Using Your Supplements Wisely: How to Best Protect and Heal from COVID-19

Written by Dr. Amy Reidhead and Dr. Terri Rebibo Fox on November 3, 2020. Posted in Boulder Holistic Blog.

As fall turns to winter, the number of coronavirus cases in our state and the country continues to grow. Thankfully, over the past months doctors and researchers have learned more about the virus and how to best approach prevention and treatment.

Functional medicine thrives when it comes to understanding root causes of illness and how to support proper immune function. The research has shown that a step-wise approach to the coronavirus may be the best medicine.

First step: Prevention

Basic prevention measures should focus first on maintaining a healthy lifestyle by consuming a nutritious diet, getting regular exercise; reducing stress and getting adequate sleep. And of course, don’t forget to keep your distance, wear a mask and wash your hands!

Supplementing during the prevention stage includes the basics:

Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Probiotics
Zinc
Melatonin
N-Acetyl Cysteine

Using herbs and supplements to boost the immune system is also nice at this stage. Herbs make good choices because one herb can have many different actions in the body. The following herbs can support all three phases of illness.

Helpful herbs may include: Andrographis, Licorice, Berberine, Dan Shen, Scutalaria/Chinese skullcap and Japanese knotweed
Allicin, from garlic, can also help support immune function
Olive leaf helps against viruses
Mega IgG and SBI Protect
Quercitin

Next step: What to do if you get sick!

Ok, so here is what to do if you happen to get sick. Quarantine and rest are important at this stage as they limit the spread of the virus and allow your body to focus its energy on killing the virus.

During the initial 7 days of infection, we also recommend that you keep taking all your basic prevention supplements. Just at higher dosing or frequency. If you were taking your prevention supplements once a day, maybe increase to twice or three times daily dosing. It’s important to also increase the amount of vitamin C you are taking if possible: every couple of hours until “bowel tolerance”. Infections consume a LOT of antioxidants, so replacing them helps your body keep fighting.

It is also recommended during this initial illness stage that you increase your attention on antiviral strategies. If you were taking herbs once or twice day, you can increase to 3 times daily dosing at this phase.

The same herbs apply here: Andrographis, Scutillaria/Chinese Skullcap, licorice, Berberine, Goldenseal and Japanese Knotweed.
Echinacea and Reshi mushrooms are also great at this stage.

Step three: Late stage Infection Support

If by 7 days you have not recovered from COVID, it is important to change strategies and be watchful of worsening of symptoms or your condition.

Late infection with COVID-19 requires a different approach. During this time, we encourage people to switch focus from an immune support plan and begin to support a more anti-inflammatory approach.

Fish oils
Resveratrol
Sulforaphane
Curcumin
Glutathione
High Dose Melatonin

Many of these nutrients are important during this phase as they address escalating inflammation and demand for antioxidant support so critical at this stage.

Be alert for and seek emergency help if you or a loved one begins to experience symptoms of worsening illness like difficulty breathing, blue lips or face and changes in consciousness.

At Boulder Holistic, we have made an antiviral tincture that can be used to help support your body at every step.

Our Antiviral Tincture combines 4 herbs that have both antiviral and anti-inflammatory actions and can be used in all stages to support your immune system.

Glycyrrhizin/licorice
Dan Shen
Scutilaria/Chinese Scullcap
Japanese Knotweed

Dosing instructions:

In prevention stage, we recommend taking 2 droppers full daily
During active and late infection, our tincture can be taken 2-3 droppers full every few hours or 8 droppers full 3 times daily diluted in a little water.