Building Innate Immunity
The messages being broadcast with this virus are heavy with fear, which is disempowering.
The predominant paradigm is that there is nothing you can do about a virus and you just have to ride it out. While it’s true that doing nothing, and just truly resting, is powerful medicine, there is a lot you can do for both prevention and treatment.
Today I want to talk about how you can strengthen your immune system.
Our bodies have an innate intelligence called which is referred to in the herbal traditions as the vital force, aka chi, prana, or energy. This vital force is what the body uses to regulate and heal itself to overcome a virus. And we can help it with the proper support.
The foundation of our immune system is nutrition, so I wanted to share some vitamins/minerals that are helpful at this time. The best way to get nutrients is through whole foods because they are in a form that our body recognizes and can be utilized more efficiently, so a lower dose from food can be just as effective as a higher dose from a supplement.
However, for some people, for example those of us with compromised immune systems (autoimmune, chronic illness, gut issues) it may be helpful to get megadoses right now. So I’ll give you both the supplement name/dosage and some good food sources and will leave it up to you to choose the best option for yourself.
Vitamin C
WHY: has been shown to stimulate the production of immune cells as well as their function. It also protects the immune system from oxidative damage. I’ve seen the articles hating on vitamin c, but there are studies showing very promising results with high dose vitamin c with this virus and other coronaviruses.
Dose
Prevention - 500 mg 4x/day (if you can get powdered vitamin c that makes it easy, or just break apart a capsule)
If you develop viral symptoms, you can take vitamin C to bowel tolerance – this means you take 500 – 1000 mg every hour or so until you have loose stools. Then you back off for a bit and take more when your stomach has settled.
Food source: rosehips, camu camu powder, amla, lemon (blended whole with skin), cooked veggies
Magnesium
WHY: Responsible for over 300 biochemical processes in the body, including immune cell synthesis and adherence, lowering inflammation, regulating our hormones, stabilizing blood sugar, and is one of the most important minerals for calming us, and being in a calm or parasympathetic nervous state is crucial for healing
Dose
400 mg/day – as high as 2 grams: I recommend magnesium chloride (liquid mag) for highest absorption and antiviral activity. If you can't get that or pills are more convenient for you, mag glycinate is the next best option. I make my own magnesium bicarbonate but that's too much to go into here!
Food source: dark chocolate, spinach has 160 mg in a single cup and pumpkin seeds contain 185 mg of magnesium in just ¼ cup. beet greens, some others include swiss chard, black beans
Another source that’s perfect for quarantine time, is epsom salt or magnesium chloride baths. If no bathtub is available a foot soak is extremely effective.
Zinc
WHY: Prevents viral replication, aids in white blood cell production, and is a building block for stomach acid which is our immune system’s first line of defense
Dose
15-75 mg/day
Food source: grass fed beef and lamb, sunflower, sesame and pumpkin, lentils, and shellfish—especially oysters!
Vitamin A
WHY: So important!!! Enhances immune function by protecting the integrity of mucous membranes
Dose
If you have viral symptoms you can get your levels up really quickly by taking high dose of 50k IU to 100k IU for 4 days, then back down to maintenance dose of 2000-5000 IU. We don't want to use beta carotene bc it's difficult for most of us to convert that to the usable form of vitamin A, so check to make sure it's palmitate.
Food Source: pastured liver (or liver pills), grass fed butter or ghee, cod liver oil
Vitamin D
WHY: Stimulates antimicrobial peptides that live in immune cells throughout the body, including cells lining the upper and lower respiratory tract. Unless you’ve been supplementing for a while along with K2, which is necessary for absorption, it’s safe to assume you are deficient. But testing is always a good idea.
Dose:
Like with the Vit A, if you start noticing symptoms you can get your levels up really quickly by taking high dose for 4 days: 50k IU, then back down to maintenance dose of 2,000-10,000 IU
Food source: sardines, salmon, cod liver oil (still a supplement but food-based), egg yolks, mushrooms!
SUNSHINE - most underrate but by far the best
Selenium
WHY: enhances cellular response to RNA viruses, like corona, HIV, and others
Dose:
generally, 200 mcg/day but you can go up to 800 mcg short-term to build up levels. Food based supplements here are my favorite – such as Megafood, tung oil, or kidney glandulars
Food Source: sardines, brazil nuts, blue corn everything: chips/corn mea/tortillas
B Vitamins
WHY: Aids digestion and metabolism; converts carbohydrates, fats, and protein into energy; maintains a healthy nervous system
Rather than dosage, I like to focus on getting a complete B complex so that you get all of the B's and don't throw any out of balance by taking only B12, or only folate, and taking it in activated form
Food source: raw honey and bee pollen have the highest B vitamin concentration. You can also get it from eggs, beef, chickpeas, nutritional yeast, carrots, avocado …
Probiotic
WHY: the gut microbiome makes up 75%+ of the immune system and plays a large role in maintaining the gut barrier which prevents any orally ingested pathogens from getting into the bloodstream
Dose
1-4 caps per day of MegaSpore Biotic (inquire for discounts!), Just Thrive, any soil based organism
Food source: kefir, raw sauerkraut, kimchi, beet kvass, good quality yogurt
Iodine
WHY: Of all antimicrobials safe for human consumption only iodine is capable of killing all classes of pathogens: gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi, yeasts, viruses and protozoa. It is also an essential nutrient for thyroid function, as well as pretty much every other organ and hormonal receptor in the body.
Dose
Lugol’s or Iodoral: check out Dr. David Brownstein’s work. The dosage ranges from 3 mg – 150 mg. But it’s important to start low and build up slowly, especially for anyone with thyroid issues
Food source: kelp (highly recommend bc it has all the cofactors we need to properly assimilate the iodine so that it doesn’t become toxic). If you use Lugol’s or Iodoral, all the necessary cofactors are listed in this a, and in addition make sure to get plenty of a high quality salt.