New research with some surprising new information on preventing and treating long covid, with some tips to make it accessible at home.

Be anti-inflammatory

A study published in the Lancet (1) showed people taking metformin during the acute stages of a covid infection had a 40% lower chance of developing long covid That's quite significant! Metformin is strongly anti-inflammatory and it's this antifmallatory action that is reducing the long-covid risk.

Yet another reason to make the effort to be generally inflammatory in your everyday life. You can do this by avoiding highly processed and refined foods and especially oils like sunflower and canola. By eating a stunning rainbow of fresh fruit and vegetables. By getting some sunshine and exercise and engaging in a mindfulness practice. Turmeric (with a little black pepper to enhance bioavailability) ginger and garlic are all potently inflammatory.

And then there's herbs, so many herbs are inflammatory, Here's some common ones, boswellia, ginger, turmeric, nigella , calendula, chamomile, baical skullcap, feverfew, tyloflora

Support Serotonin Production: A study published in Cell (2) magazine found that patients with long Covid had lower circulating serotonin levels. This was partly thought to be due to a lack of absorption of tryptophan, the amino acid which is a pre-curser to serotonin. Most of your serotonin is made in the gut so good gut health is essential here. good sources of tryptophan include cottage cheese, turkey, chicken, tofu, yoghurt, quinoa and eggs

Take natural anti-virals

Paxlovid, an anti-viral approved for use in individuals at high risk of extreme disease is made of a combination of two kinds of pharmaceutical anti-virals; an anti-viral that stops viral replication (quercetin and zinc also do this) and another one that raises levels of anti-virals in the body (3).

Most of us don't have access to these anti-viral meds however we can take advantage of herbal antivirals that have similar actions.

Herbal antivirals include: elderberry, garlic, andrograpis, astragalus, green tea, echinacea, st johns wort, lemon balm, pelargonium and cats claw.

The key is to engage in these health practices as soon as possible when you first experience symptoms. Your health really is the biggest asset you could ever have.

If you or a family member are sick, book in for a quick 15 minute phone/zoom appointment. Herbs and nutritional supplements can be picked up in South Fremantle or sent via express post.

References:

1. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(23)00299-2/fulltext

2. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01034-6?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0092867423010346?showall=true

3. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/13-things-to-know-paxlovid-covid-19