Pandemic within a Pandemic

The Real Pandemic — and it’s Time to STOP the Fear 🙂

Yay!  I had been wondering if there are foods that bind to our ACE2 receptors, and thanks to Jeffrey Bland, PhD — the founder of Functional Medicine, he reported that yes there are!

So first the good vegetable news; as I mentioned Covid gains access to our cells through the ACE2 receptor, foods that bind to ACE2 receptors could reduce our risk of catching Covid.  Here is an article written by Jeffrey Bland where he mentions the ‘pandemic within the pandemic’ and talks about which foods help to bind to our ACE2 receptors.

There are 2 flavonoids (they are a type of phytochemical and polyphenol) that bind to our ACE2 receptors; luteolin and quercetin.  

Foods high in luteolin include:

  • Radicchio  
  • Sweet Green Peppers
  • Serrano Peppers and Green hot chili peppers
  • Chicory
  • Celery
  • Pumpkin
  • Red leaf lettuce
  • Artichokes
  • Kohlrabi

Foods high in quercetin – onions have always been my first choice for quercetin — the outer layers of the onion have the most quercetin as do the the greens of spring onions, but there a few other foods even higher in quercetin:

  • Capers — fresh first, canned second
  • Elderberry juice concentrate (and this is used in FMx circles for covid patients)
  • Dill weed, fresh
  • Cilantro, fresh
  • Banana peppers, raw
  • Fennel leaves, raw
  • Juniper berries
  • Oregano
  • Red onions, raw
  • Carob flour
  • Radicchio
  • Red Leaf Lettuce
  • Spring Onions – red bulb version
  • Watercress, raw
  • Asparagus
  • Okra
  • Bee pollen
  • Cocoa powder
  • Apples — SKIN only
  • Chia seeds, raw
  • Hot green chili peppers
  • Cranberries

And the list goes on and on, there are a lot of vegetables that contain quercetin — so basically as I keep saying “EAT YOUR VEGETABLES”!  Quercetin combined with Vitamin D has even been shown to be even more effective.  So eat your veggies and get outside.

These are common vegetables and I know many local farmers who grow these foods.  Eat them up!

By eating your vegetables — not only do you protect yourself from covid — but also the pandemic that precedes covid — metabolic syndrome — a Non Communicable Disease.  One of the reasons covid is running rampant in the states is the sad state of health of over half of Americans.

And the bad health is not from lack of willpower or laziness, it’s our food supply.  Our government needs to stop funding corn, soy, and sugar — and processed foods should not be cheaper than vegetables — and they are.

The good organic local vegetables that you and I are able to afford should be available and affordable at all grocery stores — even the small corner shops like 7/11s where many economically challenged people end up buying their food.  A coke should not be cheaper than an apple! or a bag of chips cheaper than a couple green bell peppers.

Food does matter.  This is the message Functional Medicine has been trying to get out.  We have to go all the way back to our farming methods and make change start there, then as better foods trickle into our food supply the American population will have a better chance at resisting a pandemic.

And just an important side note — from all the research I’ve looked at, the number one way to protect yourself from the virus is to get your Vitamin D levels up.  When all the data is compiled on Vitamin D levels in those who survived and those who didn’t the number 1 difference was Vitamin D.  There are more ways other than supplementation to get your Vitamin D up:

  • Get outside in the sunlight between 10a-2pm for a minimum of 15 minutes each day withOUT any sunscreen — expose your skin, especially face, chest, and arms — these are the areas we absorb Vitamin D the best.
  • Eat fatty fish – such as salmon and mackerel, they are also a source of Vitamin D.
  • Egg yolks are a source of vitamin D
  • Beef liver is as well
  • Mushrooms, especially sun dried mushrooms are also a food source of vitamin D — and you get a side benefit of mushrooms boosting your immune system.

If you choose to supplement, I do recommend a blood test since you can get too much vitamin D from supplementation (but not from sun or foods :):

‘A vitamin D3 blood level of at least 75 nmol/L (30 ng/ml) is needed for protection against COVID-19.’

The recommended Vitamin D blood level for optimal health is currently between 60 ng/mL (150 nmol/L) and 80 ng/mL (200 nmol/L).  Toxicity occurs when you hit blood levels above 200 ng/mL (500 nmol/L) 

Time to drop the Fear of Covid

What is up with the media??  Why does the media thrive on fear?  I can find so much information and research and current studies and their results on how to treat covid — and many doctors are figuring it out.  Why are we not hearing about it?

I have listened to functional medicine docs talk about having 100% success rate keeping their covid patients out of the hospital — and an allopathic approach called MATH+ Protocol using medications instead of herbs and supplements is also effective.  Choose your method!  Treatment of covid is improving.  Time to be less fearful.  And just a side note on what I learned too — don’t use a ventilator on covid patients, CPAP machines and HyperBaric Oxygen Chambers are proving more effective.

Reporting on findings like these would be helpful in mitigating fear — this would reduce fear and stress and that alone will improve our immunity against this virus.

Sad fact is the controversy over who believes what with this virus.  I am witnessing here in Maui neighbors hollering at each other for wearing or not wearing masks and I have seen big debates in social media over it — a lot of disharmony.  

When I look at the data, I can find data to support mask wearing and data that shows harm.  Whenever this is the case, which is often is – it means there is more than one answer — or there is something else in the mix making a difference that we are not aware of yet.

To make even cloth masks more effective:

  • Carry several with you, replace them as soon as they get moist from breath, saliva, sweat, etc. — especially if you have to wear one for work, a new mask each hour or every other would reduce your risk of infecting yourself.
  • Wash after each use!
  • Wash your hands before putting your mask on or taking it off.

Someone feeling righteous because they have on a mask and shouting at someone who doesn’t or even calling the police is going to create more disharmony.  Better off to keep your tongue on the roof of your mouth and keep your distance from those not wearing masks.

What do you believe about mask wearing?

We know from the work of doctors and researchers like Bruce Lipton, PhD and his book “The Power of Belief” if you believe wearing a mask will protect you then there is a higher chance it will.

If you believe wearing a mask will harm you, then there is a higher chance it will.

If you believe wearing a mask will protect you, then believe that and let your own mask protect you whether someone else is wearing one or not.

If you believe wearing a mask is harmful, and you are out without a mask, when you see someone wearing a mask then be respectable and make sure you keep more than 6’ distance between you and that person, and don some sort of facial covering you can be comfortable with if you have to go into a store.  Be respectful and try not to stress out those who feel masks are very necessary.

We can agree to disagree and live in harmony.

That’s how we will get through this together.

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