Are you interested in reducing your risk of contracting any viral illness?

Top integrative physicians know that there are certain interventions that can reduce their risk of contracting a viral infection. These same interventions can also treat early viral illnesses so that they don’t become more serious. Jamie, my nurse practitioner, and I are following similar protocols.

You can too. Commonly available supplements and good old-fashioned common sense is all it takes.

Let’s go through the protocol that Jamie and I use and that we have shared with our staff at Advanced PainCare.

First, Jamie and I both use Argentyn 23, a high-quality silver hydrosol, intranasally at least twice a day. Silver is deadly to bacteria, yeasts and viruses but it works only when wet. Sniffing this twice to four times a day and allowing it to run down the back of the throat, where viruses commonly live, is a good way to prevent them from getting a start in your respiratory tract.

Next on the list is vitamin C. You almost can’t take too much of this. I would try for 5,000 mg a day but take it in divided doses as it can cause diarrhea if taken all at once. IV dosing is better and in early viral illnesses it is a better way to get ahead of the disease.

Almost everyone is Vit D deficient and that’s sad because Vit D is so important to stabilize cell membranes, reduce inflammation and reduce the risk of getting pneumonia. Taking 10,000 to 20,000 units of Vit D3 a day is necessary to build up a low Vit D level. By the way, you want your Vit D level to be between 70 and 100, not in the lower range of normal. If you were only going to use one vitamin to prevent viral illness, this would be my pick. But I encourage you to consider the whole protocol.

Curcumin is next. With its anti-inflammatory properties and ability to reduce oxidative stress it is very helpful in early and later viral illnesses. 1000 mg twice a day in early disease or in healthy individuals is fine.
Quecertin will help zinc penetrate a cell to stop viral replication or multiplication. 500 mg to 1000mg a day is a good dose. You can also find Quecertin in onions, green tea and cranberries.

Zinc, Iodine and Selenium are also helpful and are generally found in many multi-vitamins. We have a thyroid support supplement in our office which has optimized levels of each.

Last on our list is Melatonin which will inhibit viral replication and improve the immune response.

Now for the old-fashioned common sense:

Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night
Laugh: it improves your health. Watch a comedy and laugh.
Limit alcohol consumption to no more than one drink a day. It will inhibit immune responses in higher amounts.
Reduce your stress. Getting something done that you always wanted to do will take a load off of your mind. If you have the time now, do it.
Exercise to boost your mood and immunity
Spend time outside.
Reduce the inflammatory load of your diet by limiting carbs, and the bad fats.
It goes without saying to stop smoking and vaping.
Remember, we’re not passive spectators in life. We can impact our health and reduce our risks in tangible ways with relatively simple measures.
We have many of the supplements here in the office as part of our Goodness Gurus line of top-quality products sold only in physicians’ offices. The remainder are easily available in drug stores or online.