SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

The Essential Guide to Nutraceuticals for Antiviral Defense

“What I would do if I had coronavirus”
Andre Watson

This guide intended to direct individual research, and to give the world hope against
the COVID-19 pandemic. I am making no claims; rather, I am compiling a nutritional
compilation of how I would treat myself if I contracted COVID-19. Nutrition is a key
factor in strengthening our bodies and allowing us to mount a defense against
infections. Even though I am CEO of Ligandal, a gene therapy and peptide design
company for therapeutics and vaccines—and I have a background in biomedical
research—this primer should not be viewed as medical advice and is written
independently of my affiliation with any organization. Please consult with a
physician before engaging in any dietary, nutritional, supplementary, or lifestyle
change. I am under no prescription medications, so I have no known interactions.
If you are under any prescription medications, what I would do would not
necessarily be good for you. Make sure to talk to your doctor.

Keep in mind that SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, and we have limited evidence to
suggest that any individual compound is efficacious in treating it. Studies
demonstrating that one nutraceutical has efficacy in reducing severity or onset of
symptoms for the common cold, influenza, or another kind of virus do not
necessarily suggest that these same compounds will have efficacy for the SARS-
CoV-2 coronavirus, and likewise in vitro and other studies predicting efficacy will
not necessarily carry over to therapeutic effect in concentrations achieved through
supplementation. However, decades of research on various nutraceuticals have
shown potential for these compounds in reducing viral infections, acting as
antimicrobials, and modulating immune activity.

COVID-19 takes 5.5 days on average, and as many as 14 days to set into the body.
It implants itself into your body while exhibiting few symptoms, and when it finally
activates it causes a massive inflammatory cascade which can lead to pneumonia,
cardiac arrest, and other systemic issues.1,2 In early stages, it sets into your throat
and nasal cavity. Intriguingly, mild cases of COVID-19 exhibit larger amounts of viral
load within the nasal cavity than severe cases.3 80% of COVID-19 patients only
develop mild symptoms, while severe cases frequently present with co-infections
with bacterial and even fungal pneumonias, especially in clinical settings.4,5 To that
end, at this point of early disease progression, you must go to war with the virus
SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

using your immune system. It is imperative to get a hold on the virus early on, as a
hallmark sign of the viral progression is T cell and immune exhaustion. 6,7 That serves
to underline the frontline defense for everyone: the immune system, which is the
most powerful tool for treating viruses no matter the stage of the disease. Diuresis
can be helpful for increasing clearance of pathogens from the body—or, at least,
this may be partly to do with why megadoses of vitamin C, despite not being
absorbed into the body, seem to aid in recovery from many viral infections (as
vitamin C is has been well documented as a diuretic agent for more than 80 years). 8

Combine the following list with a forced 3-day sweat with lots of hydration and
electrolytes in bed to purge the virus; every phlegm that you have from a cough
should be expelled. It is said by medical research that fevers can be helpful for
activating the immune system, and scientific literature suggests that fevers aid in
producing heat shock proteins and mobilizing immune cells that can aid in antiviral
defense.9,10,11,12,13 Every phlegm sensed on your tonsils, expectorate as a cough that
is spit out when you sense mucus and inflammation on the back of the throat. Any
time you cough, capture the mucus and spit it out rather than holding it in — this
is one way that your body can eliminate buildup of pathogens. Indeed, SARS-CoV-
2 (coronavirus) RNA is more readily detected in induced sputum than within throat
swabs in recovering COVID-19 patients.14 The mucus is a key removal mechanism
for the virus building up in your system. Any time you feel it, remove it. The tonsils
are very powerful sensory mechanisms. COVID-19 begins in the throat.

For this protocol, when you wake, a high dose of vitamin C is your first attack. Go
into a sweat, sleep, expectorate. Midday, repeat the attack, sleep, and expectorate.
Repeat at bedtime. In addition to this, consuming raw garlic as frequently as
tolerable is a way to activate your immune system and engage the innate immune
system in capturing pathogens with mucus, while inhibiting excess
inflammation.15,16,17 Ginger has a similar history of use in treating common colds,
and may inhibit certain growth of certain viruses and bacteria under some
conditions. 18,19,20,21
SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

Essential:
 Vitamin C, preferably ~5g 3x/day – the extra vitamin C won’t absorb into your body, but
it will help to induce diuresis22
 Zinc23
 Grapefruit, lemon and orange rind and seeds24,25,26
 Electrolytes like Emergen-C with water; adequate sodium and potassium intake
 Vitamin B complex, preferably methyl B12, methyltetrahydrofolate, and P5P; any
version of a multivitamin is better than nothing, and food-based sources are preferable
 If you can get it, BHT, 250g 2x/day, which may strip lipid envelopes off many
viruses27,28,29
 Vitamin D3 10,000 IU 2x/day30,31
 Magnesium – San Pellegrino is an excellent source 32
 Onion soup or eat cooked or raw onions33
 Chew and eat raw garlic every hour — in the absence of raw garlic, put garlic powder,
granules or capsules into your mouth
 Make a tea: mashed ginger boiled for 30 minutes to make concentrated tea, add
turmeric, rosemary, oregano, marjoram and thyme if you have it
 The rhizomes (roots of ginger and turmeric) may serve as natural antivirals and reduce
inflammation in the body34,35
 Stay warm, do not let yourself get a reduced body temperature
 The medical authorities have said to avoid taking ibuprofen / NSAIDs 36
 Raw honey (not mixed in water) is a great way to kill bacteria in your throat
 Nicotinamide riboside or NAD+ / NADH37,38

Nice to have:
 Melatonin39
 Zinc lozenges40
 Quercetin (2.5 – 5 grams per day)41
 Creatine monohydrate42
 S-acetyl glutathione or liposomal glutathione 43,44,45
 N-acetyl cysteine46
 Alpha lipoic acid or Na-R-ALA47
 Pterostilbene (or resveratrol, but bioavailability is more questionable) 48
 Oregano49
 Reishi mushrooms 50
 Chaga mushrooms51
 Rhodiola rosea52

Echinacea53,54,55
 Astragulus root 56
 Elderberry57
SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

Recommended Resources:

1) Harvard Medical School:

“This curriculum was entirely written and compiled by Harvard Medical School students. This
document is not an official publication of the institution. It is provided for educational
purposes only and does not constitute medical advice.”

“The contents in each module were reviewed for accuracy by expert faculty members at the
time of initial publication. We thank them for their attention during this particularly demanding
time. However, given our constantly changing understanding of SARS-CoV-2 and the
pandemic’s spread in society, the material in this curriculum will need to be updated
frequently, and we cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information at any given time. A date
stamp is included at the bottom right of each page to indicate how recently the material was
revisited. We plan to update content every Friday.”

Several modules in extreme detail can be found here:

https://tinyurl.com/MedStudentCovid19Curriculum

They invite you to sign the guest book so they can track this material’s reach:
https://tinyurl.com/MedStudentCovid19Guestbook

A high-resolution graphic can be downloaded here:

https://tinyurl.com/MedStudentCovid19Graphic

2) The inflammasome, COVID-19, and melatonin:

https://www.evolutamente.it/covid-19-pneumonia-inflammasomes-the-melatonin-connection/

3) Examine.com COVID-19 resources:

Note that citation numbers refer to the referenced article.

https://examine.com/topics/coronavirus/

“First, memorize these four things that DEFINITELY help:

1. Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, frequently throughout the day
2. Don’t touch your mouth, eyes, or nose
3. Get serious about physical distancing
4. Call your healthcare professional if you think you may be infected”
SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

“Moderate evidence for cold or flu (not the novel coronavirus!):

 Vitamin C can reduce the duration of cold symptoms if you’ve started taking it regularly
before falling sick. This seems especially true for athletes and older
people.[42][43][44][45] There is a clinical trial of IV vitamin C for severe COVID-19-induced
pneumonia underway, and we will report on it when it is published. However, it should
be noted that a single study is very preliminary evidence, so even if it finds some benefit,
more studies will be required for confirmation before the treatment can be
recommended.
 Vitamin D can help prevent upper respiratory infections.[46][47][48][49] People’s spending a
lot of time indoors in the winter is tied to seasonal flu through higher viral transmission
in closed areas and a lack of sun (in addition to allowing your skin to synthesize vitamin
D, solar UV rays can inactivate viruses).[50][51] But the impact of supplemental vitamin D
on the novel coronavirus is unknown. Do not take high amounts just because you’ve
heard that “vitamin D is good for the immune system”!
 Zinc oral lozenges may reduce symptom severity for the common cold, due to inhibiting
viral replication at the back of your throat.[52][53][54] Swallowed tablets aren’t effective,
and nasal spray may cause permanent adverse effects.[55] Zinc acetate lozenges may be
a bit more effective than zinc gluconate lozenges, although perhaps not significantly
so.[54][56] Note that the doses that showed efficacy (75–95 mg of zinc per day) are too
high to be safe in the long run. Don’t take them for more than a couple of weeks.

Weak or preliminary evidence, typically for colds and rarely for the flu:

 Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of

polyphenols. Mechanistic studies (not actual trials in humans!) have suggested that it
may inhibit infection with various strains of influenza. [57][58] Preprint (not peer-
reviewed) mechanistic evidence suggests some potential for the novel
coronavirus,[59] but keep in mind that many compounds that are found to be safe or
effective in animal and in vitro studies fail when rigorously tested in humans.[60][61]
 Garlic has many more antibacterial studies than antiviral studies. [62][63] Limited evidence
exists for the prevention (but not the treatment) of the common cold. [64]
 Echinacea has some evidence for the prevention[65][66] and maybe the treatment[65] of
the common cold, although the benefit shown is very small.
 Elderberry has some evidence for the treatment of influenza[67] and the common
cold,[67][68] but very few studies exist thus far. Some people on the web have warned
that it could initiate or exacerbate "cytokine storm", based on a study circulating around
that shows increased cytokine production from elderberry intake. [69] The authors
propose that "in addition to its antiviral properties, Sambucol Elderberry Extract and its
formulations activate the healthy immune system by increasing inflammatory cytokine
production" (as cytokines are a natural and critical part of immune responses to
pathogens). Cytokine storm though isn't a mere bump in cytokine production, it's a
severe overreaction to a pathogen by the immune system, with a massive increase in
SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 / CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIAL NUTRACEUTICALS March 27, 2020

immune cells and the cytokine messengers they release. In cases of severe flu, it's
associated with outcomes ranging from lung inflammation to death. [70] Although it
appears unlikely that a low-to-moderate dose of elderberry for prevention would
initiate cytokine storm, nobody knows if taking it (especially in large amounts) when
symptoms are severe may have adverse effects. Discuss supplementation thoroughly
with your physician before using it, as evidence is constantly changing for COVID-19.
 Pelargonium sidoides also has few studies, and only on cold treatment, not on
prevention.[71][72]
 Probiotics aren’t one monolothic thing. Certain specific strains may help with cold
prevention, although evidence is mixed. Efficacy may vary greatly from individual to
individual due to everyone having a different gut microbiome. [73][74][75][76]
 N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) has limited evidence for reducing flu episodes,[77] and a
combination of L-cystine and L-theanine has limited evidence for reducing episodes of
the common cold.[78] Note that NAC has evidence for tumor initiation in animals when
used regularly at high doses.[79][80][81] Supplements aren’t automatically safe just because
they’re available without a prescription. Buyer beware!”

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