Health, Fitness,Dite plan, health tips,athletic club,crunch fitness,fitness studio,lose weight,fitness world,mens health,aerobic,personal trainer,lifetime fitness,nutrition,workout,fitness first,weight loss,how to lose weight,exercise,24 hour fitness,
1 Which of the following is currently the most effective way to protect yourself against coronavirus and prevent its spread?
Frequently washing your hands during influenza season and other pandemic outbreaks is a crucial safety measure. Soap very effectively destroys most viruses, including COVID-19. Soap dissolves the fatty membrane that holds the virus together. As the virus falls apart, it is rendered harmless and can easily be washed off under running water. Learn more.
2 The nationwide federally funded Electronic Health Records system captures the details of all your health care visits, medical diagnoses, drug prescriptions and vaccine records, and can be accessed by:
Your Electronic Health Record can be accessed not only by government health agencies like the Social Security Administration, Medicaid and federal and state health and law enforcement agencies, but also can be shared with authorized third parties such as doctors, health insurance companies, HMOs and other corporations, hospitals, labs, nursing homes and medical researchers. Learn more.
3 Which of the following disinfectants is thought to be the most effective against viral contaminants?
Accelerated hydrogen peroxide appears to be the most effective virucide overall. It can kill viruses in as little as 30 seconds. Learn more.
4 To dampen the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), governments around the world are recommending:
To dampen the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), governments around the world are recommending social distancing and self-isolation. Learn more.
5 Which of the following strategies may be helpful in reducing your risk of coronavirus infection?
Fever is a core mechanism by which your body fights viral infection. You can simulate a fever by raising your core body temperature in a sauna, steam bath, or by engaging in physical movement to induce sweating. Coronaviruses incubate in your sinuses for about three days before moving down into your lungs, and appears to be destroyed by temperatures around 133 degrees F (56 degrees Celsius), which can easily be reached in a sauna. Learn more.
6 The data collected about you by Google, Facebook and other multinational tech companies is:
The biggest tech companies in the world have hijacked our personal data — so-called "behavioral surplus data streams" — without our knowledge or consent and are using it against us to generate profits for themselves. User data is the raw material that drives surveillance capitalism. Learn more.
7 Which of the following strategies has been shown to effectively boost immune function and/or kill viruses outright, thus lowering your risk of infection such as COVID-19?
Vitamin C strengthens your immune system and kills pathogens, including viruses, when taken in high doses. Other important immune boosting nutrients are vitamin D, magnesium and zinc. A Korean doctor who's giving patients and hospital staff 100,000 IU's of vitamin D and 20 to 24 grams of vitamin C by IV reports COVID-19 infected patients are getting well in a matter of days. Learn more.
The outbreak of the most recent iteration of coronavirus — COVID-19 — has experts scrambling to find effective methods of delivering supportive care and minimizing the effect of the illness. As Dr. Roger Seheult, co-founder of MedCram.com, explains in this short video, several factors have been responsible for the rapid spread.
One of the drugs currently under investigation is chloroquine, a treatment commonly used to keep malaria in check. Chloroquine is a synthetic derivative of quinine, which was once the only treatment for malaria. However, quinine is bitter and has significant side effects.1
Legend has it that to make it easier to drink, the British living in India mixed it with gin and lemon or lime.2 The British colonials grew to enjoy the taste, and soon afterward tonic water was granted a patent in 1858. Schweppes introduced tonic water in the U.S. nearly 100 years later and the gin and tonic has remained an integral part of British and American history.
However, while tonic water is flavored with quinine, it doesn't contain nearly as much as the medicine. Tonic water contains no more than 83 milligrams per 1-liter bottle (33.8 ounces), but the therapeutic dose of quinine is 500 mg to 1,000 mg.3
In remarks in a press briefing,4 President Trump said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved use of the malaria drug chloroquine — which is not the same as quinine — to treat coronavirus. However, on the same day the FDA5 released a statement saying they were only “investigating” the drug “to determine whether it can be used to treat patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.”
“Studies are underway to determine the efficacy in using chloroquine to treat COVID-19,” the statement continued, with FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn adding:
“At the same time, we will engage with domestic manufacturers to ramp up production of this product to mitigate any potential supply chain pressures. If clinical data suggests this product may be promising in treating COVID-19, we know there will be increased demand for it. We will take all steps to ensure chloroquine remains available for patients who take it to treat severe and life-threatening illnesses such as lupus.”
However, as one blogger website pointed out, “MDs can prescribe chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for Covid 19 right now. The FDA doesn’t and can’t regulate off-label prescriptions.”6 And, apparently, many doctors not only know that, but are taking advantage of that loophole, according to The New York Times:7
"None of the drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for that use. Some of them — including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine — are commonly used to treat malaria, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions …
‘I have multiple prescribers calling in prescriptions for Plaquenil for themselves and their family members as a precaution. Is this ethical?' one person wrote on Sunday in a Facebook group for pharmacists, referring to a brand name of hydroxychloroquine.”
Out of concern that doctors not only might be jumping the gun on whether the malaria drugs actually work for COVID-19, but also are denying patients who actually need it for chronic conditions like lupus and arthritis, state pharmacy boards are urging their members to restrict prescriptions for the drugs. Besides, these drugs also can have serious side effects, NPR notes:8
"Our members are definitely seeing more demand for this medication and possibly some people trying to hoard the medication," says Todd Brown, executive director of the Massachusetts Independent Pharmacists Association … Pharmacists are seeing an increase in requests and prescriptions for them in instances where it's not clear why the patient needs it at this time’ …
Brown is suggesting that pharmacists restrict prescription quantities and fill prescriptions only for patients with an active need for hydroxychloroquine … Michael Barnett, a primary care physician and assistant professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, says that even if the drug turns out, from the clinical studies now in progress, to be effective against COVID-19, it must be saved for those most in need.
Barnett is sympathetic [to those who want to try everything they can to cure COVID-19], but he points out that this powerful medicine has serious side effects, so it should not be taken unless there's a known benefit.”
On a bizarre side note, another consumer warning made headlines after a husband and wife in their 60s decided to self-medicate with an aquarium cleaner that has a different form of chloroquine in it. Both were hospitalized within 30 minutes of ingesting the toxic substance, The Sacramento Bee reported;9 the husband later died.
The fish tank cleaner “has the same active ingredient as the drug chloroquine phosphate, which is used to treat malaria, but is formulated differently,” the medical director from a local poison control center explained. Unfortunately, at least three others made the same mistake in Nigeria, so it’s important to remember that you should not take any drug without your physician’s express direction.
Historically, there is strong evidence that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are effective in the lab against the SARS coronavirus that appeared in 2003.10,11,12 Laboratory testing also reveals chloroquine is effective in cell cultures against COVID-19 when combined with an antiviral drug, remdesivir.13 Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) uses the same pathway as chloroquine, but with a safer side effect profile.14
These and other results have prompted scientists to call for further research into the use of the antimalarial drugs to stem the tide of COVID-19 infection.15 Recently, results of a very small clinical trial using Plaquenil alone for the infection have been announced in China, but access to the data was not initially released to other scientists for review,16 and then when it was the data showed very little difference between the drug and the control group.17
Similar studies have been ongoing for several years. For example, in 2009,18 one study evaluated the use of chloroquine in human coronavirus subtype OC43, known to cause severe lower lung infections.19 The researchers used an animal model and found pretreatment demonstrated the drug was highly effective against this subtype. Interest in antimalarial drugs highlights a unique distribution of the virus.
As noted in a preliminary paper currently undergoing peer-review, “Global Spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Malaria: An Epidemiological Paradox”:20
“From the analysis of distribution data, the endemic presence of malaria seems to protect some populations from COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in the least developed countries. Of note, the mechanism of action of some antimalarial drugs (e.g. antiviral function) suggests their potential role in the chemoprophylaxis of the epidemic.”
Malaria is caused by a parasite passed to humans by infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The World Health Organization’s African region21 experiences a large proportion of the burden, with 93% of all cases worldwide and 94% of deaths related to malaria.
When you consult the Johns Hopkins Medicine’s22 user-friendly, interactive map to track the outbreak worldwide, it’s apparent the only other large land mass with fewer cases than Africa is Russia23 — which is indeed intriguing, if nothing else.
In light of past results and current data, one clinical trial24 underway is enrolling 1,000 workers who have a higher potential to become infected based on their exposure. The University of Oxford is beginning the trial in May 2020 and anticipates closing it in May 2022.
The researchers are using a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study design to evaluate the use of chloroquine versus a placebo taken over three months or until they are diagnosed with COVID-19. The researchers are measuring the severity of respiratory illness and clinical outcomes.
One recently released study had encouraging results using hydroxychloroquine.25 Infection control specialist Dr. Didier Raoult from France enrolled 24 patients who had confirmed COVID-19. The patients received 600 mg of hydroxychloroquine each day and their viral load was monitored in a hospital setting.
Depending upon the clinical presentation, researchers added azithromycin to the treatment protocol. Patients from another hospital who refused the protocol were used as a negative control. The scientists concluded that despite the small sample size, the survey “shows that hydroxychloroquine treatment is significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients and its effect is reinforced by azithromycin.”
Another physician shared his positive results using a similar protocol with a small group of patients.26 Dr. Vladimir Zelenko treats a close knit Jewish population of 35,000 in Kiryas Joel, Monroe, New York. Zelenko posted a video of himself addressing Trump about the treatment he’d developed, and asked Trump to use it nationwide.
He told radio host Sean Hannity that he’d had 100% success rate with patients with patients by using hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and zinc sulfate for five days. “I’ve seen remarkable results; it really prevents progression of disease, and patients get better,” he said.
In response, county health officials said it was “unsubstantiated” and “highly irresponsible” for Zelenko to apply his patients’ outcomes to the entire community, and urged residents to listen to public health officials and continue with recommended social distancing and other prevention methods.27
Chloroquine raises the pH of vesicles in the cells that are hijacked by the virus. The normally slightly acidic environment facilitates the viral infection. Jeremy Rossman at the University of Kent expects positive lab results, but notes28 “there’s often a huge gap between how it works in the lab cells and how it works in the body.” One gap includes the potentially deadly side effects.
While results are hopeful, it is important to note, as Seheult points out, both drugs have the side effect of elongating your QT wave in an electrocardiogram. This means the electrical activity in the heart is altered. The most common symptoms of the condition are seizure, fainting and sudden death.29
These side effects are not minimal. Just two days after China issued a treatment guideline to use chloroquine, it sent a warning to closely monitor adverse side effects and limit use to those without heart, liver or kidney disease and those who are not taking antibiotics such as azithromycin or prescribed steroids.30
Although malaria and coronavirus don’t appear to have much in common, the drug is effective against malaria and may reduce the symptoms of coronavirus. Seheult explains a potential mechanism:31
“When the coronavirus infects your cell it's going to dump into your cell a messenger RNA that's going to be translated using ribosomes. Those ribosomes, the first thing they are going to do is translate that RNA molecule into a protein called RNA dependent RNA polymerase, or replicase. And, it is this enzyme that is … inhibited by high intracellular concentrations of zinc.
Well, as it turns out, chloroquine is a zinc ionophore, as is hydroxychloroquine. Zinc ionophore is just basically a protein or a gate that allows zinc to come into the cells. We don't know if that is the actual way it is working in this case, but it does seem to lend credence to the mechanism of action that zinc does inhibit replicase and that hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine increase the intracellular concentration of zinc.”
Evidence shows zinc gluconate and zinc acetate effectively reduce the severity and duration of viral infections. Zinc is crucial to the effectiveness of your immune system, enzyme function, protein synthesis and cell division. Studies demonstrate using zinc lozenges reduces the duration of a cold by 33% and lessens the severity of your symptoms.32
Zinc is a necessary component of zinc finger antiviral proteins shown to33 "inhibit the replication of certain viruses by repressing the translation and promoting the degradation of the viral mRNAs." This activity demonstrates a similar inhibition against influenza A virus.34
However, not all zinc products yield the same results. When the lozenge contains more than zinc, it may interfere with the process. Multiple ingredients have a way of interacting with each other, even when they are safe and effective when used on their own.
For instance, there is evidence citric acid, mannitol and sorbitol bind with zinc and reduce your absorption. For more on how to use zinc during a cold or flu see "When Should You Take Zinc to Shorten Your Cold?"
Currently embroiled in litigation35,36 over the manufacture and distribution of their herbicide Roundup, Bayer announced it would donate 3 million tablets of chloroquine phosphate (Resochin), a drug the company discovered in 1934.37
Resochin is used for malaria prevention and treatment in Europe38 but hasn’t been approved for use by the FDA. This donation to the medical effort to diminish the effects of COVID-19 may offer Bayer a path to drug approval in the U.S.
However, while the offer has garnered media attention and the company may hope it softens public opinion, the drug is chloroquine-based, as opposed to the current FDA approved drug Plaquenil,39 which uses the better tolerated hydroxychloroquine.
In the featured video, Seheult describes the results of a study published in Science in March 2020.40 The researchers used a mathematical model to determine how the disease spread before and after the travel ban in China went into effect January 23, 2020.
They found 86% of people were undiagnosed on that date, which means they didn't get tested for the virus, so they didn't know they had it. The authors of the study point out that those who are undiagnosed often have mild or no symptoms of a viral infection and thus are unaware of the need to be tested.
The mathematical model used in the study revealed these undocumented cases were responsible for 79% of all documented cases in China. This meant if the undocumented cases of COVID-19 had been identified, the number of known infections would have dropped by 79%, and as Seheult describes, the number infected in Wuhan would have dropped by 66%.
According to the researchers, those who were undiagnosed, with mild to no symptoms, were 55% as contagious as those with symptoms. However, the sheer number of undiagnosed cases contributed to the rapid spread of the virus through China. The researchers wrote:41
“Our findings also indicate that a radical increase in the identification and isolation of currently undocumented infections would be needed to fully control SARS-CoV2. Increased news coverage and awareness of the virus in the general population have already likely prompted increased rates of seeking medical care for respiratory symptoms.”
As the researchers point out, it takes a combination of identification using thorough testing strategies and subsequent isolation of those who have the virus to fully contain and control the spread.
However, while public knowledge of the first cases in China occurred on December 31, 2019,42 it wasn’t until February 3, 2020, that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention43 announced the development of a laboratory test kit available in the U.S.
Once the genetic sequence was available for COVID-19 in January, German researchers quickly developed a PCR test for the virus. The New York Times44 reported the initial test kits developed by the CDC were flawed and testing snafus were the result of policy makers, not science. The Verge reported:45
“That test became the basis for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) test used in countries around the world, including South Korea, but which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declined to use.
PCR tests are, in theory, fairly simple to create: scientists pick snippets of the virus’s gene and use a series of chemicals to look for that gene snippet in the sample. If they find the snippet, it means the patient has the virus.”
South Korea is one country that took rapid action on two fronts. As Seheult mentions at the end of the video, the country began using the antimalarial drug early. Data collected by Johns Hopkins Medicine46 show that while South Korea is in the top 10 countries with the virus, the number who have died are near the numbers commonly attributed to flu — 1.16% as of March 22, 2020.
As Science Magazine reports,47 all of this has been accomplished without massive citywide lockdowns. Instead, the country instituted necessary populationwide testing with extensive efforts to trace contacts so those carrying the virus or who had been exposed were quarantined to isolate the virus.
In all, by March 17, 2020, South Korea had "tested more than 270,000 people, which amounts to more than 5,200 tests per million inhabitants … The United States [had] so far carried out 74 tests per 1 million inhabitants, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show."48
In Italy the spread of the virus had different results. The reports of illness and death have shocked the world, driving fear that the same infection rate and mortality will spread worldwide. However, it’s important to note that situations between countries differ. Where South Korea began volume testing to isolate asymptomatic people and treatment in January, Italy struggled with political arguments.49
One Italian town undertook populationwide testing and has reportedly been able to contain the outbreak in their town. These results underscore the recommendations of researchers to identify and isolate those infected. A professor of clinical immunology at the University of Florence commented in a letter to authorities:50
“The percentage of infected people, even if asymptomatic, in the population is very high. The isolation of asymptomatics is essential to be able to control the spread of the virus and the severity of the disease.”
The second part of the equation in Italy is related to the higher rate of death than most other countries. This increased rate has also been identified during flu season,51 as Italy’s mortality attributed to the flu is higher than other European countries, especially in the senior population.
Wired52 reveals 23% of the Italian population are seniors, as compared to 16% in the U.S. Italian young people also tend to maintain close relationships with the elderly, increasing the risk that an asymptomatic young person could spread the virus to a senior. The scientists involved in the recent research evaluating the spread of the virus concluded:53
“The 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus also caused many mild cases, quickly spread globally, and eventually became endemic. Presently, there are four, endemic, coronavirus strains currently circulating in human populations (229E, HKU1, NL63, OC43). If the novel coronavirus follows the pattern of 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza, it will also spread globally and become a fifth endemic coronavirus within the human population.”
As this story unfolds, I am committed to bringing you viable prevention and treatment options you can use at home. A recently published article54 by Mark McCarty and James DiNicolantonio, PharmD, proposes there are nutraceuticals that may help reduce symptoms and severity of influenza and coronaviruses.55 According to the authors, these viruses:
"… cause an inflammatory storm in the lungs and it is this inflammatory storm that leads to acute respiratory distress, organ failure, and death. Certain nutraceuticals may help to reduce the inflammation in the lungs from RNA viruses and others may also help boost type 1 interferon response to these viruses, which is the body's primary way to help create antiviral antibodies to fight off viral infections."
From the conclusions of several randomized clinical studies, DiNicolantonio and McCarty believe the antiviral effects of some nutraceuticals are quite clear, and hope these benefits will encourage further research to test this strategy.
You'll discover how some cost-effective supplements may reduce the severity and duration of your symptoms of colds, flu or COVID-19 in "Quercetin and Vitamin D — Allies Against Coronavirus?"
It’s also important to remember to care for your gut microbiome, reduce your sugar and carbohydrate intake, get quality sleep and practice good hand-washing to support your efforts to stay well.
Remember to stay away from others when you are sick to avoid spreading any virus you may be carrying, and to seek medical attention as you would if you were sick with a bad flu. Difficulty breathing is a clear indicator that medical attention may be required. This is particularly true if you are pregnant, have a weakened immune system or a chronic medical condition that may place you in a higher risk category for severe COVID-19 infection.56
Until a few years ago, research had pointed to resveratrol's neuroprotective effects against Alzheimer's, but not against other types of dementia. However, a Chinese study with rats in 2013 found that resveratrol may also lower the risk for vascular dementia.1
Other studies since then not only support this research,2 but show that resveratrol also activates autophagy and inhibits neuronal apoptosis, and works to improve cognitive function.3 Even more promising, a human study just published in March 20204 showed that "regular consumption of resveratrol can enhance cognitive and cerebrovascular functions in postmenopausal women, with the potential to slow cognitive decline due to ageing and menopause."
Resveratrol is a natural phytoestrogen and antioxidant probably best known for its benefits in red wine and grapes, and may help protect your brain from neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's, while also minimizing their damage.5
In the featured studies, resveratrol improved learning and memory in rats and humans with vascular dementia by reducing oxidative stress in their brains. This form of dementia is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's.6
Vascular dementia is caused by conditions that block or reduce cerebral blood flow, resulting in your brain cells being chronically deprived of oxygen and vital nutrients. Inadequate blood flow can damage and eventually kill cells anywhere in your body, and your brain is particularly vulnerable as it has one of the richest blood supplies.
When the blood vessels in your brain become obstructed, you can experience repeated "mini-strokes," which result in cumulative tissue damage. This leads to cognitive impairments that typically worsen over time.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, "A growing number of experts prefer the term 'vascular cognitive impairment' (VCI) to 'vascular dementia,' because they feel it better expresses the concept that vascular thinking changes can range from mild to severe."7
Resveratrol does much more than just protect your brain — it offers benefits for practically every system in your body. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic properties that are well established by science. The compound is produced by plants to increase their survival and resistance to disease during times of stress, such as excessive ultraviolet light, infections and climate changes.
When you consume these plants, they pass on these protections to you. Resveratrol is present in a number of plant foods, including but not limited to the following:
As of March 25, 2020, the National Institutes of Health's PubMed8 lists 621 articles showing the benefits of resveratrol. In addition to being neuroprotective, resveratrol can reverse oxidative stress, reduce inflammation, normalize your lipids, protect your heart, stabilize your insulin and fight several types of cancer, along with a host of other health benefits.9
Resveratrol is also unique in that it can make some cancers more vulnerable to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.10,11 Many tumors develop resistance to chemotherapy drugs, known as chemoresistance. Researchers are always on the lookout for effective "chemosensitizers" that can help overcome such resistance, and resveratrol has been shown to have that capability with certain chemicals and radiotherapy.
One of the special properties of resveratrol is its ability to cross your blood-brain barrier, which allows it to moderate inflammation in your central nervous system. This is significant because CNS inflammation plays an important role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
In a 2010 study,12 resveratrol was found to suppress inflammatory effects in certain brain cells (microglia and astrocytes) by inhibiting different proinflammatory cytokines and key signaling molecules. In a later study, scientists confirmed that the anti-inflammatory properties of resveratrol have neuroprotective effects.13
There is also solid scientific data that resveratrol helps clear out the plaque in your brain that leads to Alzheimer's disease. A study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry14 found resveratrol to exert "potent anti-amyloidogenic activity."
However, unlike Alzheimer's, vascular dementia is not a product of plaque formation, but instead results from impaired blood flow. As it turns out, resveratrol has also been shown to improve cerebral blood flow. A study in 2010 found that even one single dose of resveratrol can improve blood flow to your brain,15 which has obvious implications for vascular dementia and stroke. In a 2017 study, scientists said:16
" … resveratrol suppresses vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation, promotes autophagy, and has been investigated in the context of vascular senescence. Pre-clinical models unambiguously demonstrated numerous vasculoprotective effects of resveratrol. In clinical trials, resveratrol moderately diminished systolic blood pressure in hypertensive patients, as well as blood glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus."
Its benefits may also be related to its ability to activate a particular gene, causing beneficial epigenetic effects.17
In 2013 researchers discovered that resveratrol may have antiaging benefits due to its ability to "mimic the beneficial effects of chronic and moderate calorie restriction."18 A 2017 demonstrated that resveratrol alleviates cardiac dysfunction by flipping on a gene that stimulates production of a protein called SIRT1, preventing disease by recharging your mitochondria.19
Interestingly, calorie restriction and resveratrol exert the same effect on the SIRT1 protein. People who intentionally keep themselves hungry by restricting their caloric intake or, preferably through fasting, seem to be flipping a "genetic survival switch."
In fact, calorie-restricted mice live longer and are healthier than nonrestricted mice,20,21 showing lower rates of age-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis and cognitive impairment.
A hungry life seems to lead to a longer life, for mice and for humans — at least that's the direction science seems to be pointing. Moreover, new research is showing that a ketogenic diet also extends longevity and good health22 — which is good news if you practice KetoFasting, where you practice a cyclical ketogenic diet and partial fasting.
The potential to capitalize on an antiaging drug is incredibly seductive to Big Pharma. After all, a "wonder drug" promising to add additional healthy years to your life would be a big seller. Not surprisingly, SIRT1 genetic studies done at Harvard led to the formation of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, whose primary function was to turn resveratrol into a patentable drug. In 2008, Sirtris was purchased by drug behemoth GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million.23
But, as Harvard Health reported a few years later, hopes for such a wonder drug longevity pill fell flat when patients in the clinical trial reported kidney damage.24 One problem was that the bioavailability of it in humans isn't all that great — "Most of it exits via your bladder," The New Republic explained.25 On top of that, even though several clinical trials were ongoing during that time, they were dropped one by one as "unexpected side effects" popped up.
In late 2019, one of those Harvard researchers, David Sinclair, reported that he's still searching for a resveratrol-based wonder drug.26 But buyers beware: Whenever you give your body a synthetic version of a natural agent, or an isolated agent, you rarely get good results, and you should expect the unexpected in terms of detrimental effects.
It's always better to consume food the way nature prepared it, with its full complement of naturally occurring, synergistic phytonutrients. Boosting your resveratrol intake would be better accomplished by consuming whole foods rich in that compound, such as grapes, berries and minimally processed raw cacao. If you choose to take a supplement, make sure it contains the whole food form.
And, Sinclair himself admits that, for now, that's the way he lives. He exercises, practices calorie restriction, avoids carbs and sugar and indulges in sauna bathing, he told Boston Wellness. He also takes vitamin D and vitamin K2 regularly.
So, remember, there is no "magic bullet" for living longer and healthier — it requires a multipronged approach. Wise lifestyle choices can't be replaced by a pill, although the drug industry never tires of making that promise.
Even overdoing natural supplements can backfire, such as taking excessive amounts of antioxidants. Your body needs some degree of oxidative stress for optimal function and adaptation. Vigorous exercise, for example, creates a high degree of oxidative stress, but without it, your body would not become stronger.
In other words, if the stress on your body were to be removed from exercise, so would the benefit. This is precisely what the University of Copenhagen27 discovered in a study involving older men taking resveratrol. According to Science Daily, researchers said:28
"We found that exercise training was highly effective in improving cardiovascular health parameters, but resveratrol supplementation attenuated the positive effects of training on several parameters including blood pressure, plasma lipid concentrations and maximal oxygen uptake."
This finding took researchers by surprise. They noted that the quantities of resveratrol given to the men in this study (250mg) were much higher than what they would have received from natural foods.
The take-away message is that antioxidants are not a fix for everything; it's more about finding balance. Focusing on a healthy diet that optimizes your insulin levels and minimizes inflammation will reduce your risk for all types of dementia, as well as heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic degenerative conditions, as they all share the same underlying causes.
The best approach to antioxidants is to consume a wide variety instead of large amounts of just one. These elements work together synergistically, all performing different roles in your body, similar to an orchestra performing a symphony: The music falls short if only one or two instruments are playing.
Resveratrol can be a powerful addition to your diet, but not without a solid nutritional foundation. The first step is making sure you're covering the basics, which is why I offer my complete nutrition plan. This comprehensive guide addresses the factors underlying all chronic degenerative diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and all types of dementia — including vascular dementia.
This plan is available to you, completely free of charge. For additional guidance about how to modify your diet for brain health, refer to my article and interview with neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter. Be sure you specifically address the following:
|
Avoid gluten and casein (primarily wheat and pasteurized dairy, but not dairy fat, such as butter) |
|
Increase consumption of healthful fats, such as organic butter from raw milk, clarified butter called organic grass fed raw butter, olives, organic virgin olive oil and coconut oil, nuts like pecans and macadamia, free-range eggs, wild Alaskan salmon, and avocado |
|
Keep your fasting insulin levels below 3 (following the nutrition plan will help you do this); if your fasting insulin level is above three, consider limiting or eliminating your intake of grains and sugars until you optimize your insulin level |
|
Exercise regularly, including high-intensity interval training like the Peak Fitness Technique |
|
Optimize your vitamin D levels with safe sun exposure |
|
Optimize your gut flora by regularly consuming fermented foods or taking a high quality probiotics supplement |
|
Consume enough high-quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil |
Contrary to popular belief, the ideal fuel for your brain is not glucose but ketones, chemicals that your body mobilizes when you stop feeding it carbs and introduce coconut oil and other sources of healthy fats into your diet. A one-day fast can help your body to "reset" itself, and start to burn fat instead of sugar.
While the research supporting calorie restriction is compelling, it's not a very popular dietary strategy for most people, because many simply are not willing to deprive themselves of calories to the extent needed to achieve the therapeutic effects.
An alternative approach that is easier to implement is intermittent fasting, which can be as simple as restricting your daily eating to a narrower window of time, say six to eight hours (this equates to 16 to18 hours' worth of fasting each and every day).
Recent research suggests that sudden and intermittent calorie restriction appears to provide many of the same health benefits as constant calorie restriction, including extending lifespan and protecting against disease.
Unless you have a serious illness, I believe it's best for most people to implement intermittent fasting slowly, over the course of six to eight weeks. You begin by not eating for three hours before bed, and then gradually extend the time you eat breakfast until you have skipped breakfast entirely and your first meal of the day is at lunchtime.
And, as I mentioned earlier, you can also incorporate my KetoFasting plan for a healthy approach to calorie restriction.
Be sure that you are only consuming non-starchy vegetables for carbs, low to moderate protein and plenty of high-quality fats. Most people would benefit from upward of 50% to 70% of their daily calories in the form of fats.
One of the things I've noticed is that once you've shifted your metabolic engine from carb-burning to fat-burning, your desire for sugar and junk food will gradually or rapidly disappear. It typically takes a few weeks for this to occur, but once it does, you'll be easily able to fast for 18 hours without feeling hungry.
