While it is plain to see that for the vast majority of us the ill-effects of getting coronavirus( to date 199 million have become ill and 4.2 million have succumbed world-wide) far exceed those of the side effects of vaccination (from December 14, 2020, through July 26, 2021 in the USA there were 6,340 reports of death among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine), it would also be reassuring if there was a nutritional, herbal or supplementary programme that we could deploy to benefit our immune response and to offset any potential harms that might result from vaccination. Aside from rare but tragically lethal clotting disorders as well as myocarditis and pericarditis, treatable conditions that affect heart muscle and the lining of the heart respectively, concerns have been raised about the detrimental effects that the spike protein our bodies manufacture in response to the mRNA vaccine in order to generate a satisfactory immune response, might engender. Could this protein be setting us up to develop autoimmune disease, reach and damage our brains in any way or make us more vulnerable if the antibodies we manufacture don’t actually neutralise the virus but make it easier for the virus to enter our cells?
It has to be said that these notions are conjecture and health authorities around the world are at repeated pains to inform us that these vaccines are safe and that the only way forward for a relatively secure world and the return to some form of normalcy is for as many of us as possible to be vaccinated without delay. If vaccination makes us less vulnerable to become gravely ill and reduces our infectivity then this initiative needs to be seriously considered. With the growing demand for vaccine passports choosing to be vaccinated or not might no longer be on the table so what can we do to maximize the immune upside of vaccination and minimise potential collateral damage?
To be clear this advice is not based on hard clinical data. With the disease being far more deadly than the potential downside of a vaccination drive scientists understandably haven’t made it a priority to evaluate which natural substances might mitigate its harms.
Immune Apocalypse details the diet we can adopt to fortify our immune systems, which includes amongst other measures avoiding sweet foods and alcohol. Studies on the uptick of this virus in certain parts of Europe indicate that those regions where diets were deficient in Vitamins C, D, B12 and iron suffered a higher rate of coronavirus infections. Other nutrients that might enhance our immune response to vaccination include vitamins A, E and B6 and the minerals zinc, copper and selenium. Blood tests and an immune system assessment can inform us if we lack any of these.
Probiotics containing certain strains of lactobacilli have been shown to bolster the immune system and help those who suffer from respiratory illnesses recover quicker. Clinical trials are underway to see if supplementing with these can be adopted to combat the coronavirus. Although we don’t have the evidence ensuring that we have adequate amounts of these purportedly beneficial bacteria might limit any adverse response we might have to being vaccinated.
Research yet to be confirmed also suggests that taking resveratrol, curcumin, glutathione, luteolin, hesperidin and the herbs baicalin and echinacea, might augment our immune response and minimise any damage that might result from vaccination.
