As new variants of COVID emerge—and as The Centers for Disease Control admits that vaccinations don’t guarantee protection—the importance of maintaining an optimal immune system is more critical than ever.
There have been several studies which have examined which nutrients specifically help in the COVID battle many of which have been published during the past year. In this blog I’ll provide a list of these key nutrients you can use to start improving your own immune system, or to further your own research!
Of all immune-building nutrients, research on Vitamin D has been most prolific during the COVID pandemic. Studies in the U.S. found people with higher Vitamin D levels are less likely to contract COVID, and more likely to survive it if they do contract it. Meanwhile, Spanish research found 80% of COVID patients were low on Vitamin D, while a French study found elderly patients were more likely to survive COVID if they’re taking a Vitamin D supplement.
Next, nutrition experts say, “Most of your immune system originates from the gut”—and relative to COVID the research appears to corroborate this. A study conducted in Mexico City found that probiotic supplementing lowered the remission rates of COVID patients. Meanwhile, research in Hong Kong found the quality of each patient’s gut bacteria affected how severely the disease affected them.
Research in the Netherlands found that COVID-19 patients who have low Vitamin K status tend to have worse outcomes. Meanwhile, in New Zealand, early research from April 2020 found such a high rate of Vitamin K deficiency among COVID patients that they followed-up in 2021 with a hypothesis study.
“DMB” is an acronym for the immune nutrients Vitamin D, Magnesium and Vitamin B12. Vitamin D has been covered extensively in other studies; however, medical researchers from Singapore General Hospital found that a combination of the three nutrients given via supplements reduced the progression of COVID-19 into the severe or fatal stages.
In the U.S. there is little mention of Vitamin C in the battle against COVID—out of fear of running afoul of government guidelines. In Asian countries, however, there is “expert consensus” in using high doses of intravenous Vitamin C for treatment. In addition, health practitioners are free to recommend Vitamin C supplementing for prevention without breaking the law.
In late 2020 scientists in Sweden conducted a study showing the first evidence that nitric oxide prevents replication of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers were so impressed with their findings they wrote, “To our knowledge, nitric oxide is the only substance shown so far to have a direct effect on SARS-CoV-2.
If you’re overweight, one powerful “nutrient” you can provide your body is weight loss. Excess weight was observed to be a risk factor from the beginning of COVID. Then a more specific meta-analysis, published August 2020, found that obese people who contracted COVID-19 were 113% more likely to be hospitalized. Meanwhile, a report published February 2021 found countries with higher overweight populations had higher COVID deaths.
In April 2020 the British Medical Journal published a study entitled Nutrition, Immunity and COVID-19. In this study the researchers recommended the following nutrients: Vitamin A, all B vitamins, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Iron, and probiotics. The Centers for Disease Control in the U.S. publishes a similar list of nutrients for immune support. Included in this is protection from viruses; however, they do not mention the “COVID-19” virus specifically. A strong immune system is what we need to develop to protect against any named invader our body may encounter.
A lab that we work with has taken this information and instead of taking various supplements from numerous bottles, has created an easy to take packet, which includes all the nutrients mentioned, to make strengthening your immune system easy and simple to do.
So, call our office and order your supply today and gain peace of mind knowing that you’re on your way to achieving “the best performance of your life!”