For the intro jump to VIRUSES 101, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW and VIRUSES 101, SUSCEPTIBILITY posts.

Now we continue on to the most pragmatic part of this “viral” post miniseries which is what to provide your body with so it could maximize its own defences and information is based on that of Dr. Eric Berg. Food you eat during a viral threat is just as important (or more important on a personal safety level) than social constraints of keeping your distance or wearing a mask in a crowd.

The first superstar here is a well-known champion of keeping your shield up and running – VITAMIN C. It is a great antiviral micronutrient. Every time a virus gets through and does its business in your cells, vitamin C is depleted. The reason for that is that when vitamin C is down the body is more susceptible to viruses because the white blood cell count goes down.  increasing vitamin C intake will reduce the time you’re bedridden from a cold, it will specifically protect the respiratory system and most prominently the lungs, it will make you less susceptible, regulate the number of Killer T cells and will allow the work of interferon, which literally interferes with the spread of a virus by destroying the infected cell and the virus living in it. The best way to get it is as complete complex from food because most supplements don’t actually have vitamin C since the producers are allowed to label ascorbic acid as vitamin C, when it is only the outside envelope of it and it doesn’t work as well as natural vitamin C. Suggestion – go eat some sour kraut. It has about 700mg per cup.

VITAMIN E is most commonly depleted by eating a high processed carbs diet or smoking and it is one of the most important antioxidants in our body. In addition, it has the capability to travel directly into the cell on its own and protect it. Most inflammation starts with some sort of oxidative process and vitamin E protects from it, therefore taking care of the blood vessels and reducing risks of stroke, heart disease, cancer… For an extra dose of vitamin E seeds, nuts, vegetables and wheat germ oil. If you decide for a supplement, make sure you take the vitamin E complex as well.

TRACE MINERALS such as SELENIUM, ZINC, MANGANESE and COPPER. They are called trace minerals because you need only small amounts for them to play a huge role, usually about under 100mg will do. They’re necessary for the formation and proteins and enzymes in the body. The deficiencies are most likely tied to depleted soils we grow our vegetables on, having some procedure as gastric bypass or having chronically low stomach acid, which gets more alkaline as we grow older) and so we can’t extract trace minerals from the food. If this is the case just take a spoonful of apple cider vinegar in water each day and this can be corrected fairy rapidly. In conjecture to viruses they are excellent deactivators and push viruses into remission so they cannot reproduce.

SELENIUM will reduce your susceptibility to viruses, plays a role in creating glutathione, which is the master antioxidant protecting the body, helps clear hydrogen peroxide created as a mitochondrial by-product, regulates thyroid hormones, detoxes mercury, lowers inflammations in the body… Get yourself some Brazilian nuts, tuna, halibut, sardines, salmon, liver, and organic meat and eggs.

ZINC deficiency will reduce the response of white blood cells, it will prolong the recovery time and your ability to fight bacteria and viruses off, and increase the duration of an infection or inflammation, making you a fabulous host. Munch no oysters, red meat, seafood and fish and pumpkin seeds.

MANGANESE is connected to skeletal and connective tissue issues such as joint deformation, but it plays a big role in inflammation protection and defence from free radicals. Eat more clove, pecans, squash, kale, sea kelp and pumpkin seeds.

COPPER will protect the brain, help make new connections and neurotransmitters. It is anti-inflammatory and it supports the immune system, collagen and melanin production. It should be balanced with zinc so if you’re taking one take the other as well, best from food sources. Copper comes as a part of a vitamin C complex as well and it can be found in oysters, beef liver, mushrooms, chocolate, almonds and greens.

VITAMIN D is a big one. Most of us are deficient in it for any reason such as being obese, not getting enough sun exposure, using sunscreen all the time, due to pregnancy or breastfeeding, aging, living in a cold climate with a few sunny days, taking statins for cholesterol or cortisol such as Prednisone for inflammation. Vitamin D is critical for the proper functioning of the immune system putting you at risk for about 300 diseases, much of them of a respiratory nature, if you don’t have enough. Vitamin D will act similar to cortisol in the body but with no side effects. It is antiviral, blocking and killing viruses, it lowers the pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases the anti-inflammatory ones and has shown success in treating strands of viruses of the corona family so far. Getting enough from food is difficult, but you can get a lot of precursors that synthesize into vitamin D, for example from egg yolks. So your best bet is – spend some time with your skin exposed to the sun each day. There is a reason why we’re so connected to our star.

Everything is connected, sometimes we just can’t see the connections yet.