Category Archives: Covid

COVID Has Deepened an Epidemic of Loneliness

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

March 23, 2022

As we enter our third year living with COVID, some people are still afraid to leave their homes.

But even before the virus, social isolation was a growing epidemic. Rates of loneliness doubled between the 1980s and 2017. And a Harvard survey conducted in October of 2021 showed one in three people reported feeling lonely “frequently” or “almost all the time or “all the time.”

The thing is, loneliness doesn’t cause people to isolate themselves. But isolation definitely leads to loneliness. And that’s not a good thing. Continue reading

How COVID Created a New Stress-Storm

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

November 22, 2021

A lot of people were stressed out before the pandemic. But since then, a lot more stressors have been imposed upon us. And I’m not just talking about the periods of lockdowns and quarantines.

Now it’s all of the day-to-day issues we have to deal with that we never would have imagined in a pre-pandemic world. Like taking the grandkids to Disney World, only to discover all the trams are shut down.

Since the parks reopened, you have to walk nearly a mile from the parking lots to the parks. And then back again after a full day on your feet visiting the Magic Kingdom or Epcot. That sounds more exhausting and frustrating than it does magical – especially when you’ve got the little ones with you. Continue reading

Long COVID is More Common than We Thought

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

October 22, 2021

Not long ago, we thought that once you recovered from Covid-19, you were done with it. Now we’re finding that, even after you no longer have the virus, you can still suffer long-term effects – or “long COVID”.

And it turns out long COVID is much more common than we once thought. We’re now learning that over one in three COVID-19 patients have long Covid three to six months after their original diagnosis.

What’s going on here? If the virus is no longer in your body, how can you still have symptoms? Continue reading

How Vaccinated People Catch and Spread COVID

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

August 23, 2021

How come Covid vaccinated people are getting infected with COVID? And why can they carry high viral loads, without  getting nearly as sick?

These are questions everyone is asking and nobody is answering. Everyone thinks if they’ve been vaccinated, they won’t get infected.

One of the first things you have to remember is that these vaccines were never about keeping you from getting infected. They’re about keeping you from getting really sick and dying. And the fact that a vaccinated person can carry high loads of the Delta variant while rarely becoming seriously ill proves they are effectively doing their job. Continue reading

The Power of Medicinal Mushrooms

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

May 26, 2021

A lot of people think mushrooms are vegetables, but they are actually fungi. Should that make a difference to you? Maybe, maybe not.

But it’s interesting.

Back in the late 1920’s a bacteriologist named Alexander Fleming made a discovery. You know that name, right? He’s the guy who discovered penicillin. What’s interesting is how he discovered it.

It turns out he noticed fungus growing on a petri dish of Staphylococcus bacteria. For some reason, the bacteria wouldn’t grow anywhere near the fungus. And any bacteria near it was weak or dying. Continue reading

Is the COVID Scare Over Yet?

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

April 12, 2021

Right now there are several COVID-related factors in play.

First we have what we’re calling COVID “long-haulers”. These are people who have recovered from COVID, but have both new and lingering symptoms weeks and months after being COVID-free.

Second are all of the people who won’t get the vaccine… not anti-vaxxers, but the vaccine concerned. I understand why – the vaccines have no long-term safety data, and these folks don’t want to be a guinea pig for the phase three clinical trials that weren’t done because of the emergent nature of need with lack of time, but which is being done now with almost 100 million injections to date. So they’re just as vulnerable to the virus today as they were on day one. Continue reading

Covid has Changed the Way We Eat

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

April 2, 2021

Covid has changed the way we eat. It had to.

You see, back when we didn’t have a potential life saving injection available, it didn’t take very long for people to realize that good nutrition and wholesome foods with supplementation when appropriate were some of the only tools in their arsenal to boost their immune systems and help fight against Covid-19.

As a result, a lot of people have become much more conscious about what they’re eating. The concept of “food as medicine” is finally going mainstream. And more and more people are joining the movement. Continue reading

What do Hydroxychloroquine and Green Tea have in Common?

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

March 19, 2021

I drink two to three cups of green tea each day.

I like to mix and match them. I have matcha green tea in the morning, a jasmine green tea mid to late morning and then in the afternoon I’ll go with one that’s decaffeinated. (That way I won’t have the caffeine in my system at bedtime.)

It’s not just the flavor I’m looking for, it’s all of the health benefits that green tea offers.

It helps wake you up. It gives you focus and energy. Green tea is great for your memory, cardiovascular system and helps keep your blood sugar steady. It can even support weight loss.

But these days, there’s another reason why I’m drinking several cups green tea each day, and you should be drinking it to.

That’s because there’s something you probably don’t know about green tea. Most people don’t.

Green Tea in the Battle against Viral Infections

Do you remember when everyone was talking about hydroxychloroquine last year?

The reason it got so much attention is because hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) acts as something called an ionophore. What an ionophore does is facilitate the transport of things through the cell membrane into the cell.

Specifically, the researchers wanted HCQ to bring zinc into the cells. That’s because you need zinc in your white blood cells to help fight off viruses like Covid-19.

It was a good idea, but the drug had a lot of side effects. Some of them were life threatening, and not really something you would want to deal with.

Well guess what else is an ionophore?

Green tea!

It’s true. Green tea is a natural ionophore.

When you take your zinc with green tea, you’ll get more zinc into your white blood cells where it can help protect you from any potential viral infections.

You can thank epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) for this. Green tea is abundant in this catechin, which acts as an ionophore and has extremely positive effects on your health. EGCG is such a potent healer that it even works at a genetic level to turn on genes that protect you from cancer.

So everything about green tea is great. I highly recommend two or three cups a day.

When you make it, I suggest using loose, organic tea leaves. These often contain higher levels EGCG. You might also try something like The Republic of Tea’s organic choices. Be sure to go for the unbleached tea bags.

And, in case you’re wondering about green tea supplements… I recommend you stay away. There have been some reports of liver problems when people overdo it with these supplements.

Are there any other natural Ionophores?

While I prefer the power of the EGCG in green tea, there is another flavonoid that can act as a natural ionophore and give your immune system an additional boost.

It’s quercetin. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s the potent antioxidant associated with onions and garlic.  You can also find it in other foods that you eat every day.

Chili peppers, kale, spinach, asparagus and broccoli are some of the vegetables that contain quercetin. Fruits include cranberries, cherries and blueberries.

While you can certainly add more of these foods to your diet, it might not be enough to truly support ionophoric activity. But it’s easy enough to supplement with 200 to 500 mg of quercetin twice a day with meals. Look for a supplement that also contain bromelain to improve absorption.

Sources:

Xue J, et al. Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore. PLoS One. 2014; 9(10): e109180.

Carlucci PM, et al. Zinc sulfate in combination with a zinc ionophore may improve outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. J Med Microbiol. 2020 Oct;69(10):1228-1234.

Nandakumar V, et al. (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate reactivates silenced tumor suppressor genes, Cip1/p21 and p16INK4a, by reducing DNA methylation and increasing histones acetylation in human skin cancer cells. Carcinogenesis. 2011 Apr;32(4):537-44.

Three Masks? Are All COVID Headlines Worth Trusting?

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

March 1, 2021

Have you noticed? Everyone seems to have an opinion on how we handle this COVID pandemic.

Sometimes the talking heads talking don’t actually know what they’re talking about.  They’re just rattling off ideas to get their readers or TV viewers excited.

For instance, I recently saw a news article talking about wearing THREE masks… yes… one-two-three! Continue reading

Adrenal Fatigue in the Time of COVID

By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

February 24, 2021

I just spoke to my favorite cousin the other night.  He’s 62 and has spent 36 years running a college bookstore. So, of course, due to the pandemic, he was recently laid off.

No kids at college means no work for my cousin.

He’s feeling pretty stressed at the moment, just like a lot of us.  With no job and new worries about money, he’s starting to wonder what’s next.  Will he get sick? Continue reading