Health & Fitness

In 2000, everything about Bill Gates’ public persona changed. He morphed from a hardnosed and ruthless technology monopolizer into a soft, fuzzy and incredibly generous philanthropist when he and his wife launched the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.¹

It was a public relations coup. May 18, 1998, the U.S. Justice Department, in collaboration with 20 state attorneys, filed an antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft.² At that time, the company was 23 years old and was ruling the personal computer market. The Seattle Times described the fallout from the antitrust lawsuit:³

“The company barely escaped being split up after it was ruled an unlawful monopolist in 2000 for using its stranglehold on the PC market with its Windows operating system to cripple competitors, such as Netscape’s Navigator Web browser.”

How would the world be different today if the company had been split? Yale law professor George Priest described the antitrust lawsuit as “one of the most important antitrust cases of its generation.”⁴ In 2002, a court settlement placed restrictions on Microsoft to curb some of its practices for five years.

It was later extended twice and then expired May 12, 2011. The lawsuit had a dramatic effect on “the emergence of an entirely new field called IP (intellectual property) antitrust,” Iowa law professor Herbert Hovenkamp told the Seattle Times.⁵

Later, large sums donated from the foundation made the news multiple times, including $9.5 million to GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines), a second $7.5 million to GAVI and $6.8 million to the World Health Organization in 2017.⁶

By June 2020, in the middle of a global pandemic, the Gates Foundation’s donations totaled 45% of WHO’s funding from nongovernmental sources.⁷ Once mainstream media’s attention was no longer on Gates’ antitrust activities and focused on the philanthropist actions of the foundation, Gates publicly turned his attention to vaccinating the world, long before COVID-19.⁸

Event 201: A Preplanned Pandemic

In a deep dive into the Gates Foundation’s charitable donations, The Nation found there were $250 million in grants to companies where the foundation held corporate stocks, including Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Sanofi and Medtronic. The money was directed at supporting projects “like developing new drugs and health monitoring systems and creating mobile banking services.”⁹

What Gates had discovered was an easy path to political power, allowing him to shape public policy without being elected to office. In other words, favorable headlines could be bought with charitable contributions.¹⁰ One event that Gates has personally supported and participated in was Event 201.¹¹

Writing in The Defender, Robert Kennedy Jr. describes the exercise that Gates organized in October 2019. Many high-ranking men and women with governmental authority participated in Event 201, which coincidentally simulated a worldwide pandemic triggered by a novel coronavirus, just months before SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, changed the world.¹²

They included representatives from the World Economic Forum, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University Population Center, the World Bank, the Chinese government and vaccine maker Johnson & Johnson. During the event, the group developed strategies to control a pandemic, the population and the narrative surrounding the event.

At no time did they investigate using current therapeutic drugs and vitamins or communicating information about building immune systems. Instead, the aim was to develop and distribute patentable antiviral medications and a new wave of vaccines.

As Kennedy reports, Gates spoke to the BBC¹³ April 12, 2020, and claimed these types of simulations had not occurred, saying "Now here we are. You know we didn't simulate this; we didn't practice, so both the health policies and economic policies … we find ourselves in uncharted territories."

Yet, videos of the event are available¹⁴ and Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security released a statement naming the Gates Foundation as a partner in sponsoring the pandemic simulation.¹⁵ It seems strange and alarming that a man with the responsibility of running the Gates Foundation and the powerful influence he has over global public policy decisions had forgotten an exercise he organized only six months before the interview.¹⁶ Or was it deception?

Uncanny Prediction or Planned Event?

During the pandemic exercise, the global experts “modeled a fictional coronavirus pandemic.”¹⁷ After questions arose about whether the exercise had “predicted the outbreak in China,” Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security released a thinly supported statement, saying:¹⁸

“… the exercise served to highlight preparedness and response challenges that would likely arise in a very severe pandemic … Although our tabletop exercise included a mock novel coronavirus, the inputs we use for modeling the potential impact of that fictional virus are not similar to nCoV-2019.”

Kennedy characterizes the fourth simulation in Event 201, writing that “the participants primarily focused on planning industry-centric, fear-mongering, police-state strategies for managing an imaginary global coronavirus contagion culminating in mass censorship of social media.”¹⁹

The transcript of the fourth simulation shows that the participants discussed communication strategies using dissemination of information and censorship on social media.^20,21 Communication strategist Hasti Taghi, who works for a major media company and leads strategic initiatives with the World Economic Forum,²² said:

“So, I think a couple of things we have to consider are even before this began, the anti-vaccine movement was very strong and this is something specifically through social media that has spread.

So, as we do the research to come up with the right vaccines to help prevent the continuation of this, how do we get the right information out there? How do we communicate the right information to ensure that the public has trust in these vaccines that we're creating?”

The question the group undertook wasn’t how to communicate the truth about the vaccine development, manufacture and distribution, but rather how to “communicate the right information to ensure the public has trust in these vaccines that we’re creating?”

The issue of gaining public trust to take a vaccine was significant in this simulation, even though the U.S. population is well indoctrinated in the perceived value of annual flu shots and childhood vaccinations. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a list of 26 different types of vaccines currently in use in the U.S.

In addition to the long list of recommended childhood vaccinations, there are adult vaccines against shingles, tetanus and pneumococcal pneumonia that are routinely given. Why, then, did the global experts in communication and control believe communicating the “right information” would be necessary to “ensure the public trust”?

Group Calls for Social Media Censorship

This was only one of the highly predictive conversations during Event 201 that played out in 2020 as the global COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. George Gao, director-general, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,²³ predicted:²⁴

“By and long, we have more cases in China and also death cases reported. And also, my staff told me that before there's misinformation and there's some belief. People believe, ‘This is a manmade ... some pharmaceutical company made the virus,’ so there's some violations of human ... That is because of this misinformation.”

Others agreed with the need for social media censorship as it may pertain to the spread of “disinformation” about the pandemic or vaccines and vaccine injury, without regard to the source. The idea was to remove any information that did not align with the government’s mandates and ideas. Kevin McAleese, who is a communications officer with a Gates-funded agricultural project, said:²⁵

“To me, it is clear countries need to make strong efforts to manage both mis- and disinformation … If the solution means controlling and reducing access to information, I think it’s the right choice.”

During the ensuing conversation, Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security,²⁶ replied, “In this case, do you think governments are at the point where they need to require social media companies to operate in a certain way?”²⁷

At each step of the simulation, the global “experts” agreed that information censorship through media platforms would be necessary to control the flow of the “right information” in order for people to willingly follow the leader.

What is interesting about the transcript from Event 201 is that what was planned and shared was frighteningly close to what has happened since January 2020. It may have been a coincidence to predict one or two major public health decisions, but it appears that the group was either phenomenally prophetic or they shaped the decisions and events of 2020 from behind the scenes.

Framing the Vaccine Message to Trigger Action

From the outside, the driving force behind economically devastating lockdowns, warp speed vaccine development and population control and surveillance strategies has been to “flatten the curve” and lower the death rate of SARS-CoV-2. Yet, as I and others have exposed, when these strategies are analyzed, it’s apparent there is more than what meets the eye.

In July 2020, Yale University²⁸ announced a study of the trigger words and phrases that would have a higher likelihood of promoting an otherwise individualistic society to quietly follow mandates (not laws) to control behavior. The phrases tested were believed to be most successful at conveying feelings about health, helping others and fear.

The hope was to manipulate behavior in such a way that it lowered the governmental risk for riots and dissidence. The study was conducted by Yale University using 4,000 participants who were randomized to receive one of 12 different messages. After the message, they were then evaluated to “compare the reported willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine at three and six months of it becoming available.”²⁹

The primary outcome of the study was to find the right combination of phrases and messaging that would increase the number of people who got the vaccine. The study began July 3, 2020, and the last participant underwent testing by July 8, 2020.³⁰ To date, the results of the study have not been published.

The president of the U.S. announced in July 2020 that there would be an “overwhelming” vaccine campaign launched by November 2020.³¹ In December 2020, the National Institutes of Health released a COVID-19 vaccination communication recommending behavioral and social science actions that might address vaccine hesitancy and increase the number who take the vaccine, including:³²

• Framing accepting a vaccine as a social norm including “promotional materials that induced peer pressure to vaccinate.”
• Encouraging those who vaccinate to share their positive experience on social media.
• Nudging a person into accepting the vaccine by making it convenient and easy, leveraging electronic portals to send messages and using competition, gamification and incentives to encourage behavioral changes.
• Assessing the values of the target audience and then embedding those values into messages about vaccinations. Examples might include being a protector of the community, building on desires to go back to normal activities or as a way of enacting equality and social justice by protecting vulnerable people.

In other words, many of the messages that you’ve been seeing in the media and your doctor’s office have been designed to trigger emotions that would lead you to take the vaccine. These same pressure tactics are not routinely used in the media for some of the more common adult vaccinations including pneumococcal, tetanus, hepatitis or shingles vaccines.

It’s Time to Speak With One Voice and Fight for Freedom

As I've written before, what we lose as a society when we acquiesce to these mandates and controls will be exponentially harder to get back. One of the freedoms we give away is allowing our thoughts and beliefs to be censored on social media without fighting back.

It is essential to safeguard your constitutional rights and civil liberties against unlawful overreach, and yet many appear to be willing to give up easily. Although the government has a duty to protect the health and welfare of its citizens, this must be balanced against the loss of civil rights and liberties.

We’re currently facing a battle of freedom versus tyranny. For example, multiple studies have demonstrated that long-term lockdowns are clearly not in the public's best interest.^33,34 Instead, it's tantamount to abuse. And yet many have gone along with these mandates, which were not laws.

It's vital to understand that the vast majority of information you consume in mainstream media is carefully designed propaganda that has been crafted from nearly two decades of personal data collected from you.

Although Yale University undertook a study with 4,000 participants for a COVID-19 messaging campaign, that data had been gathered and collated through your use of social media.

As I have carefully identified in many previous articles, this plan will result in a progressive loss of your freedom and liberty that eventually results in tyranny and slavery. It is crucial to be vigilant and seek the truth so that you can understand how to distinguish between fact and a fictional narrative that promises you liberation but eventually enslaves you.

My newest book, “The Truth About COVID-19,” will be available April 29, 2021, on Amazon. In it, I investigate the origins of the virus and how the elite has used it to slowly erode your personal liberty and freedom. In addition, I'll also show you how to protect yourself against the disease and what you can do to fight back against the technocratic overlords.

>>>>> Click Here <<<<<

The book goes into detail about pandemic profiteers. While I'm not thrilled about associating with Amazon, by pushing the book ranking up on their platform — one of the biggest tech companies who are benefiting from this global pandemic — we are actually using it to get the word out about them.

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As of March 16, 2021, 19 European countries plus Thailand¹ had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, either in full or in part, following reports of deadly blood clots.^2,3 March 2, 2021, The Defender reported⁴ U.K. data showing the AstraZeneca vaccine was responsible for 77% more adverse events and 25% more deaths than the Pfizer vaccine, which in the U.S. has been connected with a majority of death reports in the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS).

AstraZeneca’s vaccine has received emergency use authorization in Europe but not in the U.S., where the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available. Contrary to the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines use a viral vector to deliver double-stranded DNA for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein into your cells.⁵

Business Insider has created a comparison chart⁶ of the four vaccines — Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson — currently available in the U.S. and Europe.

Norway Links Lethal Blood Clots to AstraZeneca Vaccine

While virtually all post-vaccination deaths so far have been shrugged off as coincidence, even when occurring in healthy individuals in their 20s and 30s, doctors at Oslo University Hospital have now announced the blood clotting disorders experienced by some recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine are in fact caused by the vaccine.⁷

A March 18, 2021, article in Science Norway reads, in part:⁸

“’Our theory that this is a powerful immune response most likely triggered by the vaccine, has been confirmed,’ says professor and chief physician Pål Andre Holme. Three Norwegian health workers under the age of 50 have been hospitalized. One is dead …

‘In collaboration with experts in the field from the University Hospital of North Norway HF, we have found specific antibodies against blood platelets that can cause these reactions, and which we know from other fields of medicine, but then with medical drugs as the cause of the reaction,’ the chief physician explains …

When asked to clarify why he says ‘most likely’ in the quote, Holme confidently responds that the reason for these rare cases of blood clots has been found.

‘We have the reason. Nothing but the vaccine can explain why these individuals had this immune response,’ he states. [Norwegian national newspaper] VG also asks how Holme can know that the immune response is not caused by something other than the vaccine.

‘There is nothing in the patient history of these individuals that can give such a powerful immune response. I am confident that the antibodies that we have found are the cause, and I see no other explanation than it being the vaccine which triggers it,’ he responds.”

The three health workers reported acute pain, bleeding, low platelet counts and were found to have blood clots in “unusual places,” such as their stomachs and brains. Later that same day, March 18, 2021, the European Medicines Agency ruled the AstraZeneca vaccine is “safe and effective, despite some concerns over possible side effects,” CNBC reported,⁹ and that benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.

Meanwhile, March 22, 2021, Norway Today reported the Norwegian Medicines Agency had received two new reports of blood clots with deadly consequences following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine. In a press release, the agency stated that “The Norwegian Medicines Agency cannot rule out that these cases may have a connection with the AstraZeneca vaccine.”¹⁰ One of the two victims was a health care worker.

German Experts Weigh In

A March 19, 2021, German Spektrum article¹¹ reviews preliminary findings by German investigators, which add further weight to Holme’s findings in Norway. It reads, in part (translation from German using translate.com):

“The effects of the suspended vaccinations with the AstraZeneca vaccine are believed to have been due to a particular immune response that activates platelets and thus triggers thrombosis. This preliminary conclusion is being made by a working group made up of Andreas Greinacher from the University Hospital Greifswald.

The effect corresponds in many details to a heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) type 2,¹² in which antibodies against a protein complex are formed in connection with heparin, which in turn respond to a receptor on the platelets …

The team demonstrated the similarity of thrombosis with HIT in the blood of four patients with sinus vein thrombosis. Antibodies appear to form against a complex of heparin and the signaling molecule PF4, which in turn interact with the receptor CD32 of the platelets and thus activate them.

This triggers the clotting cascade, which leads to the thrombosis. The antibodies produced in the vaccinated individuals were very similar to those found in HIT, Greinacher said at a news conference. So far, however, it is still unclear where these antibodies come from, whether they form against the vaccine virus or the spike antigen or perhaps against a factor only involved in the immune response.”

According to Greinacher, people with a history of thrombosis probably do not have a higher risk of complications from the vaccine due to the mechanism of harm. He also points out that there is treatment against HIT, which the team believes “should also work in the case of the suspected vaccination side effect.”

Spektrum reports that, based on these findings, the Society for Thrombosis and Hemostasis Research suggests vaccinated individuals who experience thrombosis or neurological symptoms such as dizziness, headache or visual impairment on the fifth day post-vaccination and onward should be tested for HIT type 2.

The HIT type 2 test will detect antibodies against the heparin complex and, if positive, the Society recommends administering intravenous immunoglobulin G to prevent the activation of CD32 and interrupt the mechanism that results in thrombosis.

AstraZeneca Efficacy Data Being Questioned

March 22, 2021, AstraZeneca¹³ announced its Phase 3 U.S.-based trial showed the vaccine was 79% effective at preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe or critical disease and hospitalization, with no increased risk for adverse effects compared to placebo.

According to The Associated Press,¹⁴ partial results from trials in the U.K, Brazil and South Africa — where a “manufacturing mistake” had led to some participants receiving only half of their first dose — suggested the vaccine was 70% effective.

The AP goes on to cite a number of individuals saying the U.S. results should allay concerns about the AstraZeneca vaccine.

That narrative broke apart the very next day, March 23, 2021, when the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) issued a statement^15,16,17 first thing in the morning, saying the Data and Safety Monitoring board (DSMB) had notified them that AstraZeneca’s data may include “outdated information” that cast doubt on its effectiveness. As reported by The Defender:¹⁸

“Notably, in its most recent data, AstraZeneca neglected to include key information, such as the number of trial participants who developed ‘severe COVID.’ AstraZeneca President Ruud Dobber, during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box, said the number was ‘5,’ shortly after the data were released.”

“We urge the company to work with the DSMB to review the efficacy data and ensure the most accurate, up-to-date efficacy data be made public as quickly as possible,” the NIAID said in its statement.¹⁹

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who heads the NIAID and was one of the people quoted by the AP as saying the U.S. trial ought to put concerns to rest, went on the defensive, saying “This is really what you call an unforced error because the fact is, this is very likely a very good vaccine. If you look at it the data, they really are quite good, but when they put it into the press release, it wasn’t completely accurate.”²⁰

AstraZeneca responded²¹ saying the data were based on a “pre-specified interim analysis with a data cut-off” of February 17, 2021, and promised to share more data with the independent review board.

In a Tweet,²² Francois Balloux, professor and director of the UCL Genetics Institute, called the NIAID’s statement “highly unusual,” noting it “comes close to accusing Oxford/AZ of having willfully misrepresented” some of its trial results.

Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, called the NIAID’s statement “unprecedented,” as while the DSMB will “sometimes disagree with investigators over vaccine trial results,” they typically do so “in private,” not publicly.²³

This isn’t the first time AstraZeneca has been challenged over its data handling, though. As reported by The Defender:²⁴

“‘The way they handled their data early on, AstraZeneca basically shot themselves in the foot,’ Julian Tang, a virologist at the University of Leicester, said even before the latest issue arose.

AstraZeneca has received criticism over its studies since the first data released in the UK, which purported to show the vaccine was 70% effective, yet failed to account for a manufacturing mistake and didn’t include enough participants over 65 to determine efficacy among older patients …”

Full Throttle Forward Despite Risks

Despite concerns about data mishandling and two independent investigations finding a mechanism of harm, the World Health Organization and the European Medicines Agency are saying the AstraZeneca vaccine is good to go and urge countries to keep using it.

March 18, 2021, the EMA issued a press release²⁵ giving the AstraZeneca the green-light, despite admitting it is associated with “very rare cases of blood clots associated with thrombocytopenia, i.e., low levels of blood platelets.” The justification, as usual, is that the benefits outweigh the risks.^26,27,28

But do they? What exactly are the benefits? You can still contract the virus. You can still spread the virus. All it promises to do is lessen your symptoms when you get infected. Sure, the idea is that by lessening symptoms, you’ll reduce your risk of hospitalization and death, but lessening symptoms is not what a vaccine is supposed to do. A vaccine is supposed to make you immune to the disease in question, and none of the COVID-19 vaccines does that.

I’ve discussed this in previous articles, including “COVID-19 mRNA Shots Are Legally Not Vaccines,” “COVID-19 ‘Vaccines’ Are Gene Therapy” and “How COVID-19 ‘Vaccines’ May Destroy the Lives of Millions.”

What’s more, COVID-19 is really only a serious risk to the very old and people with two or more comorbidities. For the rest, its lethality is on par with the common flu.^{29,30,31,32,33} It may be different in terms of symptoms and complications, but the actual lethality is about the same.

Data³⁴ have shown the overall noninstitutionalized infection fatality ratio for all age groups is 0.26%. If you’re under the age of 40, your risk of dying from COVID-19 if you get infected is just 0.01%.

Meanwhile, as reviewed in “COVID-19 Vaccine Tested on Babies Even as Death Toll Mounts,” the lethality rate of COVID-19 vaccines is somewhere between 0.0024% and 0.0028%, and that’s assuming all deaths are being reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), which is doubtful.

The key difference between being harmed or killed by COVID-19 and being harmed or killed by the vaccine is that the illness kills those who are old, sick and frail, while reports show the vaccine is killing young and healthy people. From my perspective, the argument that the vaccine benefits outweigh the risks simply does not hold water.

Side Effects 3X More Common in Those Previously Infected

In related news, according to researchers at King’s College, people who have already had COVID are three times more likely to experience vaccine side effects than those who have not been exposed to the virus, and this appears true for both mRNA and DNA versions of the vaccine.³⁵

They gleaned this information from the college’s ZOE app, which has logged more than 700,000 vaccinations. According to that data, 35.7% of those given the Pfizer vaccine who had previously been infected reported side effects, compared to just 12.2% of those not previously infected.

Looking at the AstraZeneca vaccine specifically, 52.7% of previously infected had side effects, compared to 31.9% of those who had not been previously infected.

While The Telegraph reports this as being a beneficial thing, saying “More severe side effects are often a sign of better immunity, and emerging research suggests just one dose of vaccine gives a similar protective effect to two doses in people who have had a previous infection,” some experts vehemently disagree.

Proper Timing May Eliminate Some Vaccine Risks

In January 2021, Dr. Hooman Noorchashm, a cardiac surgeon and patient advocate, sent a public letter³⁶ to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner detailing the risks of vaccinating individuals who have previously been infected with SARS-CoV-2, or who have an active SARS-CoV-2 infection.

He urged the FDA to require prescreening for SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins to reduce the risk of injuries and deaths following vaccination, as the vaccine may trigger an adverse immune response in those who have already been infected with the virus.

Fox TV host Tucker Carlson recently interviewed him about these risks as well. In that interview, Noorchashm said:³⁷

“I think it’s a dramatic error on part of public health officials to try to put this vaccine into a one-size-fits-all paradigm … We’re going to take this problem we have with the COVID-19 pandemic, where a half-percent of the population is susceptible to dying, and compound it by causing totally avoidable harm by vaccinating people who are already infected …

The signal is deafening, the people who are having complications or adverse events are the people who have recently or are currently or previously infected [with COVID]. I don’t think we can ignore this.”

In an emailed response to The Defender, Noorchashm fleshed out his concerns, saying:³⁸

“Viral antigens persist in the tissues of the naturally infected for months. When the vaccine is used too early after a natural infection, or worse during an active infection, the vaccine force activates a powerful immune response that attacks the tissues where the natural viral antigens are persisting. This, I suggest, is the cause of the high level of adverse events and, likely deaths, we are seeing in the recently infected following vaccination.”

Noorchashm is now pushing for the implementation of a prevaccine screening campaign (#ScreenB4Vaccine), using PCR or rapid antigen testing to determine whether the individual has an active infection, and an IgG antibody test to determine past infection.

If either test is positive, he recommends delaying vaccination for a minimum of three to six months to allow your IgG levels to wane. At that point, he recommends testing your blood IgG level and use that as a guide to decide the timing of your vaccination. As reported by The Defender:³⁹

“Noorchashm told Carlson that he’s been wrongly accused of stoking vaccine hesitancy, when just the opposite is true — if public health officials want people to trust the vaccines, they need to do everything possible to avoid creating situations where the vaccines can actually cause harm.

‘People aren’t stupid,’ Noorchashm said. ‘If you explain how the vaccine works, and give them the information on how to keep themselves safe,’ that is how you build trust.”

What to Do if You Regret Getting the COVID-19 Vaccine

If you already got the vaccine and now regret it, you may be able to address your symptoms using the same strategies you’d use to treat actual SARS-CoV-2 infection. I review these strategies at the end of “Why COVID Vaccine Testing Is a Farce.”

Additionally, if you’re experiencing side effects, please help raise public awareness by reporting it. The Children’s Health Defense is calling on all who have suffered a side effect from a COVID-19 vaccine to do these three things:⁴⁰

1. If you live in the U.S., file a report on VAERS
2. Report the injury on VaxxTracker.com, which is a nongovernmental adverse event tracker (you can file anonymously if you like)
3. Report the injury on the CHD website

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New York’s vaccine rollout is steaming ahead, with nearly 30 percent of the state having received at least one dose. This Aussie writer was eligible and has decided to share her story in the hopes it allays any fears or hesitations.

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One specific protein may be a master regulator for changing how cancer cells consume nutrients from their environments, preventing cell death and increasing the likelihood the cancer could spread, a study has shown.

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Use of vouchers and coupons offered by pharmaceutical companies to defray patients' out-of-pocket drug costs is concentrated among a small number of drugs.

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Physical activity is important in preventing heart and blood vessel disease in young people so long as they don't undertake very strenuous activity on days when air pollution levels are high, according to a nationwide study of nearly 1.5 million people published in the European Heart Journal.

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How does the nose know? Scientists now detail how the inborn ability to recognize certain odors is encoded in the nervous system of mice.

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Because Taspase 1 dysregulation is increasingly implicated in the genesis and metastasis of various cancers, it has become an attractive candidate for drug development. But before this can happen, researchers will need a highly detailed blueprint of the structure of this protease. In a new study appearing in the Cell Press journal Structure, researchers from Arizona State University describe their investigations, which reveal the structure of Taspase 1 as never before.

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Bullying at boarding schools has a negative impact on students' emotional health, but for male students, having a school staff member to rely on for support may mute the harmful effects of bullying, according to a new study. Support networks did not have the same effect for female students, the researchers say.

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Researchers use mathematical modeling to help explain why CAR T cells work in some patients and not in others.

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Information processing by the brain is altered in depressed individuals. A study conducted at the University of Helsinki found that in depressed patients, the processing of visual perceptions is also different.

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During drought, plants use a signalling molecule known from animals to limit their water loss. The molecule provides them with a kind of memory of how dry the day was.

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Researchers have developed a new way of using nanomaterials to identify and enrich skeletal stem cells -- a discovery which could eventually lead to new treatments for major bone fractures and the repair of lost or damaged bone.

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Why do some people with cold sores around their lips experience painful lesions, while others have no symptoms at all, yet still spread the virus? A new study finds that these differences could be due to variations in the way certain strains of herpes simplex (HSV-1) -- the virus that causes cold sores, as well as genital herpes -- activate gene expression in neurons.

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GlyNAC - a combination precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione - improved many age-associated defects in older humans boosting muscle strength and cognition.

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The recommendations are clear: physical activity is good for mental health. But it also depends on how varied it is. That's what a new study shows, pointing to one of the reasons why well-being suffers during the pandemic.

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New fundamental physics research provides insights on the process of diffusion in complex systems such as living organisms. This new theoretical framework has broad implications for active surfaces, such as ones found in bacterial biofilms, active coatings, and pathogen-clearance mechanisms for human health.

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It's not uncommon for people who experience a concussion to have moderate to severe headaches in the weeks after the injury. A new study has found a combination of two drugs, both common anti-nausea medications, given intravenously in the emergency room may relieve those headaches better than a placebo.

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A research group developed a game application for smartphones that estimates the possibility of carpal tunnel syndrome with machine learning. The program acquires the trajectory of the thumb during a game play in 30 sec -- 1 minute, and detects the possibility of the disease.

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Hail severity will increase in most regions of the world while Australia and Europe are expected to experience more hailstorms as a result of climate change, an international review led by a UNSW Sydney researcher has found.

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A combination of esophageal brushing and extensive genetic sequencing of the sample collected can detect chromosome alterations in people with Barrett's Esophagus, identifying patients at risk for progressing to esophageal cancer, according to a new study.

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Research shows that periodontitis, severe gum disease, is linked to higher blood pressure in otherwise healthy individuals. This study of 500 adults with and without gum disease found that approximately 50% of adults could have undetected hypertension. Promotion of good oral health could help reduce gum disease and the risk of high blood pressure and its complications.

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Scientists have highlighted the key role of a protein called paxillin, which enables cells to perceive their environment and anchor at the right place with the help of cellular 'crampons'. Indeed, without functional paxillin, the cell is unable to attach properly and slips continuously. These results shed new light on how cells adhere or migrate, mechanisms essential to the good functioning of our organs, but also involved in the development of metastatic tumors.

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Sustained low-intensity exercise does not completely counteract the effects of weightlessness on the heart muscle, which will atrophy over time in a gravity-free environment. Short bursts of repeated high-intensity activity during shorter space missions may be more successful in keeping the heart healthy.

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It typically takes a lot longer for truth to become public knowledge than the finely orchestrated propaganda we are all exposed to on a daily basis, but eventually, truth tends to rise to the surface.

This appears to be the case with the origin of SARS-CoV-2 as well, as we’re now starting to see more mainstream media reporting what alternative media have been saying for months, which is that the most likely origin of the virus is a laboratory.

I first mentioned that the outbreak had the hallmarks of a laboratory escape in my February 4, 2020, article, “Novel Coronavirus — The Latest Pandemic Scare.” Currently, the mainstream narrative is that while it may indeed have been a lab creation after all, it’s certainly not part of a bioweapons project.

Well, at least that brings us halfway, and this is good news. Personally, I wouldn’t dismiss the bioweapon’s angle just yet, though. In the end, we may well find that this pandemic was the result of a bioweapon program after all, which is precisely why I believe we need to permanently ban gain-of-function research. The risks to public health are simply too great.

As noted by investigative journalist Alison Young in a recent USA Today op-ed, in which she details a number of hair-raising near-misses involving extremely lethal pathogens that could have led to unmitigated disaster were it not for sheer luck:¹

“The risk that a laboratory-released virus — carried into the community by a worker who didn’t know they were infected or through the leak of infectious waste — could cause a deadly outbreak has been a growing concern for many years.

In America, scientists and members of Congress … and the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office have expressed concerns for years. In reports and hearings, they’ve worried that the proliferation of laboratories working with high-risk pathogens is increasing the aggregate threat of a deliberate or accidental lab release causing a catastrophic outbreak …

If the COVID-19 pandemic were found to have been caused by a lab accident, it would have far-reaching implications for the fragmented and secretive oversight of biological research in the United States and worldwide that currently relies heavily on the scientific community to police itself.”

US State Department Suspects Lab Leak

In a March 21, 2021, interview with Sky News Australia² (video above), David Asher, former lead investigator for the U.S. State Department’s task force that looked into the origins of COVID-19, said the data they collected “made us feel the Wuhan Institute was highly probably the source of the COVID pandemic.”

According to Asher, three workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) who worked with the RatG13 coronavirus — the closest relative to SARS-CoV-2 identified to date — appear to have been the first cluster of cases of COVID-19. They fell ill with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 as early as October 2019. At least one of the workers required hospitalization.

He also points out there is evidence in the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 suggesting it’s been synthetically altered. It has the backbone of a bat coronavirus, combined with a pangolin receptor and “some sort of humanized mice transceptor.” “These things don’t naturally make sense,” Asher says, adding that experts around the world agree that the odds of this configuration occurring naturally is “very low.”

Another troubling indicator that something was amiss at the WIV was the Chinese government’s taking down of a WIV database in September 2019. According to the Chinese, this was done because of “thousands of hacking attempts.”

However, Asher points out many other databases were taken offline around the same time as well.³ The Chinese also tried to remove data posted in a European database containing viral sequencing from patients exhibiting COVID-19-related symptoms.

SARS-CoV-2, a Suspected Bioweapon Vector

Interestingly, the sequences posted in the European database included adenovirus, which is a vaccine vector. This, Asher says, could indicate that SARS-CoV-2 is part of a vaccine program.

Now, it doesn’t make sense to create a vaccine for just any virus that they happen to be working on. It is, however, consistent with a biological weapons program. Meaning, first a biological weapon is created, and then an antidote, such as a vaccine, is developed to defend your own population and your allies.

In an earlier article⁴ by The Sun, Asher is quoted saying the WIV “was operating a secret, classified program,” and that “In my view … it was a biological weapons program.” He stops short of accusing China of intentional release, however, which also would not make sense from a bioweapon point of view. Instead, he said he believes is was a weapon vector that, during development, “somehow leaked.”⁵

This falls in line with a March 27, 2020, assessment report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, which stated that SARS-CoV-2 was likely an accidental release from an infectious diseases laboratory. According to Newsweek,⁶ “The classified report, titled ‘China: Origins of COVID-19 Outbreak Remain Unknown,’ ruled out that the disease was genetically engineered or released intentionally as a biological weapon.”

In a March 8, 2021, Politico article,⁷ columnist Josh Rogin also pointed out that “just months into the pandemic, a large swath of the government already believed the virus had escaped from the WIV lab, rather than having leaped from an animal to a human …”

Hallmarks of Guilt

Asher also told Sky News⁸ he’s never seen a more systematic cover-up, and The Sun⁹ quotes him as saying that “Motive, cover-up, conspiracy, all the hallmarks of guilt are associated with this.”

Regardless of how the virus came about, Asher is unequivocal about China’s behavior resulting in a global pandemic, as they delayed border closings and even claimed the virus didn’t appear to spread from human to human, even though there were clear indications that it did. Indeed, people were secretly complaining about China’s lack of transparency from the earliest days of the pandemic. As reported by RTE:¹⁰

“China insists that it was transparent during the early outbreak, delivering ‘timely’ information to the WHO. Indeed, the WHO publicly praised China for its openness and cooperation. Yet behind the scenes, the Irishman leading the emergency response complained they weren't getting the information or access they needed.

In leaked recordings obtained by Prime Time, Dr. Michael Ryan is heard comparing it to China's cover-up during the SARS outbreak in 2003. ‘This is exactly the same scenario, endlessly trying to get updates from China about what was going on in Guangdong and then, bang,’ he said.

‘The WHO barely got out of that one with its neck intact given the issues that arose around transparency in southern China … We do need to shift gears here.

‘There's been no evidence of human-to-human transmission' is not good enough,’ Dr. Ryan is heard saying in the recordings … ‘We need to see the data, we need to be able to determine for ourselves the geographic distribution, the timeline, the epicurve and all of that,’ he said.”

Chinese Researchers Sought to Distance China From the Virus

In a March 22, 2021, article,¹¹ The Sun also reported that emails from Dr. Shi Zhengli at WIV, obtained by U.S. Right to Know (USRTK) via freedom of information act requests, “shows how Chinese scientists fought to shift blame” for the pandemic away from China and Wuhan.

To distance themselves from the virus, they initially tried to get it renamed, as SARS-CoV-2 links it to the Chinese SARS outbreak of 2003. Shi suggested the virus be called TARS-CoV or HARS-CoV, to clearly differentiate it from the Chinese SARS outbreak.

They also feared the virus might become known as the “Wuhan coronavirus” or “Wuhan pneumonia.” The scientists’ effort to change the scientific name “shows their conscription into political processes,” Gary Ruskin, executive director of USRTK said, adding that “The power to name is the power to define.”

Congress Demands Information From the NIH

Other good news includes a March 18, 2021, letter¹² from the U.S. Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce to the director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, requesting “information, assistance and needed-leadership” from the agency “to advance an independent scientific investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In the letter, they quote Stanford professor David Relman, who in a November 2020 commentary in the journal PNAS stated that:

“A more complete understanding of the origins of COVID-19 clearly serves the interests of every person in every country on this planet. It will limit further recriminations and diminish the likelihood of conflict; it will lead to more effective responses to this pandemic, as well as efforts to anticipate and prevent the next one.

It will also advance our discussions about risky science. And it will do something else: Delineating COVID-19’s origin story will help elucidate the nature of our very precarious coexistence within the biosphere.”

The Committee also stresses that while the WHO attempted to investigate the origins of the virus and had vowed to be guided by science and not exclude any hypothesis, they failed to live up to this promise, as China “did not provide complete access or independence” for the team.

Without conducting a thorough investigation, but rather relying on information provided by the Chinese, the team roundly dismissed the lab-origin theory and announced it would no longer be part of their investigation.

Within days, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus walked back the team’s outright dismissal saying “I want to clarify that all hypotheses remain open and require further study.”¹³ Perhaps he realized the WHO was about to make a public relations mistake so severe it would never recover.

China Cites ‘Privacy Laws’ to Avoid Crucial Data Sharing

In response to questions as to why China refused to share original patient data with the WHO’s investigative team, the Chinese head of the WHO joint team claims such data cannot be copied and shared due to patient privacy and data protection laws.¹⁴

As noted by OneShared.World founder Jamie Metzl in a Tweet,¹⁵ this sounds like a dubious justification considering the Chinese government is “forcibly extracting genetic samples from Uighurs [and] Tibetans,” a practice reported by The New York Times in June 2020.¹⁶ Besides, Metzl notes, “If anonymized data can be shared safely in democracies, it can be shared safely everywhere.”

WHO Investigation Was Tainted From the Start

Lastly, while not discussed in the Congressional Committee on Energy and Commerce’s letter, the WHO’s investigative team was also severely biased from the start, thanks to the inclusion of Peter Daszak, Ph.D., president of EcoHealth Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on pandemic prevention that worked closely with bat coronavirus researchers at the WIV, including Shi.

Daszak was also found to have played a central role in the early plot to obscure the lab origin of SARS-CoV-2 by crafting a scientific statement condemning such inquiries as “conspiracy theory.”^17,18 Mainstream media have been referring to and relying on this manufactured “consensus” statement ever since to “debunk” counternarratives.

Was US-Funded Research Used in Chinese Bioweapons Program?

The Committee on Energy and Commerce does raise the issue of the U.S. having potentially funded the research that resulted in SARS-CoV-2, and that the Chinese military may have been involved as well. According to the letter,¹⁹ the U.S. government has “determined that the WIV has collaborated on projects with China’s military,” and “engaged in classified research … on behalf of the Chinese military since at least 2017.”

Disturbingly, since the NIH has funded gain-of-function research on coronaviruses at the WIV through grants to the EcoHealth Alliance, this could mean the U.S. actually funded research that ended up being used in a Chinese military bioweapons program.

“Accordingly, it is imperative to determine not only where SARS-CoV-2 originated, but also how and if NIH’s funding and research to projects at the WIV could have contributed to SARS CoV-2,” the letter states.²⁰

The letter includes a long list of information requests, including:

• All information the NIH has about laboratory accidents at the WIV since January 2015.
• Any communication between NIH staff, grantees, subgrantees, contractors and subcontractors with the China-based NIH, the Chinese National Science Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Chinese CDC, regarding events at the WIV between August 2019 and the present.
• Whether the WIV invited researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston (UTMBG), as indicated in an April 2018 State Department cable, whether any UTMBG researchers ended up conducting research there, and any documents relating to that research.
• All correspondence between the NIH and EcoHealth Alliance since January 1, 2020, related to funding involving the WIV.
• The sources for its April 2020 communication with EcoHealth Alliance, in which the NIH stated it had “received reports” that the WIV “has been conducting research … that pose serious biosafety concerns.”

Scientists Also Call for Independent Investigation

Two dozen scientists and policy experts have also signed an open letter²¹ calling for an independent investigation into the virus’ origin,²² listing a number of flaws in the joint WHO-China inquiry, including the universal absence of evidence demonstrating a wholly natural origin of SARS-CoV-2. If the virus was truly natural, surely, we’d have some evidence of its evolution at this point, yet we have nothing.

In addition to the shortcomings of the WHO’s investigative commission, the letter also details what a full and independent investigation “should look like,” starting with the creation of a multidisciplinary team, whose members have “no unresolved conflicts of interest and no full or partial control by any specific agenda or country.”

They also recommend “considering all possible scenarios for each pathway,” and then following standard forensic approaches, which include securing full access to all relevant sites, records, logs, databases and samples.

Gain-of-Function Research Must Be Banned

I firmly believe we need to ban gain-of-function research across the world. As noted by Marc Lipsitch in his 2018 review, “Why Do Exceptionally Dangerous Gain-of-Function Experiments in Influenza?”:²³

“This is a question of intense debate … Experiments to create potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs) are nearly unique in that they present biosafety risks that extend well beyond the experimenter or laboratory performing them; an accidental release could, as the name suggests, lead to global spread of a virulent virus, a biosafety incident on a scale never before seen …

While there are indisputably certain questions that can be answered only by gain-of-function experiments in highly pathogenic strains, these questions are narrow and unlikely to meaningfully advance public health goals such as vaccine production and pandemic prediction.

Alternative approaches to experimental influenza virology and characterization of existing strains are in general completely safe, higher throughput, more generalizable, and less costly than creation of PPP in the laboratory and can thereby better inform public health. Indeed, virtually every finding of recent PPP experiments that has been cited for its public health value was predated by similar findings using safe methodologies.”

While the origin of SARS-CoV-2 remains to be conclusively proven, a paper²⁴ published in Nature in 2015 discussed how a “lab-made coronavirus related to SARS” capable of infecting human cells had stirred up debate as to whether or not this kind of research is worth the risks:

“Although the extent of any risk is difficult to assess, Simon Wain-Hobson, a virologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, points out that the researchers have created a novel virus that ‘grows remarkably well’ in human cells. ‘If the virus escaped, nobody could predict the trajectory,’ he says.”

With 20/20 hindsight, we now have a much clearer idea of what the release of such a virus can do. We may chalk it up to luck that SARS-CoV-2 turned out to be orders of magnitude less lethal than initially suspected, although government containment measures have turned out to be devastating and deadly as well. If this kind of research is allowed to continue, the next time there’s a leak, we may not be nearly as lucky.

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Traditionally, fermented foods are a simple strategy to affect and optimize the health of your gut. Fermented foods are teeming with beneficial microbes that are sadly lacking in many Americans’ diets. Nearly every culture has a recipe for fermented food that has been passed down through the generations.

Kimchi has a long tradition in Korea where it's served as a side dish with most meals.¹ Cabbage and radish are the two most popular vegetables used in the preparation of kimchi, but some family recipes also use cucumber, onion and carrot as the primary vegetable.

The flavor and microflora of kimchi are impacted by additional ingredients such as garlic, salt and fermented fish sauce. Most Korean families have their own recipes, which are closely guarded secrets.² Yet, the nature of the process of fermenting means that no two batches ever taste exactly the same. In addition to the ingredients, the temperature and length of fermentation contribute to the flavor of the finished product.

Originally, fermenting cabbage and other common vegetables to make kimchi was a way of preserving fresh vegetables for the winter months.³ Although it is available commercially, you can easily experiment at home with your own vegetables to develop a flavor and nutritional profile you enjoy.

While the flavor will vary depending upon the ingredients you use, most kimchi is sour and spicy. If you use garlic during fermentation, the flavor and taste of the vegetable will intensify.

As it has become more popular, it can be found in the refrigerated section of many grocery stores or purchased at Asian markets and sushi bars. Because it's made with vegetables and fermented it contains an ample amount of fiber and is rich in microbes that help feed a healthy gut.

Importance of Probiotic Foods to Your Health

Foods rich in beneficial bacteria act as probiotics. Using a probiotic supplement or eating fermented foods has become increasingly popular as evidence mounts that probiotics have a beneficial effect on the bacterial communities residing in your gut.⁴

The most common bacteria found in probiotics are from the lactobacillus and bifidobacterium groups.⁵ Information from the 2012 National Health Interview Survey showed approximately 4 million adults in the U.S. had used probiotics or prebiotics in the 30 days leading up to the survey.⁶

Recent information published in 2019⁷ also recorded approximately 3.9 million people regularly take probiotic supplements with the expectation that they will help improve digestion and immune function, prevent heart disease and improve mental health.

Food manufacturers have recognized the benefits of eating probiotic foods and have incorporated this in their advertising, especially for fermented dairy foods like yogurt. However, store-bought yogurt brands are also high in sugar, which feeds harmful bacteria in the gut. In this case, the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages of consuming probiotics from store-bought yogurt.

The production of kimchi is accomplished by fermenting vegetables with lactic acid bacteria (LAB), the same bacteria used in fermenting yogurt.⁸ This group of bacteria is one of the most significant groups of probiotics, demonstrating a high survival rate in test conditions and resistance to low pH indicating reasonable tolerance to bile.⁹

Probiotics Benefit Leaky Gut and Inflammation

Although some bacteria can cause disease, there are nearly 100 trillion of them living in your gut, which are collectively called the gut microbiota.¹⁰ What exists in your gut is a balance of harmful and beneficial bacteria that contribute to your body’s control of the inflammatory response.¹¹

When the bacteria in your gut are out of balance it increases the permeability of the membrane lining your intestinal wall. This is referred to as leaky gut. The tiny gaps allow undigested food, bacteria and metabolic waste to enter your bloodstream, which sets up an inflammatory response in your body.

This inflammation also confuses the immune system and increases the risk for an autoimmune attack.¹² Leaky gut syndrome has been associated with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. However, even healthy people can have varying degrees of intestinal permeability that can lead to a variety of health symptoms.

Kimchi plays two roles in protecting your gut health. In the first place, it is a rich source of probiotics helping to reseed your gut microbiota with healthy, beneficial bacteria. Kimchi is also high in insoluble fiber, which is the preferred source of nutrition for beneficial microbes.

Research from the University of California¹³ has shown the microbial balance in the gut microbiota is driven in part by the intestinal tract’s ability to limit resources to harmful microbes when beneficial microbes are given adequate nutrition. In addition to helping to close intestinal permeability, beneficial bacteria produce short-chain fatty acids as a byproduct of metabolism.¹⁴

These fatty acids signal the cells in the large bowel to limit the amount of oxygen within the large intestines. Beneficial bacteria are anaerobic and don't survive well in an environment high in oxygen. This is another pathway in which the microbiota and your intestinal cells collaborate to promote a cycle that maintains gut health.

The signaling pathway can malfunction when beneficial bacteria are not provided adequate nutrition. If you eat a diet high in sugar and carbohydrates, it feeds the harmful bacteria. This both increases the oxygen level and intestinal permeability and makes your body more susceptible to aerobic enteric pathogens, such as E. coli and salmonella.

Animal studies have also indicated that probiotics can help reduce inflammation and improved the physical functioning of the intestinal tract in older mice.¹⁵ The researchers found a probiotic cocktail “could ameliorate age-related leaky gut and inflammation, hence opening up novel avenues to explore and exploit the clinical utilities of such therapeutic regimens.”¹⁶

Your Gut Health Impacts Disease Risk

Protecting your gut health can also reduce your disease risk. Scientific evidence has demonstrated that many conditions and diseases, such as learning disabilities, diabetes, obesity and Parkinson's disease, are influenced by your gut microbiome. One review published in 2020 goes so far as to say that most inflammatory diseases begin in the gut.¹⁷

Dr. Alessio Fasano,¹⁸ a pediatric gastroenterologist, researcher and director of the Center for Celiac Research and Treatment, points out that there are simply not enough genes to account for the high number of chronic diseases that affect humans.

Genetics also cannot explain the timing of the disease onset. Instead, he suggests that it's important to look at the gut microbiome as “it is the interplay between us as individuals and the environment in which we live that dictates our clinical destiny.”¹⁹

Evidence has shown that exposure to bacterial overgrowth and gluten are the two most powerful triggers to stimulate the production of zonulin by intestinal epithelial cells.²⁰ Zonulin is a family of proteins that are a biomarker for gut permeability. Activation of the pathway may be a defense mechanism to remove bacterial overgrowth or changes in composition (dysbiosis) or both.

Kimchi can help protect against bacterial overgrowth and thus limit the activation of the zonulin pathway. Chronic inflammatory diseases that have been associated with dysregulation of this pathway include autoimmune and metabolic disorders, intestinal diseases and neuroinflammatory diseases.²¹

In other words, you can affect the potential risk and reduce the symptoms of health conditions far outside your gut when you take care of your gut microbiome by providing a diet rich in probiotics and nutrition to feed your beneficial bacteria.

Gut Health May Improve Sleep and Support Your Immune System

Researchers have discovered there is a curious bidirectional link between your gut and your sleep habits. Two studies shed light on this connection. The first was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry²² and focused on the role that your gut microbiome plays in insomnia and depression. The authors wrote:²³

“There is considerable evidence showing that the gut microbiome not only affects the digestive, metabolic, and immune functions of the host but also regulates host sleep and mental states through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.

Preliminary evidence indicates that microorganisms and circadian genes can interact with each other. The characteristics of the gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolism are related to the host's sleep and circadian rhythm."

As noted in the paper, there is mounting research that suggests your gut microbiome affects your sleep cycle through what's known as the gut-brain axis. According to the authors, this happens through three different pathways, all of which use a bidirectional flow.

In a second study,²⁴ researchers investigated how your sleep affects the microbes in the gut, which we already know have far-reaching effects on your general health and the strength of your immune system.²⁵ Using advanced sleep measuring devices, the quality of a participant’s sleep was measured and then compared to the composition of their gut microbiome to see if a correlation could be made.

The researchers found that diversity was positively correlated with sleep efficiency and total sleep time. They also found several bacterial groups that were negatively correlated with sleep quality indicating there is a link between the composition of your gut microbiome, sleep physiology and your immune system.

In addition to supporting your sleep hygiene, a healthy gut may also protect against viral infections, such as severe COVID-19 disease.²⁶ In a review²⁷ of more than 1,000 patient records, researchers found that those who presented on admission to the hospital with GI symptoms and suspected COVID-19 infection had worse outcomes than those who did not have GI symptoms.

Even after adjusting for comorbidities, demographics and other clinical symptoms, the results held. You can read more about the links between COVID-19 and your gut microbiome in “A Healthy Gut to Help Combat COVID.” One of the researchers from Rush University spoke with a journalist from MedPageToday, saying:²⁸

"We knew that GI symptoms could be part of the infection but we did not know if they made a difference and conferred higher risk. So we wanted to look into the impact of initial GI symptoms to see if they might coincide with more serious disease and we found that those with GI symptoms also had established risk factors for severity, such as older age, diabetes, obesity, and hypertension."

More Kimchi Benefits

In addition to the probiotic benefits from kimchi, the nutritive content has also been extensively studied. Researchers have found the dish is high in vitamins A and C along with 34 amino acids.²⁹ The major carotenoids reported are lutein and beta-carotene in a variety of concentrations that are related to the agricultural practice, harvesting and fermentation methods used.

Depending on the raw materials, kimchi may also be high in calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium. The most important bioactive compounds are phytochemicals that have been prized for their medicinal potential with antiobesity, anticancer and anti-atherosclerotic properties.

Researchers have focused on the polyphenolic contents of kimchi as it relates to health claims that include protective effects against a variety of different types of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular disease. Many of the raw materials are important sources of dietary phytochemicals, including onions, which are a source of flavonoids, including quercetin.

Animal studies have demonstrated antiobesity actions as it relates to the animal size, weight and inflammatory response from fat tissue. Other studies have shown kimchi can help balance cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels.

Regular consumption may help to reduce the potential for metabolic syndrome and balance high blood pressure. Fermentation appears to boost the benefits of the raw materials used in kimchi to improve metabolic parameters with antiaging effects.³⁰

The LAB bacteria, dominant in the fermentation of kimchi,³¹ appears to reduce or eradicate putrefactive and pathogenic bacteria that may be present in the process. This helps to increase the functionality of the food and contributes to the large number of health benefits found in research, including the effects on obesity, cancer and colorectal health.

Control Quality by Making Your Own Fermented Vegetables

Some people start out making fermented foods for health benefits and then get hooked on the flavor or vice versa. Kimchi has a high level of beneficial bacteria that are ideal for optimizing your gut flora, and it is high in fiber to help nourish those bacteria. Eating one-quarter to one-half cup of fermented veggies with one to three meals each day can have a dramatic impact on your health.

If you're new to fermented foods, introduce them gradually, beginning with as little as 1 teaspoon of kimchi with a meal. Observe your reactions for a couple of days before adding another small portion and increase your dose gradually as your body can tolerate.

While cabbage is the main ingredient in traditional kimchi, other common elements include mustard greens, garlic, ginger root, Asian radish and Korean chili powder.

It is surprisingly easy to make your own kimchi at home, which allows you to tweak the recipe to suit your taste and to control the quality of the ingredients. You can find recipes for homemade kimchi in “The Tangy Tasty Superfood Korean Families Eat with Every Meal” and “Join the Kinetic Culture and Make Your Own Fermented Vegetables.”

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