Fine-Tuning The Coronavirus Diet
Our bodies are truly are made of what we eat. Therefore, a diet specifically aimed at Coronavirus, by increasing zinc and antioxidants, reducing zinc antagonists and cofactors, and avoiding allergens which would cause the body to focus the immune system on something other than Coronavirus, could improve patient outcomes.
Per Garlic (Allium sativum) as an antidote or a protective agent against natural or chemical toxicities: A comprehensive update review, garlic is a "universal antidote or protective plant against many toxic agents."[1] Hospital diets should make foods with garlic available to their patients, to take advantage of its benefits.
The only problem is that garlic, especially dehydrated garlic, has a lot of copper in it. This could be a problem, because copper is a zinc antagonist.[2]
Onions likewise have health benefits including antioxidants. It is notable that the outermost layers of the onions have the greatest benefits.[3] Onion should also be available to patients to gain the best benefit from their diet. It would be wise to cook onions, as they occasionally have salmonella, and since most of the health benefits survive cooking.[3]
There is around one third less copper in onions than in garlic, an advantage for people not getting enough zinc, because copper is a zinc antagonist.[2]
Wilson's disease is a copper storage condition, where the ATP7B copper transporter that removes copper doesn't function correctly. A number of medications have been developed to remove copper from the body and extend the lives of people with Wilson's disease back to what it would be without the condition.[4] These same medications could be used, in much lower doses, to offset the copper added by garlic and onion, as well as in the diet in general. It would also offset the increase in copper that is normal when a person has a disease, as a result of the zinc being prioritized from getting rid of copper as usual to being prioritized to the immune system.[] It would also reduce the oxidative stress of free radical copper, especially for diabetics, where various transporters, including ATP7A and SOD3, have problems latching onto copper absorbed into the body (different mechanisms and some different transporters for types 1 and 2 diabetes.)
The other main concern with using garlic and onion and other herbs is really the same as about using zinc supplements: undermethylation. If they body is lacking in any nutrient required to read the DNA in the cells, they are liable to lag at responding to the internal environment. In covid, specifically they might lag at changing from problems with the body absorbing too much zinc and having to get rid of some of it, and having to start conserving zinc when the zinc supplement has been absorbed. At that time, the cells may continue to remove zinc from the body, at the cost of the immune system's zinc supply. That period of time when the immune system is potentially losing zinc instead of gaining it is a window of opportunity for coronavirus to advance. If this happens daily, the person will get worse daily.
Slow absorption, more frequent dosing, and possibly a dose that does not go over the maximum that the body can use are ways to moderate this issue.
Testing for and treating undermethylation, beyond taking zinc, is another route. Diets aimed at supporting methylation are not harmful for people who are not suffering from undermethylation, so it would be safe for everyone assuming supplies are available. Further treatment for undermethylation for those diagnosed would not only help support against Coronavirus doses of zinc, but also could help prevent cancer in the future, since cancer can result from undermethylation.
Reciprocally anything a patient is allergic to should be avoided. Allergic reactions are immune system reactions, and could cause the body to fight on two fronts instead of focusing totally on fighting off Coronavirus.
Coronavirus would take advantage if the immune systems split its efforts, thereby reducing a percentage of its attack on Coronavirus. Any food, chemical, polen or other aerosol allergens or toxins should be avoided. It is possible that one demographic of people who are suffering worst from coronavirus might be people who have allergies to chemicals used for cleaning in the hospital, especially if they are not aware of it, and therefore take none of the steps are normally taken to avoid the substances to which they are allergic.
Elsewhere on this site, reducing folic acid and copper, and increasing zinc in the diet rather than merely through supplements has been addressed. There may be other ways to tweak the diet specific to coronavirus that are not being considered at this time.
Although it lacks citations, this article, 5 ways nutrition could help your immune system fight off the coronavirus[6] give us other directions to study which may improve the coronavirus diet.
---
1 Dorrigiv, Mahyar; Zareiyan, Armin; Hosseinzadeh, Hossein, Garlic (Allium sativum) as an antidote or a protective agent against natural or chemical toxicities: A comprehensive update review 2020/02/01 - 10.1002/ptr.6645 J Phytotherapy Research [link]
2 The Nutritional Relationships of Zinc
David L. Watts, D.C., Ph.D., F.A.C.E.P.i [link]
This is a PDF, and not a formal citation. It is missing folate as a zinc cofactor.
3 Jiwan S. Sidhu, Muslim Ali, Amal Al-Rashdan, Nissar Ahmed Onion (Allium cepa L.) is potentially a good source of important antioxidants Food Sci Technol. 2019 Apr; 56(4): 1811–1819.
doi: 10.1007/s13197-019-03625-9
PMCID: PMC6443770
PMID: 30996417
4 Wilson Disease, National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) Rare Disease Database. Authors and citations listed to substantiate Wilson's disease and its treatment, 1985-2018.
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/wilson-disease/#standard-therapies
5 G. E. Cartwright, … , I. M. Merrill, M. M. Wintrobe. THE ANEMIA OF INFECTION. I.
HYPOFERREMIA, HYPERCUPREMIA, AND
ALTERATIONS IN PORPHYRIN METABOLISM IN PATIENTS. J Clin Invest. 1946;25(1):65-80. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI101690.
PDF - High copper correlates with anemia from infection.
6 https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/5-ways-nutrition-could-help-your-immune-system-fight-off-the-coronavirus-133356
---
©Deborah Barges Sept 2020 open access
Per Garlic (Allium sativum) as an antidote or a protective agent against natural or chemical toxicities: A comprehensive update review, garlic is a "universal antidote or protective plant against many toxic agents."[1] Hospital diets should make foods with garlic available to their patients, to take advantage of its benefits.
The only problem is that garlic, especially dehydrated garlic, has a lot of copper in it. This could be a problem, because copper is a zinc antagonist.[2]
Onions likewise have health benefits including antioxidants. It is notable that the outermost layers of the onions have the greatest benefits.[3] Onion should also be available to patients to gain the best benefit from their diet. It would be wise to cook onions, as they occasionally have salmonella, and since most of the health benefits survive cooking.[3]
There is around one third less copper in onions than in garlic, an advantage for people not getting enough zinc, because copper is a zinc antagonist.[2]
Wilson's disease is a copper storage condition, where the ATP7B copper transporter that removes copper doesn't function correctly. A number of medications have been developed to remove copper from the body and extend the lives of people with Wilson's disease back to what it would be without the condition.[4] These same medications could be used, in much lower doses, to offset the copper added by garlic and onion, as well as in the diet in general. It would also offset the increase in copper that is normal when a person has a disease, as a result of the zinc being prioritized from getting rid of copper as usual to being prioritized to the immune system.[] It would also reduce the oxidative stress of free radical copper, especially for diabetics, where various transporters, including ATP7A and SOD3, have problems latching onto copper absorbed into the body (different mechanisms and some different transporters for types 1 and 2 diabetes.)
The other main concern with using garlic and onion and other herbs is really the same as about using zinc supplements: undermethylation. If they body is lacking in any nutrient required to read the DNA in the cells, they are liable to lag at responding to the internal environment. In covid, specifically they might lag at changing from problems with the body absorbing too much zinc and having to get rid of some of it, and having to start conserving zinc when the zinc supplement has been absorbed. At that time, the cells may continue to remove zinc from the body, at the cost of the immune system's zinc supply. That period of time when the immune system is potentially losing zinc instead of gaining it is a window of opportunity for coronavirus to advance. If this happens daily, the person will get worse daily.
Slow absorption, more frequent dosing, and possibly a dose that does not go over the maximum that the body can use are ways to moderate this issue.
Testing for and treating undermethylation, beyond taking zinc, is another route. Diets aimed at supporting methylation are not harmful for people who are not suffering from undermethylation, so it would be safe for everyone assuming supplies are available. Further treatment for undermethylation for those diagnosed would not only help support against Coronavirus doses of zinc, but also could help prevent cancer in the future, since cancer can result from undermethylation.
Reciprocally anything a patient is allergic to should be avoided. Allergic reactions are immune system reactions, and could cause the body to fight on two fronts instead of focusing totally on fighting off Coronavirus.
Coronavirus would take advantage if the immune systems split its efforts, thereby reducing a percentage of its attack on Coronavirus. Any food, chemical, polen or other aerosol allergens or toxins should be avoided. It is possible that one demographic of people who are suffering worst from coronavirus might be people who have allergies to chemicals used for cleaning in the hospital, especially if they are not aware of it, and therefore take none of the steps are normally taken to avoid the substances to which they are allergic.
Elsewhere on this site, reducing folic acid and copper, and increasing zinc in the diet rather than merely through supplements has been addressed. There may be other ways to tweak the diet specific to coronavirus that are not being considered at this time.
Although it lacks citations, this article, 5 ways nutrition could help your immune system fight off the coronavirus[6] give us other directions to study which may improve the coronavirus diet.
---
1 Dorrigiv, Mahyar; Zareiyan, Armin; Hosseinzadeh, Hossein, Garlic (Allium sativum) as an antidote or a protective agent against natural or chemical toxicities: A comprehensive update review 2020/02/01 - 10.1002/ptr.6645 J Phytotherapy Research [link]
2 The Nutritional Relationships of Zinc
David L. Watts, D.C., Ph.D., F.A.C.E.P.i [link]
This is a PDF, and not a formal citation. It is missing folate as a zinc cofactor.
3 Jiwan S. Sidhu, Muslim Ali, Amal Al-Rashdan, Nissar Ahmed Onion (Allium cepa L.) is potentially a good source of important antioxidants Food Sci Technol. 2019 Apr; 56(4): 1811–1819.
doi: 10.1007/s13197-019-03625-9
PMCID: PMC6443770
PMID: 30996417
4 Wilson Disease, National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) Rare Disease Database. Authors and citations listed to substantiate Wilson's disease and its treatment, 1985-2018.
https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/wilson-disease/#standard-therapies
5 G. E. Cartwright, … , I. M. Merrill, M. M. Wintrobe. THE ANEMIA OF INFECTION. I.
HYPOFERREMIA, HYPERCUPREMIA, AND
ALTERATIONS IN PORPHYRIN METABOLISM IN PATIENTS. J Clin Invest. 1946;25(1):65-80. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI101690.
PDF - High copper correlates with anemia from infection.
6 https://www.google.com/amp/s/theconversation.com/amp/5-ways-nutrition-could-help-your-immune-system-fight-off-the-coronavirus-133356
---
©Deborah Barges Sept 2020 open access
