to the lungs and causes blood clots.

So, it’s all about timing. And the data is very clear. There are dozens of peer-reviewed studies that prove if you treat COVID within the first few days, you have an 85% reduction in hospitalization and death. It’s a no-brainer. You could have saved 700,000 people from going to the hospital out of 800,000.”

While licensed to practice medicine in Florida, Zelenko now spends most of his time educating the public and other doctors. He’s also available via telemedicine, but his passion has become researching and developing simple, natural approaches to complex health problems — including his own.

The Road Less Traveled

Zelenko has a rare type of cancer called pulmonary artery sarcoma, which is typically fatal. He’s also undergone two open-heart surgeries and three years of chemo and radiation, none of which has resolved his problems.

“Almost four years ago, I was diagnosed with pulmonary artery sarcoma. There are only 10 cases on average per year, and they’re all found at autopsy. In my case, they thought it was a blood clot that didn’t respond to blood-thinning medication.

So, the decision was made to do an embolectomy, open my chest, go into the pulmonary artery and take out the blood clot. But when they did that, they saw it was a tumor, and it had completely destroyed my right lung. So, I lost my right lung. And they resected a large part of the pulmonary artery and had to reconstruct it because you need that artery to live.

Then I was in chemo … I was pretty good for two years, and then it came back and had spread to my hip as well. And so, I had another open-heart surgery. They had to replace one of my heart valves, pulmonic valve. Then I went for radiation to my hip [followed by] really heavy chemo.

After two months on that, I went into congestive heart failure and developed cardiomyopathy … I recovered from that, and was put on heart failure medication … A month after that … I developed COVID pneumonia … I was pretty sure I was going to leave in a box, yet I recovered.

A few months later, I went for another CT scan, and they found, again, the tumor was back in the pulmonary artery, but this time, no doctor wanted to operate on me. A third open-heart procedure is very dangerous. They estimated more than 50% likelihood I would die on the table, which I didn’t like. So, I ended up having pretty intense radiation to my mediastinum, where the tumor was.

That’s when you came into the picture, in terms of advising me about treatment. I ended up having immunotherapy in Europe for two months with checkpoint inhibitors, but also hyperthermia and mistletoe injections, and alpha lipoic acid, high-dose vitamin C [infusions] and different other modalities. And I feel better than ever.

I had a CT scan last week, and it showed the tumor shrank by one-third. I spoke to the radiation oncologist who told me that a good result would’ve been the same size or smaller. It takes years to resolve. So, time will tell, but it’s easier for me to walk, and hemodynamically I’m more stable, and I feel good. Amen.”

The Surprising Role of Immunotherapy in Cancer

Overall, the “COVID story has completely changed the way I look at life,” Zelenko says. When he saw how natural, effective, over-the-counter solutions for COVID were suppressed, while experimental gene transfer shots were pushed, he realized other treatments might also be suppressed, such as cancer treatments.

“Probably, effective approaches were marginalized in lieu of the more expensive pharmaceutical approaches,” he says. “I’ll give you one example. Dr. [William] Coley was an oncological surgeon who lived around 100 years ago, maybe 120 years ago. He noticed that he would operate on his patients, and the tumor would come back and they would die. And then he observed something very interesting.

He had a patient with pancreatic cancer, Stage 4, inoperable. That patient got very sick with an infection and became septic. He almost died, but he recovered and his tumor went away. He noticed that type of phenomenon a few more times, and realized that there must be some immune reaction, immune response to the infection that wakes up the immune system to also attack the tumor.

So basically, in my opinion, that was the birth of immunotherapy. Fever seems to play a role. It seems to have antitumor properties, as well as activating certain parts of your immune system. So, it’s fascinating. And that information was buried for a good long time — 50, 60 years — until some doctors rediscovered it and started doing research. And I benefited from that in Europe.”

Hyperthermic Treatment for Cancer

We’ve come a long way since the days of Coley, who used toxins to trigger infection and fever. Today, hyperthermic treatment is used instead. Basically, it’s all about raising your body temperature to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit for four to six hours. Zelenko describes the treatment he underwent:

“It was quite an experience, having a temperature around 40 Celsius, let’s say 104 degrees Fahrenheit, for five hours. You become a little loopy and a little anxious, but I drank a lot of fluids and had a nurse with me all the time. It was a pretty interesting experience.

There were whole-body hyperthermia machines and localized hyperthermia. Both are basically a fancy sauna. It was like a spa actually. I did enjoy the treatment in most cases.”

As an aside, I sincerely believe sauna bathing is one of the most powerful biohacks available. I do it four times a week. I get my temperature up to about 102 degrees F. or so, for 20 minutes. I’ve found it to be a profoundly effective health habit to nip infections in the bud, and may also help put the brakes on any potential malignancies. I am currently using a prototype full-spectrum SaunaSpace sauna that is EMF-free, has eight 250 watt bulbs and will likely be available later this year.

Omicron Is Unstoppable, But Not To Be Feared

Getting back to the issue of COVID, over the past two years, the SARS-CoV-2 infection has gone through a number of changes. Omicron, for example, is far more contagious, but has far less severe symptoms. As noted by Zelenko:

“Omicron is unstoppable. It’s more infectious than measles. Everyone’s going to get it. Sorry, but that’s the case. However, it seems to attack only the upper airway in most cases, and there are very few deaths. It’s very responsive to treatment as well, so there’s no reason to be afraid of it.”

In fact, we appear to have been gifted a best-case scenario, in which a highly contagious virus will rip through the population, causing only mild cold symptoms, thus producing herd immunity without the risk of mass casualties. “When two-thirds of the population gets through it, it essentially shuts down the pandemic,” Zelenko says.

Vaccinating During a Pandemic Breeds Variants

In the interview, Zelenko explains how the many variants we’ve seen have probably been a result of the mass “vaccination” campaign.

Three respected immunologists, Dr. Luc Montagnier (who won the Nobel Prize in 2008 for his discovery of the HIV virus), Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, the most published immunologist in history, and Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a top immunologist in The Netherlands, have all warned that when you mass vaccinate in the middle of an active outbreak, you cause variants to emerge.

“You exert evolutionary pressure and breed more varying viruses,” Zelenko says. “Now, there are two or three possibilities. One could be that it was unintentional. Good, well-meaning people developed what they thought would help — a vaccine. However, giving it to people during a pandemic has been an absolute failure. ‘Oops, we’re sorry.’ That’s one possibility.

The other possibility is that whoever has orchestrated this knows exactly what they’re doing, and they are doing it on purpose to maintain the new variants and the consequences of that, which is essentially a psyop [to cause] a global psychosis due to fear, lockdowns and wearing a face diaper.

There’s one more possibility. There’s no dispute; everyone who knows the facts and has studied the issue knows that COVID-19 is a weapon made in a laboratory. Gain-of-function research is nothing more than making a weapon of mass destruction and genocide, and there’s a patent trail 20 years long that documents the different stages of development of this weapon.

And here’s my supposition. I have no evidence of this, but I could say the following: If I could make the original virus, I could make variants. It’s very easy. You just change a few sequences of the code that goes with the spike protein. You change its three-dimensional shape, and if you do it enough, eliminate existing antibodies.

So again, I don’t have evidence for that, but I do have evidence that [SARS-CoV-2] is an artificially-made bioweapon. So why wouldn’t it be possible to make variants the same way? I think it’s kind of a combination, multifactorial cause of variants — the natural God factor, the evolutionary pressure exerted by vaccinating people during an active pandemic, and then just outright making them.”

Antidotes to the Bioweapon Were Developed Beforehand

Zelenko goes on to recount a relatively recent realization. Back in March 2020, he saw a MedCram video, episode 34,¹ in which Dr. Roger Seheult explained some of the principles that he then ended up building his COVID protocol on. Seheult specifically quoted a paper that explained the functioning of zinc ionophores.

That mechanism is what Zelenko relied upon when developing his own protocol. However, he didn’t realize until December 2021 that the author of that central paper was Dr. Ralph Baric. Why does that matter? Zelenko explains:

“In 1999, Ralph Baric, funded by the U.S. government, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, figured out how to take an animal virus and have it be able to infect other species, different animals, in other words, cross-species infection.

In 2015, the same Dr. Ralph Baric, and Dr. Zhengli [at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China], funded by the National Institutes of Health, figured out how to make a corona bat virus infect human beings, and augmented its lethality to human lives. That was in 2015. But in 2010, Baric published that paper that I’m referring to.

So, the development of the weapon happened in stages, but before it was unleashed onto the human population, or the development of it being able to infect human beings, an antidote was made. Research paid for by the government was published.

The same people that made the bomb, let’s say, also created the antidote to diffuse the bomb. And then, when the pandemic arrived, doctors like myself, out of necessity, came up with creative solutions, based — in my case, unknowingly — on this work. And immediately, that information was marginalized and suppressed, and doctors were deplatformed for advocating for it.

So, the government who made the bomb also knew about the solution. And the reason why is they didn’t want to die. The stakeholders here don’t want their families to die. But for you and for me, they have a different agenda. So, they had that information.

I have knowledge that the Google executives are all taking hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin for prophylaxis, as is half of Congress. And so, the people that have orchestrated this knew the answer, and use it for themselves. Even doctors know the answer for themselves.

They prescribe [these drugs] for themselves, or they call me. But when patients come, they say there’s no treatment, go home, take Tylenol. So, this is mass murder.”

The COVID Jabs — Another Crime Against Humanity

In addition to killing untold numbers of people by denying and suppressing early treatment options, governments around the world are also killing people with the COVID jabs. A year into the aggressive campaign to inject as many people as possible, it’s likely the shots have killed more people than have died from the infection. It’s very difficult to tell, unfortunately, because the data are so seriously manipulated.

Zelenko estimates somewhere between 500,000 to 1 million Americans have been killed by the shots to date. Disturbingly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was aware that the shots could have serious consequences, yet they pushed them anyway. What’s more, they refuse to address the mindboggling number of adverse events reported to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS). The safety signal couldn’t possibly be clearer.

“In October, 2020, two months before the vaccine rollout, there was an internal presentation in the FDA to its scientists, and on slide 16 of that presentation, there was a list of side effects: death, heart attack, stroke, blood clots, horrific neurological diseases, myocarditis and many, many more,” Zelenko says.

“Now keep in mind, this is two months prior to the rollout. After the vaccines were rolled out, and a few months into it, when the VAERS database started showing the side effects that people were experiencing, there’s a 100% correlation with what that slide said would happen, and what actually happened to human beings.

That is premeditated mass murder. FDA knew exactly what it was doing. They knew exactly the side effects, and they released it anyway …”

What’s the Real Agenda?

Why would the FDA behave this way? Why aren’t they safeguarding public health from a clearly lethal treatment? And on the other hand, why aren’t they allowing doctors to help people with early treatment? Zelenko explains:

“In the mid-‘90s, it became obvious that the American economy was doomed. The Medicare and Social Security systems would become insolvent, and that would cause a tsunami-like effect nationally and internationally. And it was unstoppable. It was [mathematically inevitable].

Medicare, according to Congressional Budget Office, in 2027 will begin the process towards bankruptcy. So, security as of today [will last until] 2034. Now, the major stakeholders in the world economies saw an existential threat. They understood that their power and wealth was in real jeopardy.

And so a plan was developed, which was beyond the technology at that time, but the technology was being developed. So, for example, the Human Genome Project was mapped and completed.

Then CRISPR technology was developed, which is gene editing or gene splicing in very precise ways. That was sold as a way to cure genetic diseases. There’s a defective gene. You can just cut it out and splice in, cut and paste, basically, a healthy gene.

That’s the upside. The downside is that it creates possibilities to do gene editing for nefarious reasons. In 2015, Bill Gates said that the world population needs to be reduced by 15% through the use of vaccines because of global warming.

The same Bill Gates in 2020 said 7 billion people must be vaccinated. So, the obvious rhetorical question is, ‘Why would I take a vaccine for my health from someone who’s advocating the use of vaccines to reduce the world population?’

In 2016, Klaus Schwab, in an interview said something very strange. He said that within 10 years, by 2026, every single human being will be tagged with a digital identifier. What does that mean, and why?

Let’s go through the sequence of events. A bioweapon is made with an antidote, which is being suppressed and hidden. [The bioweapon] is released. It’s extremely easy to treat. However, that information is being suppressed, and access to those medications is being suppressed, and doctors who are advocating for it are being persecuted.

Anything that seems to give people hope, lessen anxiety, encourage reintegration with your loved ones seems to be immediately vilified, even early intervention. If you look at the NIH, they recommend, as of today, not to treat COVID unless they’re in the hospital with lung damage. Don’t do that.

And so, I was wondering, what is really going on? And why this incessant push to vaccinate everyone? Why jail doctors for using meds at work? Because it encourages the vaccine hesitancy.

Then I realized something. There were two patents that I became aware of. They’re separated by a year, but they’re linked in the puzzle, in the concept. One was August 31, 2021, that describes … nanotechnology engineering.² It basically describes the following:

That there is the capability, the technology, already existing, in these vaccines that allows for the measurement of biometric data, meaning your heart rate, your respiratory rate, temperature, and then the transmission of that data with your location to a third party.

That didn’t even make sense to me. Like what? But then I realized there’s another patent owned by Microsoft. This one I remember by heart. It’s an international patent, WO202060606. You can’t make this stuff up. That patent describes linkage of biometric data transmission to cryptocurrency.

Then I got it. And by the way, 2026, when everyone’s supposed to be tagged with a digital ID, let’s call it an internal Auschwitz tattoo, is a year before the beginning of the insolvency of Medicare and the beginning of economic collapse. And so, the real agenda has become obvious to me.

It’s never been about health. COVID-19 is easy to treat. It was always about using fear and mass psychosis to get 7 billion people to willfully get injected with the technology that would permit them to participate in the new cryptocurrency-based system, the system that the world will use for finance.

Fiat currency and all the traditional ways of transactions will be gone. The only way that you actually will be able to participate in transactions, of buying bread, let’s say, is having a transmitting sensor of information with your location. It’s the mark of the beast, if you really want to know. With that, you can then buy bread for your family …

Gates and Schwab [are] both talking talk about how these vaccines change who you are. What does that mean? They explain it. [With] the gene editing technology, they are making the human better. That’s transhumanism. I call it Human 2.0. Human 1.0 is the version made by God. We are is imprinted [with God] in our genetic code. We’re made in the image of God because we have his code in us.

Now, would you give Bill Gates or Klaus Schwab the password to your home security system? Why would we give him access to our genetic code? Human 2.0, in the demented, depraved, deranged minds of these people is the next step up in the evolution of human beings. And I’m saying that if you allow that to happen to yourself, you’re no longer made in the image of God. You’re made in the image of Bill Gates and Klaus Schwab.”

A Ploy to Tag Us for the NWO’s Slave System

So, in summary, Zelenko believes that everything we’ve experienced so far — the aggressive marketing of the shots, the coercion and threats made to get as many injected as possible — has all been a ploy to “tag” as many people as possible in preparation for the New World Order’s cryptocurrency system, which will be managed by a small select group, and used to enslave all of humanity.

As noted by Zelenko, the World Economic Forum has publicly announced that by 2030, the U.S. will no longer be a superpower, and a few countries will be in charge of global governance. Now, how do you destabilize an economic engine like the U.S.?

“You create a pandemic,” Zelenko says. “You lock down middle class businesses, small businesses … But you leave Walmart and Home Depot open … It’s a wealth transfer from the middle class to the people in power. It’s a robbery, basically.

This is one big attempt at enslaving humanity. It’s a brilliant plan, by the way. It’s evil, but it’s brilliant because slavery has always been the most lucrative industry and asset throughout human history. Now is no different. And so, you have a few sociopaths who believe in their immortality and think that they’ll transfer their consciousness to some cyborg, enjoying the whole world as their playground.”

Zelenko goes on to discuss the statements inscribed on the Georgia Guidestones, a huge granite monument erected anonymously in a small town in Georgia, which lays out 10 commandments. The first one is that the world population should be reduced to and maintained at 500 million. If the COVID shots continue, it’s not inconceivable that the human population might be reduced to that size.

The Why Behind the Genocide

A few months ago, Elon Musk debuted his humanoid robots, saying that since these robots will eliminate 90% of the workforce, we therefore need universal basic income. This too is part of The Great Reset plan, which embraces both technocracy and transhumanism.

“Keep in mind that in the minds of these people, we’re not made in the divine [image]. We’re cockroaches. And they’re not going to throw endless universal income resources at cockroaches for too long. They’ll do it initially to identify the useless eaters, and then they will be liquidated. This has happened before.

Just 80 years ago you had the Nazi ideology based on eugenics, which created three classes of people. You have the ubermensch, what Nietzsche would call Superman. Then the mensch, which is the human, and then the untermensch, which is the subhuman. In the [Nazi] model, the [Nazis were] Supermen, descendants of Aryan gods. That gave them the power to enslave others.

So, for example, the Anglo-Saxons, basically Europeans, were meant to be slaves to the Aryans. And the subhumans, which I belong to — Jews, gypsies, Slavs, handicapped, political prisoners — we were meant to be vaporized, become dust.

That ideology did not go away. It resurfaced with the nuance that is not antisemitic right now. In a kind of an abstract way, we’re all Jews this time, because the hierarchy here is not based on religion or identity, but rather on the deranged belief that they’ve evolved, the Superman of this generation, into a higher level of consciousness.

They’re woke and they understand and are enlightened about the nature of the human condition. They’re custodians of the planet, and therefore it’s their responsibility to make sure the planet has solvency, that it continues to exist. And therefore, we have to reduce the world population.”

Cause for Optimism

While humanity is in a most precarious situation, Zelenko is optimistic about the future.

“I’ll tell you what I really think is going on,” he says. “There’s what we see, and then there’s the, let’s call it spiritual physics, at play. Karl Jung, the famous psychoanalyst, wrote, ‘The moral degradation of society begins with the degradation of the individual.’ From that, we can actually learn that moral improvement of society begins with improvement of the individual.

We, as a society, over the last 50, 60 years, have made some very bad choices. For example, we’ve desanctified or defiled gender roles … Marriage has lost its sanctity. The unborn are being massacred. In the Bible, there are two cities that were destroyed, Sodom and Gomorrah, and there’s an analysis why that happened. It wasn’t because of the immorality, because the whole world was immoral.

It was because they codified immorality into the law of the land. That’s exactly what has happened in [the U.S.] We’ve devolved … We worship the God of science, the god of technology, the god of money, god of power. Anything but [the true] God. And we are clearly practicing child sacrifice.

Dr. Michael Yeadon, former VP of Pfizer, told me personally, and then he actually publicized it, that for every one child that dies of COVID, 100 die from the vaccine. The [COVID shot] is 100 times more lethal to children than COVID. What do you call that? That’s child sacrifice.

So, I feel that, by way of analogy, we’re in the generation of flood. The house is going to get cleaned, and each individual is given a choice to get on the ark or not.

Or, to make it simpler, who do you bow down to? Do you bow down to your creator, who makes you in every instant of time? Do you ask [God] for fortitude, endurance, strength, resolve, the ability to deal with the unknown and fear? Or are you going to give in to the fear and bow down to corrupt sociopaths, oligarchs, corrupt governments, and the false promise of the golden calf of these vaccines?

Because at this point, in this country at least, no one’s holding you down and putting a needle into your arm. The majority of people, they want to travel by plane. They don’t want to lose their job. They want to go to school. It’s all these kinds of quality of life decisions. In other words, in a normal society, the parents sacrifice for the well-being of the children. In pagan societies, we sacrifice the children for the purpose of the adults.”

Peaceful Civil Disobedience Is the Answer

So, what’s the answer? Can we stop this transhumanist trajectory that threatens the very core of what makes us human? Can we prevent this plan for our enslavement from coming to fruition? Zelenko believes there is a way, as do I.

“The answer is we need organized civil disobedience. Do not comply. They can’t imprison everyone. They can’t fire everyone. They can’t expel everyone. They can’t lock down everyone. There’s many more of us than them. And actually, let me speak to the military leaders, to the police, to people that are charged to protect society.

You also have children. You also have parents. And we are relying on you to do what’s best for the citizens of this country, to protect us from all enemies, foreign and domestic. All we need to do is to coalesce with like-minded people. Take your kids out of school. Homeschool them. You can teach them morality.

The World Health Organization came out with an edict that if your kids go to school, that’s implied consent for the vaccine because you could have not sent them. And since you sent them to school, that’s implying that you’re consenting for them to be vaccinated, even without your knowledge.

Basically, we have to make small pockets, like cities of refuge, in a sense, of like-minded people; create an alternate society; do commerce with ourselves. I know there are forces really working hard to create an alternate cryptocurrency or blockchain system that is decentralized and would allow for people who don’t want to be tagged with a digital identifier to transact with each other.”

As noted by Zelenko, it’s becoming more and more obvious that the pandemic measures were never about protecting us from COVID. It was always about creating a new world order. It was about setting the stage for a Great Reset to “Build Back Better.”

But better for whom? The Build Back Better plan is about building “a society run by a few sociopaths and the rest of us enslaved,” Zelenko says. The good news is that more and more people are now starting to see this plan, and “once that realization reaches a certain threshold of people, countries are going to change and fall like dominoes,” he says.

As for when we might get our freedom back, that depends on us. As noted by Zelenko, “freedom isn’t free.” We were free (at least up until 2020) because our forefathers had the courage to confront tyranny. If we want our children to be free, we now have to display that same courage.

“Whether or not our children will be free depends on whether or not we are ready to sacrifice,” Zelenko says. “Are we ready, in this generation, to pay the price to ensure that our children thrive in freedom and have the ability to maintain God consciousness?

It’s going to happen. The unknown variable is to body count. I would hope that this interview reaches the consciousness of every single human being. People must choose to say no from this point on.”

– Sources and References

Posted in Cancer, Chemotherapy, Coronavirus, Heart, Radiation, Supplements, Vaccinations, Vitamins | No Comments »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 13, 2022

Why Did US Deaths Shoot Up 40% Above Normal Last Year?

Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/01/11/us-deaths-are-up-40-percent.aspx
The original Mercola article may not remain on the original site, but I will endeavor to keep it on this site as long as I deem it to be appropriate, and will not be bullied into removing it.

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola Fact Checked January 11, 2022

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

OneAmerica, a national life insurance company based in Indianapolis, reports working age people (18 to 64) are dying at a rate that is 40% higher than prepandemic rates
There’s also been an uptick in disability claims. Initially, there was a rise in short-term disability claims, but now most claims are for long-term disabilities
Hospitalizations in Indiana are also higher than before the COVID shots were rolled out in in 2021, and the highest they’ve been in five years
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India also reports a 41% rise in death claims in 2021
COVID-19 deaths were significantly lower in 2021 than 2020, so COVID-19 can be ruled out as the cause for this historical rise in excess deaths and disabilities. Right now, the most probable cause is the experimental COVID jabs

As we’ve seen over the past two years, data and statistics can be manipulated and skewed in a wide variety of ways. COVID cases, for example, have clearly been overinflated by including people with no symptoms (likely false positives) and diagnosing anyone entering the hospital for an unrelated issue as a COVID patient if they test positive (again, falsely) for SARS-CoV-2.

One of the most reliable data points we have is all-cause mortality. It’s very hard to massage that statistic, as people are either dead or they’re not. Their inclusion in the national death index database is based on one primary criteria — they’ve died — regardless of the cause.

From there, their cause of death, as identified on their death certificate, is added in to more granular statistics, such as the number of people who died from cancer and heart disease in any given year, for example. But while the cause of any given death can be manipulated and altered, the fact that there was a death is more certain. What’s more, death rates tend to be very stable.

We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business … death rates are up 40% over what they were prepandemic. ~ Scott Davidson, CEO of OneAmerica
As noted in a (not peer-reviewed) study led by scientist Denis Rancourt, who looked at U.S. mortality between March 2020 and October 2021,¹ “All-cause mortality by time is the most reliable data for detecting true catastrophic events causing death, and for gauging the population-level impact of any surge in deaths from any cause.”

40% Rise in Deaths Among Working Americans

With that in mind, OneAmerica’s announcement that the death rate of working-age Americans (18 to 64), in the third quarter of 2021, was 40% higher than prepandemic levels is rather stunning. OneAmerica is a national mutual life insurance company based in Indianapolis. During an early January 2022 press conference, CEO Scott Davidson said:²

“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business — not just at OneAmerica. The data is consistent across every player in that business.

And what we saw just in third quarter, we’re seeing it continue into fourth quarter, is that death rates are up 40% over what they were pre-pandemic. Just to give you an idea of how bad that is, a three-sigma or a one-in-200-year catastrophe would be 10% increase over pre-pandemic. So, 40% is just unheard of.”

According to Davidson, a majority of the death claims filed are not classified as COVID-19 deaths, so something else is driving up the death rate. As reported by The Center Square:³

“The CDC weekly death counts, which reflect the information on death certificates and so have a lag of up to eight weeks or longer, show that for the week ending Nov. 6, there were far fewer deaths from COVID-19 in Indiana compared to a year ago — 195 verses 336 — but more deaths from other causes — 1,350 versus 1,319.”

Disability Claims Have Also Risen

At the same time, OneAmerica has also noticed an uptick in disability claims. Initially, there was a rise in short-term disability claims, but now most claims are for long-term disabilities. The company expects the rise in claims will cost them “well over $100 million,” an unexpected expense that will be passed on to employers buying group life insurance policies.

During that press conference, Brian Tabor, president of the Indiana Hospital Association, confirmed Indiana hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in both deaths and hospitalizations for a wide variety of conditions.⁴

Not only are the number of hospitalizations in Indiana higher than it was before the COVID shots were rolled out in in 2021, it’s the highest it’s been in five years.⁵ Meanwhile, the daily deaths from COVID-19 are less than half that of 2020.

What’s Killing Younger Healthy Americans?

Since COVID-19 isn’t killing younger, healthy Americans, what is? What changed in 2021 that might have such a devastating effect on people’s health? Well, the most obvious change is that more than 100 million Americans got the experimental COVID shots, and doctors and scientists have elucidated several mechanisms by which these gene transfer technologies might injure or kill. As reported by vaccine safety blogger Steve Kirsch:⁶

“Normally death rates don’t change at all. They are very stable. It would take something REALLY BIG to have an effect this big. The effect size is 12-sigma.⁷ That is an event that would happen by pure chance every 2.832 years. That’s very rare. It’s basically never.

The universe is only 14 billion years old which is 1.413. In other words, the event that happened is not a statistical ‘fluke.’ Something caused a very big change … Whatever it is that is causing this, it is bigger and deadlier than COVID and it’s affecting nearly everyone.”

Kirsch lists 14 clues as to what this deadly “something” might be, including the following:⁸

The rise in deaths began after the rollout of the COVID shots

It’s primarily working age people (18 to 64) who are dying

There are more excess deaths than any time in history, which suggests they’re caused by a novel threat

COVID deaths have significantly diminished, so COVID-19 can be ruled out

People are dying from a wide variety of causes, so most pathogens can be ruled out

To get an effect size this high, the lethal agent must affect massive numbers of people. “It is something new affecting at least half the population,” Kirsch writes, “like a new mandated vaccine for example”

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb has been, and continues to, push to get everyone injected

Since other life insurance companies are seeing the same trend, the causative factor is national in scope

The dramatic rise in disabilities suggests that many who aren’t killed by this novel threat are seriously injured, often long-term. As mentioned, doctors and scientists have detailed several mechanisms of action by which the COVID shots can maim or kill

Adverse Events May Be More Underreported Than Calculated

Kirsch continues:⁹

“We know that about 3M people die a year in the U.S.¹⁰ 75% are over 65 years old, so that leaves us with 750K deaths per year for under 65. If that jumped by 40% from pre-pandemic levels in Q3 and Q4, we should assume that Q2 was the ramp up period (we’ll assume a linear ramp up in Q2).

So that is 75K deaths per quarter for Q3 and Q4 and half of that, 37K deaths in Q2. So that means roughly 187K excess deaths are probably happening for ages 18-64 due to some new cause.”

He then goes on to compare that rough estimate of 187,000 excess deaths to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) which, as of the December 24, 2021, data release, included 2,156 deaths between the ages of 17 and 65.

Subtracting the background death rate of 40 from 2,156, multiplied by Kirsch’s calculated underreporting factor (URF) of 41¹¹ gives us 87,000 deaths. In other words, assuming vaccine injuries are underreported by a factor of 41, the real death toll from the COVID jab would be 87,000. However, that’s 100,000 short of the 187,000 excess death rate calculated above.

This means “either there is another effect at play which is actually killing more people 18 to 64 than the vaccine is, (unlikely but possible),” Kirsch writes, or “my URF of 41 is underestimating deaths by a factor of 2.15.” Kirsch is not alone in suspecting the novel COVID shots are the causative factor for this dramatic rise in excess deaths.

A Government Imposed Health Disaster Looms Large

Dr. Robert Malone addressed OneAmerica’s finding in a Substack article, stating:¹²

“AT A MINIMUM, based on my reading, one has to conclude that if this report holds and is confirmed by others in the dry world of life insurance actuaries, we have both a huge human tragedy and a profound public policy failure of the U.S. Government and U.S. HHS system to serve and protect the citizens that pay for this ‘service.’

IF this holds true, then the genetic vaccines so aggressively promoted have failed, and the clear federal campaign to prevent early treatment with lifesaving drugs has contributed to a massive, avoidable loss of life.

AT WORST, this report implies that the federal workplace vaccine mandates have driven what appears to be a true crime against humanity. Massive loss of life in (presumably) workers that have been forced to accept a toxic vaccine at higher frequency relative to the general population of Indiana.”

Jessica Rose, Ph.D., a research fellow at the Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge in Israel, also weighed in on the new data:¹³

“So what does this tell us? It tells us that we are potentially in a huge steaming pile of shit. To be frank. These indications from our friend at the insurance company are simply that — indications.

If what we are seeing in VAERS, and the other adverse event reporting systems, is the mere reflection of what is actually going on with regards to injuries, which I presume it is, then we ain’t seen nothing yet.

And if what is being reported with regards to immune deficiencies associated with these injections is not simply anecdotal or representative of a small sub-cohort of individuals, we could be looking at a government-imposed complete health disaster.”

The Defender also reported other studies and data suggesting the COVID shots are causing massive harm:¹⁴

“In a September study¹⁵ described as ‘narrative-shattering,’ Harvard, Tufts and Veterans Affairs researchers reported that approximately half of hospitalized patients ‘showing up on COVID-data dashboards in 2021’ had likely been admitted ‘for another reason entirely.’

In Ventura County, California, which is witnessing a startling spike in non-COVID-related hospitalizations,¹⁶ nurse whistleblowers argue the vaccines should be one of the first explanations considered. Why else, they ask, would otherwise healthy adults be showing up in droves with brain bleeds, heart attacks, autoimmune issues and lung abnormalities?

Autopsies¹⁷ of individuals who died following COVID vaccination reveal shocking pathological alterations most frequently affecting the heart and lungs but also the brain and other organs …

Far from being willing to contemplate the elephant in the room, the Indiana insurance executive indicated he plans to require all OneAmerica employees to get vaccinated. Somewhat counterintuitively, the industry’s ability to pass along costs for elevated claims activity by raising premiums now has analysts rosily predicting the insurance industry is ‘buckled up to accelerate growth in 2022’ …

On the consumer side of the fence, the picture is far less rosy — for both the unvaccinated and vaccinated. For example, New York State Assemblyman Patrick Burke (D-Buffalo) proposed punitive legislation that would permit insurers to deny COVID-related treatment coverage for individuals who choose not to get vaccinated.

Adding insult to injury, there are also reports of insurance companies imposing premium increases on employers in counties with low vaccination rates. Meanwhile, many of those injured by COVID vaccines report¹⁸ denials of health and disability insurance coverage.”

Same Trend Seen in Many Other States and Countries

As noted by Davidson, OneAmerica is not alone in seeing an unprecedented spike in excess deaths. It’s also not limited to the United States. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, for example, also reports a 41% rise in death claims in 2021.¹⁹ That’s near-identical to the 40% increase reported by OneAmerica.

According to Kirsch, Phoenix, Arizona, is reporting a 100% rise in the death rate among city employees. In 2021, it was double that of the 10-year average.²⁰ “There is clearly something going on that is not unique to Indiana,” he writes, adding:

“Excess mortality figures in Europe²¹ and the UK seem to show younger people are dying faster than the elderly, and that people 0-14 are dying faster in the second half of 2021 as compared to the first. More evidence showing that the vaccines are killing kids.”

You may recall that at the end of October 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a ridiculous “study”²² that would have even failed a seventh-grade science experiment that claimed to show the COVID shot reduced the risk of death from all causes, including accidents, by 34%.

The CDC can lie up and down all day long and attempt to confuse people with fraudulent studies, but what they are simply unable to do at this point is to manipulate the death rates. Independent third-party insurance carriers are now validating the depth of the CDC cover-up and fraud. The real-world excess deaths we’re now seeing clearly refute the CDC’s attempt to prop up the COVID jab narrative with manipulated data.

Safety Signal Is Indisputable

As cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough has repeatedly stated, we had a clear safety signal all the way back in February 2021, and it’s only gotten more pronounced over time. Despite that, not a single safety review has been conducted, and our health authorities refuse to address the astronomical death toll.

At this point, anyone who says the COVID shots are “safe and effective,” full stop, immediately loses all credibility. There’s not a shred of data to suggest either is true. Everything we have points to these injections being the most lethal drugs ever used in modern medical history.

Perhaps the saddest part of it all is that they’re completely unnecessary. Doctors have identified several effective treatment options that can slash the COVID death rate by 85% or more. There’s no medical reason to include the global population in a novel drug experiment. We could have avoided all these excess deaths by making sure early treatment was given, rather than exclusively relying on an experimental “vaccine.”

Early Treatment Options

While the overall risk of COVID-19 has been grossly exaggerated, early treatment is key, both for preventing severe infection and preventing “long-haul COVID.” Here are a few suggestions:

• Oral-nasal decontamination — The virus, especially the Delta variant, replicates rapidly in the nasal cavity and mouth for three to five days before spreading to the rest of the body, so you want to strike where it’s most likely to be found right from the start.

Research²³ has demonstrated that irrigating your nasal passages with 2.5 milliliters of 10% povidone-iodine (an antimicrobial) and standard saline, twice a day, is an effective remedy.

Another option that was slightly less effective was using a mixture of saline with half a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate (an alkalizer). You can also gargle with these to kill viruses in your mouth and throat. When done routinely, it can be a very effective preventive strategy. You can find printable treatment guides on TruthForHealth.org.

• Nebulized peroxide — A similar strategy is to use nebulized hydrogen peroxide, diluted with saline to a 0.1% solution. Both hydrogen peroxide and saline^24,²⁵ have antiviral effects. You can view my previous videos on this on BitChute.

In a May 10, 2021, Orthomolecular Medicine press release,²⁶ Dr. Thomas E. Levy — board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology — discussed the use of this treatment for COVID-19 specifically. Levy has in fact written an entire book on peroxide nebulization called “Rapid Virus Recovery,” which you can download for free from MedFox Publishing.

• Vitamin D optimization — Research has shown having a vitamin D level above 50 ng/mL brings the risk of COVID mortality down to near-zero.²⁷

• Other key nutraceuticals — Vitamin C, zinc, quercetin and NAC all have scientific backing.

• Key drugs — For acute infection, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine or monoclonal antibodies can be used. While monoclonal antibodies and hydroxychloroquine must be used early on in the disease process, ivermectin has been shown to be effective in all stages of the infection.

Doxycycline or azithromycin are typically added as well, to address any secondary bacterial infection, as well as inhaled budesonide (a steroid). Oral steroids are used on and after the fifth day for pulmonary weakness and aspirin or NAC can be added to reduce the risk of clotting.

Full-strength aspirin is also typically recommended, but I believe lumbrokinase and serrapeptase may be a better, at least safer, alternative, as they help break down and prevent blood clots naturally.

– Sources and References

¹ Nature of the COVID-era public health disaster in the USA
^2, ^3, ^4, ⁵ The Center Square January 1, 2022
^6, ^8, ^9, ²⁰ Stevekirsch.substack January 3, 2022
⁷ Roundingtheearth.substack January 3, 2022
¹⁰ PRB US Indicators Total Deaths
¹¹ SKirsch.io/vaccine-resources
¹² Robert Malone Substack January 2, 2022
¹³ Jessicar.substack January 3, 2022
¹⁴ The Defender January 5, 2022
¹⁵ Townhall September 14, 2021
¹⁶ The Conejo Guardian October 21, 2021
¹⁷ Doctors for COVID Ethics December 15, 2021
¹⁸ The Highwire They Don’t Want to See People Like Us
¹⁹ Fortune India December 30, 2021
²¹ Euromomo.eu Data as of Week 52, 2021
²² CDC MMWR October 29, 2021; 70(43): 1520-1524
²³ medRxiv August 17, 2021 DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.16.21262044
²⁴ EMPR.com February 6, 2020
²⁵ The Journal of Pediatrics September 2007; 151(3): 266-270.el
²⁶ Orthomolecular Medicine May 10, 2021
²⁷ Nutrients October 2021; 13(10): 3596

Posted in Coronavirus, Vaccinations, Vitamins | One Comment »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 10, 2022

‘Ministry of Truth’ vs Nutritional Medicine

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 6, 2022

Commentary by Damien Downing, MBBS, MRSB

OMNS (Jan. 6, 2022) Just outside the local primary school here in north London, somebody has sprayed these words on a phone or cable junction box, highly visible to the mums and tots:

COVID
1984
I often cycle past there, and have always thought “Mmm, a bit extreme”, but now I’m starting to wonder.

In George Orwell’s novel “1984,” Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth, which administers Newspeak, deciding what the “truth” is, propagating it, and rewriting history when necessary. Newspeak is “characterized by a continually diminishing vocabulary; complete thoughts are reduced to simple terms of simplistic meaning” according to our old friends Wikipedia. The purpose is thought control; you know the saying “The French have a word for it”? If you don’t have a word for it you struggle to think it. So words like “anti-vaxxer” polarize opinions and prevent any subtlety of thinking about viruses and vaccinations.

For two years, we at the OMNS have been stating one simple message:

Nutritional therapy works on Covid, as it does on all viruses.

On January 26, 2020 the OMNS Editor in Chief, Andrew W. Saul, wrote a news release: “Vitamin C Protects Against Coronavirus.” [1] It also made recommendations for vitamin D3, magnesium, zinc and selenium, which strengthen the immune system. We have continued to repeat and expand the message again and again. And have been suspended by Facebook again and again.

Others, including highly respected front-line physicians such as Paul Marik, have also figured out the importance of these nutrients. [2] In fact we have known about the anti-infective potential of vitamin C for over 50 years, since it was reported by Frederick Klenner. [3,4] He described traditional sources such as acerola cherries, which are very rich sources of C. That puts the knowledge back way before we named it “vitamin C.”

And it makes nonsense of the narrative that there is only one solution to Covid: vaccinate, again and again.

Two years ago I failed to persuade mainstream colleagues of the utility of this. “It’s not evidence-based,” they said. Now two review papers have shown the evidence, and it’s pretty solid.

The first, in the journal Life, is called “Vitamin C Intervention for Critical COVID-19: A Pragmatic Review of the Current Level of Evidence.” [5,6] It shows clearly that “this simple vitamin saves lives when given in the right dose.” In fact, vitamin C saves about 80% of the lives of critically ill Covid patients.

With a roll-call of experts saying vitamin C can save lives, what has been the response of the authorities, the powers-that-be?

The UK’s National Health service responded back in 2020 by promising a trial of intravenous vitamin C. Until that evidence becomes available, they have continued to say that there is no good evidence that vitamin C works. Scientists including the authors of the above paper sent them studies and they still said that. Finally a freedom of information (FOI) request established that the NHS had received the papers and had ignored them, for at least a year.

But the promised international multi-center trial would fix this, right? The only problem is, apparently, that the NHS had already signed an exclusive contract with a single company to supply the vitamin C, and that company was and still is unable to provide any. So the trial still has not started. Even for a piece of fiction, you couldn’t make it up! I could lend them some tomorrow.

The second review is by my colleague, independent researcher Rachel Nicoll: “COVID-19: Presenting the case for vitamin D: A cheap, effective measure overlooked by most governments.” [7]

As always with Rachel’s writings this is very information-rich. Here’s just one sentence;

A meta-analysis of 23 studies containing 11,901 participants found that in patients with vitamin D deficiency, the risk of being infected with COVID was 3.3 times higher and the risk of developing severe COVID was around 5 times higher compared to those with more healthy vitamin D levels.

Our knowledge of vitamin D and its importance for immunity has progressed by leaps and bounds in this pandemic, but a lot of this too we have known for ages. I wrote a book about it back in 1988; there’s a team in San Diego that has been studying sunlight and health for decades. [8]

Just as modern agriculture has been depriving us of many essential nutrients, [9] modern lifestyles have been depriving us of sunlight and therefore vitamin D. Lucky you if you live somewhere sunny like San Diego, because here in London nearly everybody is vitamin D deficient. Not that things are perfect in San Diego; we all shun the sun these days, often due to scare tactics about skin cancer.

That’s a story for another time, but here’s a take-home thought about vitamin D levels. It has been shown that a population needs a vitamin D blood level above about 75 nmol/L (30 ng/ml) to stop deaths from Covid, [10] but precious few of us manage it. So what should our blood level be? Where’s the benchmark when nearly everybody is deficient? If you take our nearest evolutionary relatives, non-human primates, they have around twice that level, 125 to 200 nmol/L (50-80 ng/ml). [11,12] We’re not just falling behind them, we’re missing it by a mile. You need at least 10,000 IU per day long-term to achieve that.

Guess what comes next? When the “experts,” at least in the UK, are asked about the safety and toxicity of vitamin D, they say we should not take more than 2000 IU per day. But this is based on the UK’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) 2016 report. SACN cited a 2006 paper by Vieth as showing toxic effects above this level. However, the Vieth paper actually states that toxicity may occur at 25(OH)D concentrations beyond 500 nmol/L (200 ng/ml), levels which could not be achieved unless an individual was taking extremely high doses for a prolonged period of time (such as 30,000 IU/day for three months). [13] This warning has been misunderstood and misquoted and has given rise to a lot of pointless restriction of vitamin D intake. So even though the error about vitamin D safety was pointed out 15 years ago, and repeatedly since then, it is still being perpetuated by supposed experts.

Two years down the line, then, we at the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service are still saying the same simple message that nutrition works. And the bureaucrats at the ‘Ministry of Truth’ are still deleting it.

References

1. Saul AW (2020) Vitamin C Protects Against Coronavirus. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n04.shtml

2. Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance: Prevention & Treatment Protocols for COVID-19. (2022) https://covid19criticalcare.com

3. Klenner FR. (1949) The treatment of poliomyelitis and other virus diseases with vitamin C. South Med J, 111:209-214. https://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/194x/klenner-fr-southern_med_surg-1949-v111-n7-p209.htm

4. Klenner FR. (1951) Massive Doses of Vitamin C and the Virus Diseases. Presented in the Fifty-second Annual Meeting of the Tri-State Medical Association of the Carolinas and Virginia, held at Columbia, February 19th and 20th, 1951. https://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/195x/klenner-fr-southern_med_surg-1951-v103-n4-p101.htm

5. Holford P, Carr AC, Zawari M, Vizcaychipi MP (2021) Vitamin C Intervention for Critical COVID-19: A Pragmatic Review of the Current Level of Evidence. Life, 11:1166. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/11/11/1166

6. Holford P (2021) Twelve intervention trials conclude that vitamin C works for Covid. So why are hospitals being prohibited from using it? Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v17n27.shtml

7. Health Advisory and Recovery Team (2021) COVID-19: the case for supporting the human immune system with vitamin D: Why is this simple vitamin not promoted more? https://www.hartgroup.org/briefing-covid-19-the-case-for-supporting-the-human-immune-system-with-vitamin-d

8. Mohr SB, Gorham ED, Garland CF, et al. (2021) San Diego group studying positive effects of sunlight. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Mohr+SB+Gorham+ED+Garland+CF

9. Lowther M (2020) Why are there fewer nutrients in our food? Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n54.shtml

10. Downing D (2020) How we can fix this pandemic in a month. Orthomolecular Medicine News Service. http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v16n49.shtml

11. Power ML, Oftedal OT, Savage A, et al. (1997) Assessing vitamin D status of callitrichids: Baseline data from wild cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) in Colombia. Zoo Biol 16:39-46. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2361(1997)16:1<39::AID-ZOO6>3.0.CO;2-C

12. Power ML, Dittus, WPJ (2017) Vitamin D status in wild toque macaques (Macaca sinica) in Sri Lanka. Am J Primatol. 79:e22655. http://www.primates.lk/health-vitamin-d-in-wild-monkeys-and-you

13. Vieth R (2006) Critique of the considerations for establishing the tolerable upper intake level for vitamin D: critical need for revision upwards. J Nutr, 136:1117-1122. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16549491

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight illness. For more information: http://www.orthomolecular.org

Find a Doctor

To locate an orthomolecular physician near you: http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v06n09.shtml

The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource.

Editorial Review Board:

Albert G. B. Amoa, MB.Ch.B, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Seth Ayettey, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D. (Ghana)
Ilyès Baghli, M.D. (Algeria)
Ian Brighthope, MBBS, FACNEM (Australia)
Gilbert Henri Crussol, D.M.D. (Spain)
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D. (USA)
Ian Dettman, Ph.D. (Australia)
Susan R. Downs, M.D., M.P.H. (USA)
Ron Ehrlich, B.D.S. (Australia)
Hugo Galindo, M.D. (Colombia)
Martin P. Gallagher, M.D., D.C. (USA)
Michael J. Gonzalez, N.M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D. (Puerto Rico)
William B. Grant, Ph.D. (USA)
Claus Hancke, MD, FACAM (Denmark)
Tonya S. Heyman, M.D. (USA)
Suzanne Humphries, M.D. (USA)
Ron Hunninghake, M.D. (USA)
Bo H. Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D. (Sweden)
Dwight Kalita, Ph.D. (USA)
Felix I. D. Konotey-Ahulu, MD, FRCP, DTMH (Ghana)
Jeffrey J. Kotulski, D.O. (USA)
Peter H. Lauda, M.D. (Austria)
Alan Lien, Ph.D. (Taiwan)
Homer Lim, M.D. (Philippines)
Stuart Lindsey, Pharm.D. (USA)
Pedro Gonzalez Lombana, MD, MsC, PhD (Colombia)
Victor A. Marcial-Vega, M.D. (Puerto Rico)
Charles C. Mary, Jr., M.D. (USA)
Mignonne Mary, M.D. (USA)
Jun Matsuyama, M.D., Ph.D. (Japan)
Joseph Mercola, D.O. (USA)
Jorge R. Miranda-Massari, Pharm.D. (Puerto Rico)
Karin Munsterhjelm-Ahumada, M.D. (Finland)
Tahar Naili, M.D. (Algeria)
W. Todd Penberthy, Ph.D. (USA)
Zhiyong Peng, M.D. (China)
Isabella Akyinbah Quakyi, Ph.D. (Ghana)
Selvam Rengasamy, MBBS, FRCOG (Malaysia)
Jeffrey A. Ruterbusch, D.O. (USA)
Gert E. Schuitemaker, Ph.D. (Netherlands)
T.E. Gabriel Stewart, M.B.B.CH. (Ireland)
Thomas L. Taxman, M.D. (USA)
Jagan Nathan Vamanan, M.D. (India)
Garry Vickar, M.D. (USA)
Ken Walker, M.D. (Canada)
Anne Zauderer, D.C. (USA)

Posted in Coronavirus, Corruption, Nutrition, Vitamins | One Comment »

Posted by: admin | Posted on: January 10, 2022

Top Vitamin D Papers in 2021: Benefits ignored at a time they are most needed

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, January 9, 2022
by William B. Grant, PhD.

OMNS (Jan. 9, 2022) The total number of publications that mention vitamin D is more than 93,600. A simple search at pubmed.gov shows there were 5484 publications in 2021 with vitamin D in the title or abstract. That is up from 4548 in 2020. In 2021, 609 of the publications with vitamin D in the title or abstract in 2021 were about COVID-19, and 279 about SARS-CoV-2.

The dominant health concern in 2020 has been COVID-19. According to data posted at https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries, there have been over 288 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 as well as over 5.4 million deaths attributed to COVID-19 by December 31, 2021. In addition, there have been tremendous disruptions in business, education, food production, social life, and travel. RNA vaccinations have been developed and used to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and incidence and severity of COVID-19. But as we are now learning, the protection from vaccination wanes with time and may not be as useful for new variants such as Omicron. One of the understandings when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the emergency use authorization for the RNA vaccines in December 2020 was that there were no simple methods to prevent the infection or treat the disease. As a result, there has been a near-total mass media blockade on information regarding vitamin D in that regard, and a partial social media blockade. Several of the top vitamin D papers for 2021 were related to COVID-19.

Evidence that vitamin D fights COVID-19

There have been many observational studies of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or COVID-19 as well as the severity of and death from COVID-19. The most complete meta-analysis study included data from 76 observational studies. [1] In that study, Figure 3 included 19 studies and found an odds ratio (OR) for low vs. high 25(OH)D levels of 1.48 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.28 to 1.65). However, there has been a concern that measurements near the time of diagnosis may cause a reduction in the measured 25(OH)D level due to the acute inflammatory response. Those data were used to estimate the size of this effect. [2] The 19 studies can be divided into four categories: 25(OH)D at time of diagnosis (7 studies); within the prior year (8); preceding 10 years (1); and 10-15 years prior (3). The mean weighted ORs for each time are 2.08, 1.76, 1.27, and 1.04, respectively. Those values are consistent with a longer interval between blood draw and health outcome being associated with worse health outcomes due to changes in 25(OH)D levels. If we assume that the OR for the period less than one year is correct, then the OR at time of diagnosis may be somewhat too high. Even if so, that still means that observational studies with 25(OH)D measured near time of diagnosis are useful and imply that an adequate vitamin D level significantly lowers the risk of COVID-19.

There are a number of factors that increase risk of COVID-19 including obesity, older age, and comorbid diseases. Obesity is an important risk factor since it increases systemic inflammation and leads to storage of vitamin D in the adipose tissue, which tends to lower the vitamin D level in other organs of the body. A study conducted in Boston, MA found that while patients with 25(OH)D > 30 ng/ml and BMI < 30 kg/m2 had a significantly reduced risk of death from COVID-19 [OR = 0.18], a 25(OH)D level > 30 ng/ml was not associated with reduced risk of death for patients with BMI > 30 kg/m2. [3] Evidently a level significantly higher than 30 ng/ml is needed to lower risk in obese patients.

How it works

The innate immune system mechanisms by which vitamin D reduces risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 appear to include reduced viral viability and replication by inducing cathelicidin and defensins as well as reduced production of proinflammatory cytokines and the risk of the cytokine storm. The innate immune system is not sensitive to the variant of SARS-CoV-2 involved. That is important because the virus readily mutates, thereby reducing the adaptive immune system’s ability to respond effectively. Thus, vitamin D can serve as an extra measure of protection as vaccine effectiveness wanes. The recommended serum 25(OH)D level for prevention is 40 to 60+ ng/ml, which could be achieved with the safe dose range of 5000 to 10,000 IU/d vitamin D3. [2]

In all the studies, vitamin D was unfortunately tested in the same fashion as drugs are tested. That is, one vitamin was tested to the exclusion of all other nutrients necessary for optimum health. Such a “scientific” endeavor offers at best a picture of one nutrient in a vacuum. But unlike drugs, nutrients in the human body work together as a team and therefore should be tested accordingly. For example, magnesium plays important roles in activating vitamin D as well as other health benefits [4]. The beneficial effects include reducing oxidative stress, reducing risk of the cytokine storm, maintaining endothelial integrity, increasing fibrinolysis, reducing coagulation, and strengthening the immune system. Thus, magnesium should be taken along with vitamin D3 supplements, perhaps 400 mg/d.

Observational studies that look at the results of vitamin D supplementation can be used to help determine whether the effects related to 25(OH)D level are due to vitamin D rather than something else such as non-vitamin D effects of solar UVB exposure. An article from Barcelona has done this for COVID-19. [5] Many people in Barcelona receive prescriptions for vitamin D3 or calcifediol [25(OH)D] from their physicians, making it easy to do observational studies on the effect of supplementation. Records were available for 108,343 patients prescribed vitamin D3 and 134,703 patients prescribed calcifeciol. Those prescribed vitamin D3 had a 5% lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than controls [multivariate hazard ratio (HR) = 0.95 (95% CI, 0.91 to 0.98)], but no significant difference for severe COVID-19 or COVID-19 mortality. However, comparing 9474 treated with vitamin D3 who achieved > 30 ng/ml with 7616 untreated controls with 25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml, the multivariate HRs were near 0.7 for SARS-CoV-2 infection, severe COVID-19 and COVID-19 mortality. The same comparisons for 16,276 treated with calcifediol vs. 7616 untreated controls found multivariate HRs or 0.69 (95% CI, 0.61 to 0.79) for infection, 0.61 (0.46 to 0.81) for severe COVID-19, and 0.56 (0.42 to 0.76) for mortality. Evidently it is the level of 25(OH)D actually achieved that reduces risk of infection.

The most recent article on vitamin D and risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality was published on January 1, 2022. [6] It presented an analysis of 4599 veteran patients receiving care in the US Department of Veterans Affairs health care facilities who tested positive SARS-CoV-2 during the period February 20 to November 8, 2020 and had data on serum 25(OH)D levels from the previous 15 to 90 days on file. Twenty one percent of the patients were hospitalized and 7.4% died within 60 days of their index SARS-CoV-2 test. Hospitalization rates decreased from 25% at 15 ng/ml to 18% at 60 ng/ml (adjusted relative risk ratio = 1.29), while mortality rates decreased from 11% for vitamin D level = 15 ng/ml to 6% at 60 ng/ml (adjusted relative risk ratio = 1.82). This provides excellent evidence for the efficacy of an adequate level of vitamin D in lowering risk of serious complications and mortality from COVID-19.

Making sense of the research

The observational studies suggest that treating COVID-19 patients with vitamin D might be beneficial. Unfortunately, in some studies, treatment with high-dose vitamin D3 was found to be ineffective. A study in Turkey involved the supplementation of 163 COVID-19 patients with between 254,000 to 500,000 IU in three to seven days to increase 25(OH)D level to above 30 ng/ml. [7] The mean 25(OH)D for the treated patients reached only 31±12 ng/ml on day 7 and 35±11 ng/ml on day 14. The rate of mortality was 11.19% (97 out of 867) in the whole cohort, including patients with comorbidities. The mortality rate of prospective cases who also had comorbidities but received vitamin D treatment was 5.5% (9 out of 162). Having vitamin D treatment decreased the mortality rate by a factor of 2.14.

Calcifediol treatment of COVID-19 patients in Spain is fairly common. An article reported results of treating 79 of 537 COVID-19 patients between February 5 and May 5, 2020. [8] The treatment used 0.266-mg calcifediol capsules (equivalent to 34,000 IU of vitamin D3), two on day 1, then one each on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Four (5%) treated patients died vs. 90 (20%) untreated patients. The multivariate OR for death by day 30 was 0.16 (95% CI, 0.03 to 0.80). The reason calcifediol in this type of study obtains much better results than vitamin D3 it that it raises serum 25(OH)D in a few hours rather than in a few days. That rapidly activates the important mechanisms of vitamin D such as reducing survival and replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as well as reducing the production of proinflammatory cytokines and the cytokine storm that damages the epithelial layer of many organs. [9]

Sunlight and the seasons

It is well known from existing virus variants that SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 rates are lower in summer than in winter. There are now three hypothesized reasons for lower rates in summer: (1), higher 25(OH)D levels; (2), inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by solar UV; (3), higher serum nitric oxide levels from ultraviolet-A (320-400 nm) exposure. Solar UVA exposure increases serum nitric oxide by liberating it from subcutaneous nitrogen compounds, which has been found to reduce blood pressure. [10] Nitric oxide also has antiviral effects. All three reasons may be important.

For those who do not get adequate supplements of vitamin D, the blood level drops continually during the winter months in high-latitude countries. An analysis of COVID-19 deaths during January to April 17, 2020 was conducted with respect to sunlight doses at latitudes in three countries, England, Italy, and the U.S. where winter solar UVB doses are too low to produce adequate vitamin D, i.e., north of Florida [10]. The adjusted mortality risk factors were worst for England, and slightly less but still serious for the USA and Italy.

The effect of UV radiation in inactivating SARS-CoV-2 was outlined in a modeling study. [11] Laboratory studies of the UV inactivation action spectrum for SARS-CoV-2 were used with data for the spectral components of solar UV radiation at the earth’s surface between 70º S and 70º N to generate midday sun exposure inactivation times for viruses. Solar UVA in the range of 366 to 405 nm was found to be most important, because UVA intensity remains strong throughout the day, varying much less than UVB intensity. However, virus inactivation due to sunlight exposure is several times faster in summer than winter. For example, at 40º N, virus inactivation times varied from two minutes in July to six minutes in December. Also, the fact that people spend more time in the sun in summer than in winter further adds to the summer-winter differences in virus inactivation.

It may well be that all three factors affect seasonal variations in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 rates. The implications are that people could spend more time in the sun in summer and take more vitamin D supplements in winter to achieve 25(OH)D levels in the 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L) range. To do so could require 5000 to 10,000 IU/d for most adults, and would have many other health benefits as well.

Cardiovascular disease

There were important advances in understanding the role of vitamin D in reducing risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 2021. For over a decade it has been known that serum 25(OH)D levels are inversely correlated with risk of CVD. However, since randomized controlled trials (RCTs) had not supported those findings, the medical treatment system elected to ignore that evidence. This year saw more observational studies that support vitamin D’s role in preventing disease, including one with respect to vitamin D supplementation, and others on Mendelian randomization (MR) studies. MR studies use genetic scores based on several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect the serum 25(OH)D level. The idea is that if people are exposed to the same sources of vitamin D, those with a set of SNPs that predict the highest increase in genetically-predicted 25(OH)D levels will have better outcomes than those with sets of SNPs that predict the lowest levels. The problem with most MR studies to date is that they have lumped all results together irrespective of the genetically-predicted 25(OH)D levels. Instead, the most recent MR studies stratify the data by genetically-predicted serum 25(OH)D levels.

The first stratified MR study on vitamin D and risk of CVD used data from several European studies with four strata: <10 ng/ml, 10-25 ng/ml, 20-30 ng/ml, and >30 ng/ml. [12] For the participants with vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D level < 10 ng/ml], genetic analyses provided strong evidence for an inverse association with all-cause mortality OR per 4 ng/ml increase in genetically-predicted 25(OH)D level (0.69) and nonsignificant inverse associations for stroke (0.85) and coronary heart disease (0.89). A finer stratification of participants found inverse associations between genetically-predicted 25(OH)D levels and all-cause mortality up to around 16 ng/ml. This article also reported observational results with respect to measured serum 25(OH)D levels. They showed significantly increased HRs for coronary heart disease below 10 ng/ml, stroke below 16 ng/ml, all-cause mortality rate below 16 ng/ml, CVD, cancer, and all-cause mortality rates below 20 ng/ml. These findings help explain why most RCTs have failed to find a beneficial effect of vitamin D supplementation on CVD outcomes: they enroll people with baseline 25(OH)D rates with a mean value often above 30 ng/ml, e.g. The VITamin D and OmegA-3 TriaL (VITAL). [13]

A second MR study used data from the UK Biobank dataset with 100 genetically-predicted 25(OH)D strata. [14] There was an L-shaped association between genetically-predicted serum 25(OH)D and CVD risk (Pnon-linear = 0.007), where CVD risk initially decreased steeply with increasing levels and plateaued at around 20 ng/ml. A similar association was seen for systolic (Pnon-linear = 0.03) and diastolic (Pnon-linear = 0.07) blood pressure. The observational analysis of serum 25(OH)D levels indicated that risk of all three outcomes was reduced up to 50 ng/ml.

An observational study compared risk of myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality rate. [15] This study used data from patients who received care at the Veterans Health Administration from 1999 to 2018. Comparing risk for those with baseline 25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml supplemented with vitamin D and achieving > 30 ng/ml (N = 2942) with those who did not supplement and remained with 25(OH)D < 20 ng/ml (N = 10014), the HR for myocardial infarction was 0.73 and the all-cause mortality rate HR was 0.61. Autism A study from Stockholm investigated the role of developmental vitamin D status and risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for participants born in Sweden between 1996 and 2000. [16] The study involved 947 ASD cases without intellectual disability (ID) and 452 with ID, based on maternal 25(OH)D measured near 10 weeks of gestation and neonatal 25(OH)D measured at birth. Based on maternal 25(OH)D, the OR of ASD for 25(OH)D between 10 and 20 ng/ml was 1.58 while the OR for a 25(OH)D increase of 10 ng/ml was 0.65. Based on neonatal 25(OH)D, the OR for an increase of 10 ng/ml was 0.86. For ASD with ID, based on maternal 25(OH)D, the OR for an increase of 10 ng/ml was 0.52 while based on neonatal 25(OH)D, the OR for an increase of 10 ng/ml was 0.87. These results indicate that 25(OH)D levels early and throughout pregnancy are more important than at the end of pregnancy. Cancer A modeling study estimated the reduction in cancer deaths and costs of supplementing all inhabitants over the age of 50 years in Germany. [17] They used the value of 13% reduction obtained from meta-analysis of vitamin D supplementation RCTs. They noted that 247,000 cancer deaths occurred Germany in 2018. They assumed end-of-life costs per cancer death to be 40,000 € (Euros) and 25 € per person for 1000 IU/d vitamin D. The net savings was estimated to be 254 million €. Supplementing with 2000 IU/d vitamin D was estimated to achieve a cancer mortality reduction of 17%, albeit at twice the cost of 1000 IU/d vitamin D, while supplementing with 400 IU/d would reduce cancer death rates by 11% at 40% of the cost. A meta-analysis was published regarding observational studies of colorectal cancer risk with respect to serum 25(OH)D level. [18] There were 15,542 cases and 22,376 controls from case-control studies [serum 25(OH)D levels measured at time of diagnosis] and 1402 incident cases analyzed from a total population of 68,701. The OR for high vs. low 25(OH)D from case-control studies was 0.60 and 0.80 from prospective studies. The general reason why the ORs are better for case-control studies is that 25(OH) varies with time, and the longer the follow-up time, the lower the correlation with health outcomes. Some people are concerned that having undiagnosed cancer can lower serum 25(OH)D levels. However, that effect seems to apply to acute inflammatory diseases, such as viral infections, not cancer. Why isn’t vitamin D being recommended? Despite the recent advances in understanding the health benefits of higher 25(OH)D levels and vitamin D supplementation, the U.S. Preventive Service Task Force concluded in a review published in JAMA: “No studies evaluated the direct benefits or harms of screening for vitamin D deficiency. Among asymptomatic, community-dwelling populations with low vitamin D levels, the evidence suggests that treatment with vitamin D has no effect on mortality or the incidence of fractures, falls, depression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, or adverse events. The evidence is inconclusive about the effect of treatment on physical functioning and infection.” [19] Table 1 in that review presented results for benefits and harms from 45 vitamin D RCTs. No benefits or harms were found. The reasons why randomized controlled studies have shown little beneficial effect are straightforward. As is now well known, traditional vitamin D randomized controlled studies are based on guidelines for pharmaceutical drugs. Participants are enrolled, generally with 25(OH)D levels above the population mean and given small vitamin D doses, generally no more than 2000 IU/d. The results are judged on the basis of treatment vs. placebo. As is now well known, such RCTs are doomed to failure since it is 25(OH)D that is correlated with health outcomes, not vitamin D dose. [20] The researchers who conducted the Vitamin D and Type 2 diabetes (D2d) study understood this after completing and reporting the results, and subsequently reported that risk of progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes was reduced by 25% for each 10 ng/ml from 20-30 ng/ml to > 50 ng/ml. [21]

If the lungs’ defense systems do not protect the lungs from damage from various irritants, permanent damage can develop, making the lungs more susceptible to various respiratory diseases. A review of the therapeutic potential of vitamin D in inflammatory lung diseases was published recently. [22] The actions of vitamin D on inflammatory cells are dissected in this review, as well as their clinical significance in respiratory illnesses.

A recent study reviewed trends in vitamin D status around the world. Some regions such as the Middle East and some countries in Asia have low vitamin D status. [23] A large improvement was seen in Finland after mandatory fortification of dairy products with vitamin D was introduced. Determinants of decline in vitamin D status are less sun exposure, increased use of sunscreen, increase of body mass index (BMI), less physical activity, and poor socioeconomic status. Determinants of increase in vitamin D status are food fortification with vitamin D and vitamin D supplements. As shown by the Finnish example, food fortification can lead to a population-wide increase in vitamin D status.

Conclusion

The evidence that vitamin D has important health benefits continued to increase in 2021. In particular, the benefits in reducing risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 became more robust, as did those for CVD. The evidence clearly points to the healthy range of 25(OH)D as being 30-40 ng/ml, with additional evidence for the optimal range being 40-60 ng/ml. Due to modern lifestyles, it is very difficult to achieve those levels from solar UVB exposure and diet. The most efficient way to raise serum 25(OH)D is to supplement with vitamin D3, of at least 5000 IU/d, and up to 10,000 IU/d. After taking a supplement for 4 months, a blood test for vitamin D level (suggested level 40-60 ng/ml) along with a doctor’s advice can assist in setting the dose.

Adequate amounts of magnesium in the diet or in supplements (400-600 mg/d in malate, citrate, or chloride form) are necessary to aid the action of vitamin D. [24-27] Supplements of other essential nutrients are beneficial in empowering the immune system, including zinc (50 mg/d with 2 mg/d copper), and selenium (100 mcg/d, included in many multivitamins).

Disclosure: The author’s non-profit organization, Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center (www.sunarc.org), receives funding from Bio-Tech Pharmacal, a vitamin D supplement manufacturer. He has 291 publications regarding vitamin D listed at pubmed.gov dating from 1999.

References

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2. Grant, W.B. (2022) Vitamin D’s Role in Reducing Risk of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Incidence, Severity, and Death. Nutrients 14:183. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14010183

3. Charoenngam N, Shirvani A, Reddy N, et al. (2021) Association of Vitamin D Status With Hospital Morbidity and Mortality in Adult Hospitalized Patients With COVID-19. Endocr Pract 27:271-278. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33705975

4. DiNicolantonio JJ, O’Keefe JH (2021) Magnesium and Vitamin D Deficiency as a Potential Cause of Immune Dysfunction, Cytokine Storm and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation in covid-19 patients. Mo Med. 118: 68-73. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33551489

5. Oristrell J, Oliva JC, Casado E, et al. (2021) Vitamin D supplementation and COVID-19 risk: a population-based, cohort study. J Endocrinol Invest 2021:1-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34273098

6. Seal KH, Bertenthal D, Carey E, et al (2022) Association of Vitamin D Status and COVID-19-Related Hospitalization and Mortality. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jan 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34981368

7. Gonen MS, Alaylioglu M, Durcan E, et al. (2021) Rapid and Effective Vitamin D Supplementation May Present Better Clinical Outcomes in COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Patients by Altering Serum INOS1, IL1B, IFNg, Cathelicidin-LL37, and ICAM1. Nutrients 13:4047. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34836309

8. Alcala-Diaz JF, Limia-Perez L, Gomez-Huelgas R, et al. (2021) Calcifediol Treatment and Hospital Mortality Due to COVID-19: A Cohort Study. Nutrients 13:1760. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34064175

9. Grant WB, Lahore H, McDonnell SL, et al. (2020) Evidence That Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths. Nutrients 2020;12:988. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32252338

10. Cherrie M, Clemens T, Colandrea C, et al. (2021) Ultraviolet A radiation and COVID-19 deaths in the USA with replication studies in England and Italy. Br J Dermatol 185:363-370. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33834487

11. Nicastro F, Sironi G, Antonello E, et al. (2021) Solar UV-B/A radiation is highly effective in inactivating SARS-CoV-2. Sci Rep 11:14805. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34285313

12. Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration E-CVD/VDSC. (2021) Estimating dose-response relationships for vitamin D with coronary heart disease, stroke, and all-cause mortality: observational and Mendelian randomisation analyses. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 9:837-846. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34717822

13. Manson JE, Cook NR, Lee IM, et al. (2019) Vitamin D Supplements and Prevention of Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease. N Engl J Med 380:33-44. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30415629

14. Zhou A, Selvanayagam JB, Hypponen E. (2021) Non-linear Mendelian randomization analyses support a role for vitamin D deficiency in cardiovascular disease risk. Eur Heart J 2021:ehab809. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34891159

15. Acharya P, Dalia T, Ranka S, et al. (2021) The Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation and 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels on the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Mortality. J Endocr Soc 5:bvab124. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34396023

16. Lee BK, Eyles DW, Magnusson C, et al. (2021) Developmental vitamin D and autism spectrum disorders: findings from the Stockholm Youth Cohort. Mol Psychiatry 26:1578-1588. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31695167

17. Niedermaier T, Gredner T, Kuznia S, et al. (2021) Vitamin D supplementation to the older adult population in Germany has the cost-saving potential of preventing almost 30 000 cancer deaths per year. Mol Oncol 2021;15:1986-1994. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33540476

18. Hernandez-Alonso P, Boughanem H, Canudas S, et al. (2021) Circulating vitamin D levels and colorectal cancer risk: A meta-analysis and systematic review of case-control and prospective cohort studies. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 2021:1-17. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34224246

19. Kahwati LC, LeBlanc E, Weber RP, et al. (2021) Screening for Vitamin D Deficiency in Adults: Updated Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA 325:1443-1463. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33847712

20. Grant WB, Boucher BJ, Bhattoa HP, et al. (2018) Why vitamin D clinical trials should be based on 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 177:266-269. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28842142

21. Dawson-Hughes B, Staten MA, Knowler WC, et al. (2020) Intratrial Exposure to Vitamin D and New-Onset Diabetes Among Adults With Prediabetes: A Secondary Analysis From the Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d) Study. Diabetes Care 43:2916-2922. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33020052

22. Afzal M, Kazmi I, Al-Abbasi FA, et al., (2021) Current Overview on Therapeutic Potential of Vitamin D in Inflammatory Lung Diseases. Biomedicines.9:1843. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34944659

23. Lips P, de Jongh RT, van Schoor NM (2021) Trends in Vitamin D Status Around the World. JBMR Plus. 5:e10585. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34950837

24. Deng X, Song Y, Manson JE, et al. (2013) BMC Medicine, 11:187. doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-187. Figure 1: Magnesium is needed by Vitamin D in 8 places: https://vitamindwiki.com/Magnesium+is+needed+by+Vitamin+D+in+8+places+-+2013

25. Web search for vitamin D and magnesium. The whole list (576,000 !): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Vitamin+D+and+magnesium&btnG=

26. Web search for vitamin D, magnesium, and Covid-19 in 2021 (21,000 !): https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Vitamin+D+and+magnesium+covid-19+2021&btnG=

27. Dean, C (2017) The Magnesium Miracle, 2nd Ed., Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0399594441.

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5 Top Foods for Eye Health

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Posted on: Wednesday, August 5th 2020 at 1:45 pm
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Do you find yourself squinting and straining to read the daily news and wondering why the writing on menus has become so small? Are you interested in keeping your vision sharp no matter what your age? If so, these five best foods for eye health are a natural way to give your vision a boost from the inside out!

Maintaining eye health becomes increasingly important as you age. Followers of natural health know that nutrition is your best defense against degeneration associated with aging and eye health is no exception.

We have compiled five of the best foods for eye health so that you can include these power-packed nutrients in your diet. Eating these vital foods and maintaining good overall health practices can help your eyes stay strong and your vision remain clear well into your golden years.

1. Ginkgo Biloba

Extracted from one of the oldest species of tree in the world, ginkgo is a nutritional supplement that has been used as traditional herbal medicine in China for hundreds of years. Derived from the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree, some of which are believed to be more than 2,500 years old, ginkgo is available as a tea, capsule, tablet or tincture and has gained acclaim for a wide array of health benefits.

Ginkgo leaves contain natural flavonoids imbued with antioxidants that are believed to improve eye health by boosting circulation and protecting against damaging free radicals.^[i] Studies have shown ginkgo may help reduce age-related macular degeneration and may be useful in the treatment of peripheral vascular disease.^[ii]

Ginkgo has been shown to increase ocular blood, making it potentially effective in treating glaucoma^[iii] and other eye diseases. Adding this potent supplement to your regimen may provide an added layer of protection against age-related memory loss and heart disease.^[iv]

Ginkgo is generally well-tolerated but does have some contraindications and should not be combined with other drugs. The maximum recommended dose for ginkgo extract is 240 milligrams (mg) a day.^[v]

2. Goji Berry

Another traditional Chinese medicine that has relevance to modern lifestyles is goji berries. This nutrient-dense superfood contains all eight essential amino acids and a healthy dose of protein, which is unusual for a fruit. Goji berries are also unusually good for eye health.

A study from 2017 found that a low dose of goji berry extract (between 250 and 350 mg per kilogram (kg) of body weight) helped ameliorate the symptoms of dry eye disease.^[vi] Researchers attributed these actions to increased antioxidant and plasma zeaxanthin levels, a common carotenoid that has been associated with a significantly reduced risk of age-related maculopathy and cataract.^[vii]

Maculopathy is any disease of the macula, the part of the eye associated with accurate vision. Cataract is the clouding of the eye associated with aging that blurs vision and affects sensitivity to light,^[viii] which may be positively impacted by proper nutrition.

Zeaxanthin is one of 600 carotenoids found in nature, but one of only two that are deposited in high quantities in the retina (macula) of the eye.^[ix]Antioxidant nutrients like zeaxanthin neutralize unstable free radical molecules that are associated with the oxidative stress that causes retinal damage.

Goji berries’ high antioxidant profile may further help protect against macular degeneration. A study published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science found that the boost in antioxidant and plasma zeaxanthin levels provided by daily dietary supplementation with goji berry for a period of 90 days protected elderly subjects’ eyes from hypopigmentation and soft drusen accumulation in the macula,^[x] tiny deposits of protein and fat that get deposited under the retina.

The study also found that goji berries helped filter harmful high-energy blue wavelengths of light to protect and maintain healthy cells in the eyes.^[xi] Gojis, also called wolfberries, are available fresh in some locations, dried and as a juice or extract. Goji berry is generally well-tolerated and associated with more than 20 beneficial pharmacological actions.

3. Carrots

Carrots are widely known to be beneficial for eye health. Loaded with beneficial vitamins and micronutrients, it’s no wonder that eating carrots is associated with strong eyesight.

Nutrient deficiency is a serious problem in developing countries where malnutrition is more common and can be a precursor to disease. While malnutrition is less frequent in first-world nations, bariatric surgeries, which are performed to achieve weight loss, or surgeries to remove diseased sections of the bowel can create malabsorption syndrome, the body’s failure to absorb nutrients from food.

A 2013 study published in the Journal of Optometry examined the case of a 55-year-old woman who presented to doctors with a two-year period of progressive night blindness. Initial treatment with oral vitamin A supplementation was ineffective, suggesting that the deficiency was related to malabsorption rather than dietary insufficiency.

The patient had a medical history of Crohn’s disease and had undergone three previous bowel resections, which subsequently led to the malabsorptive state associated with short bowel syndrome. Injections of vitamin A once per month over an 18-month period led to significant improvements in the patient’s night vision, including remission of symptoms and vision tests that returned to normal ranges.^[xii]

Carrots are also a good source of the carotenoids beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin, a class of antioxidant micronutrients that are believed to protect against macular degeneration and cataracts.^[xiii]

A 2008 study examined the relationship between dietary intake of carotenoids and the risk of cataract in women and found that higher dietary intakes of lutein and zeaxanthin are associated with significantly decreased risk of cataract.^[xiv] Green leafy vegetables and egg yolks are also good sources of lutein and zeaxanthin.

The Age-Related Eye Disease Study, sponsored by the U.S. government’s National Eye Institute, found that vitamin supplementation that included beta carotene at levels well above the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) reduced the risk of developing advanced macular degeneration by a whopping 25%.^[xv]

4. Coconut Oil

The GreenMedInfo.com research database has 80 scientific abstracts on coconut oil’s many healthiful properties. Despite all the favorable press in recent years, you may not know that one of coconut oil’s benefits to health is retina protection.

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of vision loss in the U.S., affecting more than 10 million Americans, which is more than cataracts and glaucoma combined.^[xvi]Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is diagnosed when an eye doctor detects drusen, yellow plaque-like deposits, under the surface of the retina. Over time, these deposits can blur the central field of vision and, if left untreated, vision loss can become severe and debilitating.^[xvii]

One of the prime risk factors for developing AMD is exposure to ultraviolet light. A 1966 study found that rats who were fed a diet of coconut oil and exposed to bright light had significantly better retinal morphologies than rats in control groups, something researchers attributed to reduced caspase-3 activity.^[xviii]

Caspase-3 is a family of protease enzymes that plays an essential role in inflammation and apoptosis, or programmed cellular death. Benefits to the retina increased when the dosage of coconut oil was doubled, suggesting that coconut oil was the significant factor behind these potent eye health benefits.^[xix]

5. Oily Fish

Many fish are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Oily fish are fish that have oil in their gut and body tissue, so eating them offers higher levels of omega-3-rich fish oil. The fish that contain the most beneficial levels of omega-3s include:

Tuna
Salmon
Trout
Mackerel
Sardines
Anchovies
Herring

Some studies have found that fish oil can reverse dry eye, including dry eye caused by spending too much time on a computer.

Your retinas need two types of omega-3 fatty acids to work right: DHA and EPA. You can find both in fatty fish, such as salmon, tuna and trout, as well as other seafood. Omega-3s also seem to protect your eyes from AMD and glaucoma. Low levels of these fatty acids have been linked to dry eyes. Be sure to choose fish sourced from non-polluted waters.

References [i] Tian J, Liu Y, Chen K. Ginkgo biloba Extract in Vascular Protection: Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Applications. Curr Vasc Pharmacol. 2017;15(6):532‐548. doi: 10.2174/1570161115666170713095545 [ii] Evans JR. Ginkgo biloba extract for age-related macular degeneration. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;2013(1):CD001775. Published 2013 Jan 31. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001775.pub2 [iii] Kang JM, Lin S. Ginkgo biloba and its potential role in glaucoma. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2018;29(2):116‐120. doi: 10.1097/ICU.0000000000000459 [iv] Nguyen T, Alzahrani T. Ginkgo Biloba. [Updated 2020 Feb 27]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541024/ [v] Nguyen T, Alzahrani T. Ginkgo Biloba. [Updated 2020 Feb 27]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2020 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK541024/ [vi] Chien KJ, Horng CT, Huang YS, et al. Effects of Lycium barbarum (goji berry) on dry eye disease in rats. Mol Med Rep. 2018;17(1):809‐818. doi:10.3892/mmr.2017.7947 [vii] Delcourt C, Carrière I, Delage M, Barberger-Gateau P, Schalch W; POLA Study Group. Plasma lutein and zeaxanthin and other carotenoids as modifiable risk factors for age-related maculopathy and cataract: the POLA Study. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006;47(6):2329‐2335. doi: 10.1167/iovs.05-1235 [viii] American Academy of Opthamology, Eye Health, https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-are-cataracts [ix] American Optometric Association, Patients & Public, Caring for Your Vision, Diet & Nutrition, Lutein & Zeaxanthin. https://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/caring-for-your-vision/diet-and-nutrition/lutein [x] APA Bucheli, Peter*; Vidal, Karine*; Shen, Lisong†; Gu, Zhencheng*; Zhang, Charlie‡; Miller, Larry E.*; Wang, Junkuan* Goji Berry Effects on Macular Characteristics and Plasma Antioxidant Levels, Optometry and Vision Science: February 2011 – Volume 88 – Issue 2 – p 257-262. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318205a18f [xi] APA Bucheli, Peter*; Vidal, Karine*; Shen, Lisong†; Gu, Zhencheng*; Zhang, Charlie‡; Miller, Larry E.*; Wang, Junkuan* Goji Berry Effects on Macular Characteristics and Plasma Antioxidant Levels, Optometry and Vision Science: February 2011 – Volume 88 – Issue 2 – p 257-262. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0b013e318205a18f [xii] Clifford LJ, Turnbull AMJ, Denning AM. Reversible night blindness – A reminder of the increasing importance of vitamin A deficiency in the developed world [Ceguera nocturna reversible – recordatorio de la importancia creciente de la deficiencia de vitamina A en el mundo desarrollado]. J Optom. 2013;6(3):173‐174. doi: 10.1016/j.optom.2013.01.002 [xiii] Rasmussen HM, Johnson EJ. Nutrients for the aging eye. Clin Interv Aging. 2013;8:741‐748. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S45399 [xiv] Christen, Liu, Glynn, Gaziano, Buring. Dietary carotenoids, vitamins C and E, and risk of cataract in women: a prospective study. Arch Ophthalmol. 2008 Jan;126(1):102-9. PMID: 18195226 [xv] Rasmussen HM, Johnson EJ. Nutrients for the aging eye. Clin Interv Aging. 2013;8:741‐748. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S45399 [xvi] American Macular Degeneration Foundation, What is Macular Degeneration? https://www.macular.org/what-macular-degeneration [xvii] American Macular Degeneration Foundation, What is Macular Degeneration? https://www.macular.org/what-macular-degeneration [xviii] Noell WK, Walker VS, Kang BS, Berman S. Retinal damage by light in rats. Invest Ophthalmol. 1966;5(5):450‐473. [xix] Noell WK, Walker VS, Kang BS, Berman S. Retinal damage by light in rats. Invest Ophthalmol. 1966;5(5):450‐473.

The GMI Research Group (GMIRG) is dedicated to investigating the most important health and environmental issues of the day. Special emphasis will be placed on environmental health. Our focused and deep research will explore the many ways in which the present condition of the human body directly reflects the true state of the ambient environment.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of GreenMedInfo or its staff.

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