The risks of long Covid have been ‘greatly exaggerated’ with more than 200 symptoms linked to the condition, experts say.
Major flaws in research have distorted the real extent of the condition, leading to misdiagnoses and heightened public anxiety.
They blamed overly broad definitions and criticized a lack of appropriate comparison groups in studies looking at the incidence, prevalence, and control of the condition.
Kate Shemirani commented in Twitter:
A group of long Covid patients were treated with 7 mg nicotine patches for six days. All symptoms resolved and the patients remained symptom-free at six months and 12 months. The question that everyone should be asking is “Why did nicotine lead to recovery?” Because it displaces venom from nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)! So where did that venom come from?!
Shirley Bell commented in Twitter:
I can personally say that after the third time I had covid, which is a virus (designed over many years of development and each strain made in a lab (as confirmed in a paper from Japan) and then released, I had severe brain fog.
I read as much as I could and found that nicotine does act on the ACE receptors which are one of the main targets for covid.
I took a half the lowest strength nicotine tablet and it was like someone wiped my brain to clear the fog.
It was bordering on miraculous.
NAC is also reported by others to have similar beneficial impact.
From the Facebook group Canning, Freezing, Dehydrating, Food Preserving and Homesteading
Saw some folks asking about freezing corn on the cob. Here is the way I’ve been doing it for many years, after a long time old farmer told me how to get the best tasting frozen corn.
Peel away a few of the outer layers of shuck skins. Trim each end of the cob.
DO NOT blanch the corn. Put the corn straight into freezer bags or vaccum seal them, and freeze. When you’re ready to eat it, put it under running water and remove the shucks and silks. Then boil it for approx 15 minutes. You can also steam it, put on the grill in the shuck wrapped in aluminum foil or even microwave it. Perfect corn on the cob!!! It will taste like fresh picked. I’ve been doing it this way for many years and its never been soggy or gummy. Just always cook it while frozen.
The lymphatic system is how cancer spreads. These are 10 ways to keep it flowing healthy…
By Collective Evolution
Did you know the lymphatic system circulates, cleans, and filters all the leftover blood in the body? Surprisingly, there are three times more lymph than blood in the body. It is far too important not to educate people about this before society’s toxic, consumeristic products overwhelm our most important detoxification system.
The gut contains up to 80% of our immune cells. They’re contained in GALT, or gut associated lymphatic tissue. From our tonsils and adenoids in the throat to our colon, the gut is the storehouse of the lymphatic system.Lymphocytes, or white blood cells that are part of the lymphatic system, are also stored and made in the thymus behind the heart, the spleen, appendix, bone marrow, and lymph nodes scattered throughout the body. See how important mouth to colon health is? Why would the body put nearly our entire immune system there if exposure to food wasn’t so vital?
What is the lymphatic system’s role?
It is the sewer system of the body. The body pumps 90% blood and returns it to the heart. The other 10% comprise what is known as lymph and has no pump to return it to lymphatic channels for disposal. All viruses, bacteria, toxins, cancer cells, and chemicals are passed through the lymph, where the body is alerted if a foreign particle needs to be removed.
Just think about it! Every cancer diagnosis comes with a lymph node biopsy. Why? The lymphatics are the leftover blood which covers every organ routinely on a daily basis. If it isn’t moving properly (like in most Western countries, due to the Standard American Diet), then toxins and cancer cells cannot be emptied into lymphatic ducts which eventually lead to the detoxification methods in the liver/kidneys.
Waste is then permanently disposed of by the bowels. These toxins fester in the system and are not recognized by the immune system in the lymph, but are still slowly exposed to organs where they “seed” that organ and cause metastasis.
This is how cancer spreads
This is why every diagnosis comes with a lymph node biopsy and it’s BAD news if cancer is located there. It’s been carried all over the body and Western medicine now initiates poisonous chemotherapy due to systemic spread.
Chemo does not have the capability to discriminate between healthy cells and carcinogenic cells, therefore, it creates apoptosis, or cell death, for every cell in its path. This explains why it is absolutely necessary to keep the lymph system moving and healthy so it can alert the immune cells if there’s a problem and swiftly move lymph to the liver for detoxification and to the colon for removal.
The lymphatic system is exposed to a myriad of toxins daily, including cigarette smoke, pollution, exhausts, prescription pill ingredients, food additives, chemicals, and pesticides. On top of that, most of us eat improperly, so we are lacking nutrients that serve as fuel.
If we aren’t putting the proper essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals in our system, then at some point, the system will falter. Symptoms of a sluggish lymphatic system include but are not limited to:
Swollen fingers or bloating
AM Soreness/stiffness
Exhaustion
Constipation
Discoloration of legs
Breast swelling or soreness with each cycle
Dry or itchy skin
Brain fog
Cold hands/feet/poor circulation
Cellulite
Here are some simple tips to get the lymph flowing again, incorporated from Ayurvedic science:
1. Exercise!
What pumps lymph? Remember, the lymph system doesn’t have a heart. Movement of muscles stimulate valves in the veins which help to churn lymph upwards towards the heart.
Anything that creates moments of zero gravity also helps move lymph (think trampolines or roller coasters)! Also called rebounding, creating zero gravity helps the lymph move upwards to the heart and axillary lymph channels. This usually requires muscular effort that is pushing against gravity. With even a few seconds of no gravity, the lymph has an easier time making its return.
2. Inversion
Inversions also pull lymph towards the heart from the lower extremities.
What do you get when you add exercise+inversions? YOGA. Yoga has been known to detoxify and rejuvenate many sluggish lymph systems. Hot yoga also helps speed up the process through perspiration. Sweat is a potent detoxifier!
3. Deep breathing
Positive and negative pressure from deep, diaphragmatic breathing is a great way to move lymph towards lymphatic channels. Our bodies have far more lymph than blood so pranayama breathing in yoga as well as slow, deep breaths throughout the day help to filter lymph and move it properly.
Again, yoga is quite beneficial.
4. Diet is imperative
Make sure you’re eliminating boxed or processed food. Avoid GMO or pesticides. Eat whole food and accentuate a plant based diet. Eat with the seasons, meaning warm food in the winter and cooling foods in summer.
The lymph literally becomes thickened like gravy once the toxin load reaches its threshold. Eat raw fruit alone on an empty stomach. In Ayurveda, it’s known for its lymph-cleansing properties. Remember, it’s far easier to prevent disease than to cure it later.
5. Dry brush in the morning
Use a natural bristle brush and brush towards the heart where the lymphatic duct is located. Lymph drains in this direction. Brush upwards on the arms and legs towards the heart, using a circular motion.
6. Drink lots of lukewarm water
Ditch the sugary drinks and sweets! Water lubricates the lymph and lets it flow easier. Cold water can actually hinder digestion. Make sure you have a fluoride filter.
7. Massages
Massages, preferably gentle, stimulate the majority of stagnant lymph up to the heart.
Stress can also play a role in poor lymph flow and massages can aid with this too. There are even lymph specific massages which are skillful at removing infections through manipulation of lymph. Remember the lymphatic system is mostly immune cells!
8. Iodine
Low iodine has also been reported to be a sign of improper lymph flow. Lugol’s iodine helps to support toxin removal from lymph. Always be sure to contact your healthcare provider before starting a new medication.
9. Lots of red foods
Eat red foods like pomegranates, cherries, beets, and cranberries! All have lymph stimulating qualities and are used in Ayurveda to cleanse the system.
10. Sweating!
Near infrared sauna is best followed by far infrared. Using detox baths at least once a week.
Expected Death ~ When someone dies, the first thing to do is nothing. Don’t run out and call the nurse. Don’t pick up the phone. Take a deep breath and be present to the magnitude of the moment.
There’s a grace to being at the bedside of someone you love as they make their transition out of this world. At the moment they take their last breath, there’s an incredible sacredness in the space. The veil between the worlds opens.
We’re so unprepared and untrained in how to deal with death that sometimes a kind of panic response kicks in. “They’re dead!”
We knew they were going to die, so their being dead is not a surprise. It’s not a problem to be solved. It’s very sad, but it’s not cause to panic.
If anything, their death is cause to take a deep breath, to stop, and be really present to what’s happening. If you’re at home, maybe put on the kettle and make a cup of tea.
Sit at the bedside and just be present to the experience in the room. What’s happening for you? What might be happening for them? What other presences are here that might be supporting them on their way? Tune into all the beauty and magic.
Pausing gives your soul a chance to adjust, because no matter how prepared we are, a death is still a shock. If we kick right into “do” mode, and call 911, or call the hospice, we never get a chance to absorb the enormity of the event.
Give yourself five minutes or 10 minutes, or 15 minutes just to be. You’ll never get that time back again if you don’t take it now.
After that, do the smallest thing you can. Call the one person who needs to be called. Engage whatever systems need to be engaged, but engage them at the very most minimal level. Move really, really, really, slowly, because this is a period where it’s easy for body and soul to get separated.
Our bodies can gallop forwards, but sometimes our souls haven’t caught up. If you have an opportunity to be quiet and be present, take it. Accept and acclimatize and adjust to what’s happening. Then, as the train starts rolling, and all the things that happen after a death kick in, you’ll be better prepared.
You won’t get a chance to catch your breath later on. You need to do it now.
Being present in the moments after death is an incredible gift to yourself, it’s a gift to the people you’re with, and it’s a gift to the person who’s just died.
They’re just a hair’s breath away. They’re just starting their new journey in the world without a body. If you keep a calm space around their body, and in the room, they’re launched in a more beautiful way. It’s a service to both sides of the veil.
Credit for the beautiful words ~ Sarah Kerr, Ritual Healing Practitioner and Death Doula
According to recent research, nicotinamide, also known as niacinamide (a form of niacin or vitamin B3), enhances natural killer (NK) cells’ ability to defeat blood cancers
Pretreating NK cells with an unspecified amount of niacinamide upregulated a lymphocyte homing molecule called CD26L, which improved the antitumor functions of the NK cells in several ways
The combination of niacinamide-enhanced NK cells and monoclonal antibody treatment resulted in complete remission in 11 of 19 patients within 28 days, and three had partial response
Niacinamide also protects your skin against ultraviolet radiation damage from the sun, thereby reducing your risk of skin cancer
It’s also been shown to improve survival after cardiac arrest, primarily by restoring tissue NAD+, and can help prevent heart failure
According to recent research,1,2 nicotinamide3 (also known as niacinamide), a form of niacin (vitamin B3), enhances natural killer (NK) cells’ ability to defeat blood cancers.
Scientists have previously tried to use infusions of monoclonal antibodies mixed with NK cells as a novel treatment for blood cancers, with limited success. Now, researchers at the University of Minnesota have discovered that the ability of NK cells to destroy cancer cells can be significantly augmented by pretreating them with niacinamide.
Doing so upregulated a lymphocyte homing molecule called CD26L, which improved the antitumor functions of the NK cells in several ways. Unfortunately, the paper doesn’t specify the dose used to achieve these beneficial effects.
Niacinamide Boosts NK Cells’ Ability to Kill Cancer
As reported by Medical Xpress:4
“‘Allogeneic natural killer cell adoptive transfer has shown the potential to induce remissions in relapsed or refractory leukemias and lymphomas,’ writes Dr. Frank Cichocki and colleagues in the journal.
‘Strategies to enhance natural killer cell survival and function are needed to improve clinical efficacy. We demonstrated that natural killer cells cultured ex vivo with interleukin-15 — IL-15 — and nicotinamide exhibited stable induction of l-selectin, a lymphocyte adhesion molecule important for lymph node homing’ …
In the small preliminary study, Cichocki and collaborators found that nicotinamide not only enhances the activity of natural killer cells but boosts their persistence in the blood and bolsters the capability of these cells not only to hunt down cancer cells, but to handily destroy them.
The combination of nicotinamide-enhanced natural killer cells and monoclonal antibody treatment was safe in 30 patients, including 20 with relapsed or difficult-to-treat non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Among 19 patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 11 demonstrated a complete response and three had a partial response within 28 days of treatment.5 Nicotinamide appears to protect the natural killer cells from oxidative stress, while enhancing their ability to home in on lymph nodes, the team found …
Natural killer cells treated with nicotinamide in the lab also demonstrated an increased ability to generate an inflammatory and toxic response against cancer cells.”
Niacinamide Restores NAD+ Levels
Another mechanism that can help explain how niacinamide improves the anticancer functions of NK cells is that it boosts the NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) level in the cells. As explained in the featured study:6
“Elevated NAD+ in NK cells cultured with NAM [niacinamide] may also account for their enhanced function. Recent work has shown that NAD+ concentrations are low in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes relative to peripheral blood T cells, and NAD+ modulates human T cell function by regulating cellular energy metabolism.
In these studies, reduced NAD+ resulted in attenuated maximal respiratory capacity of mitochondria and concomitant decreases in adenosine 5′-diphosphate (ADP) and ATP.
In agreement with this work, we observed elevated ATP and increased mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in NK cells cultured with NAM. These metabolic alterations correlated with enhanced natural cytotoxicity, ADCC, and inflammatory cytokine production.”
That niacinamide boosts NAD+ has also been demonstrated in other studies. For example, a September 2023 animal study in PLOS ONE found that niacinamide improves survival after cardiac arrest, primarily by restoring tissue NAD+. As explained in the abstract:7
“Metabolic suppression in the ischemic heart is characterized by reduced levels of NAD+ and ATP. Since NAD+ is required for most metabolic processes that generate ATP, we hypothesized that nicotinamide restores ischemic tissue NAD+ and improves cardiac function in cardiomyocytes and isolated hearts and enhances survival in a mouse model of cardiac arrest.
Mouse cardiomyocytes were exposed to 30 min simulated ischemia and 90 min reperfusion. NAD+ content dropped 40% by the end of ischemia compared to pre-ischemia.
Treatment with 100 μM nicotinamide (NAM) at the start of reperfusion completely restored the cellular level of NAD+ at 15 min of reperfusion. This rescue of NAD+ depletion was associated with improved contractile recovery as early as 10 min post-reperfusion.
In a mouse model of cardiac arrest, 100 mg/kg NAM administered IV immediately after cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in 100% survival at 4 h as compared to 50% in the saline group.
In an isolated rat heart model, the effect of NAM on cardiac function was measured for 20 min following 18 min global ischemia. Rate pressure product was reduced by 26% in the control group following arrest.
Cardiac contractile function was completely recovered with NAM treatment given at the start of reperfusion. NAM restored tissue NAD+ and enhanced production of lactate and ATP, while reducing glucose diversion to sorbitol in the heart.
We conclude that NAM can rapidly restore cardiac NAD+ following ischemia and enhance glycolysis and contractile recovery, with improved survival in a mouse model of cardiac arrest.”
The 100 micromolar niacinamide solution used at the start of reperfusion equates to just 12.2 milligrams of niacinamide. But this was in an in-vitro cell study, not a human, and the key point is that this is still a very low dose and in line with the dose I have been recommending to optimize health, of 50 mg of niacinamide up to three times a day.
As detailed in “The Crucial Role of NAD+ in Optimal Health,” which features my interview with Nichola Conlon, Ph.D., a molecular biologist and antiaging specialist, NAD+ is one of the most important biomolecules in your body.
It’s involved in the conversion of food to energy, maintaining DNA integrity and ensuring proper cell function, including the maintenance and repair of cells.
Your NAD+ level declines with age, which is thought to be a major contributor to aging and age-related disease. The good news is there’s a simple and inexpensive way to boost your NAD+ level, namely niacinamide supplementation.
While other NAD+ precursors are typically recommended, like NR or NMN, they’re hundreds of times more expensive, and may be less effective. The reason I’m convinced niacinamide is the best NAD+ precursor is because it’s the immediate breakdown product of NAD+.
The rate limiting enzyme in the salvage pathway to restore niacinamide back to NAD+ is NAMPT. As you can see in the graphic below, niacinamide is first converted to NMN before NAD+. This is likely why many promote NMN.
However, the enzyme NMNAT1-3 that converts NMN to NAD+ is not the rate limiting enzyme. NAMPT controls how much NAD+ you make, so flooding your body with NMN is not going to be as useful as using small amounts of niacinamide and activating NAMPT.
Recent animal research8 demonstrated that a low dose of 2.5 mg per kilo of body weight daily for three weeks — which is about 170 mg a day for a 150-pound person — increased cellular NAD+ by 30%. So, taking 50 mg of niacinamide three times a day appears ideal for most.
Niacinamide for Heart Failure Prevention
Niacinamide may also act as a preventive against heart failure9 — again because heart failure is a localized symptom of energy deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction. When your NAD+ level drops, your ATP level also drops, and this puts stress on the cardiomyocytes in your heart.
Cardiomyocytes are specialized cells in your heart that generate contractive force. Thusly stressed, the cardiomyocytes release pro-fibrotic mediators that further suppress mitochondrial function. Over time, this leads to cell death, collagen deposition and fibrosis, which are hallmarks of heart failure.
Research10 published in February 2023 found that replenishing NAD+ prevented this energetic dysfunction, and therefore the subsequent development of heart failure. Here, the human-equivalent of 3.5 mg per kilo of bodyweight was administered via daily injection for two months, but I believe that oral niacinamide might be just as effective, although you might have to use it for a longer period of time.
Niacinamide in Skin Cancer
Getting back to niacinamide’s potential role in cancer treatment, a 2015 study11 found it helps protect your skin against ultraviolet radiation damage from the sun, thereby reducing your risk of skin cancer.
Three hundred eighty-six participants who’d had two or more nonmelanoma skin cancers in the previous five years were divided into two groups. The treatment group received 500 mg of niacinamide twice a day for 12 months while controls received a placebo.
The participants were evaluated by dermatologists at three-month intervals for 18 months. The primary end point was the number of new nonmelanoma skin cancers (i.e., basal-cell carcinomas plus squamous-cell carcinomas) during the 12-month intervention period.
At 12 months, the rate of new nonmelanoma skin cancers in the treatment group was 23% lower than among controls. They also had a 20% lower rate of new basal-cell carcinomas, and a 30% lower rate of new squamous-cell carcinomas. As a result, the authors concluded:
“Oral nicotinamide was safe and effective in reducing the rates of new nonmelanoma skin cancers and actinic keratoses in high-risk patients.”
A 2020 safety and efficacy review of niacinamide also pointed out that:12
“Nicotinamide (or niacinamide), a form of vitamin B3 that is often confused with its precursor nicotinic acid (or niacin), is a low-cost, evidence-based oral treatment option for actinic keratosis, squamous cell carcinomas, basal cell carcinomas, and bullous pemphigoid.”
General Niacinamide Recommendations
As a blanket recommendation for optimal health, I recommend taking 50 mg of niacinamide three times per day. Niacinamide will only cost you about 25 cents a month if you get it as a powder. Typically, one sixty-fourth of a teaspoon of niacinamide powder is about 50 mg.
The reason I recommend getting it in powder form is because in most supplement brands, the lowest available dose is 500 mg, and that will decrease NAD+ due to negative feedback on NAMPT, which is the opposite of what you’re looking for.
Also note that although niacinamide and niacin are both classified as vitamin B3, niacin will not activate NAMPT like niacinamide, so it is best to use niacinamide. Additionally, niacinamide, unlike niacin, will not cause flushing which is due to a large release of histamine.
Terrence Ingram, a world renowned naturalist who once saved the Bald Eagle from being on the endangered species list (http://www.pacc-news.com/5-2-12/heart_ingram5_2_12.html), was recently met by the Illinois Agricultural Department which seized his privately-owned bees. The department seized his bees that were ‘resistant to GMO pesticides’ and killed the remaining healthy queen bees in his beehives.
Ingram had been researching the effects of Roundup, the Monsanto franken-food best-selling herbicide meant to make crops more resilient to pests. Roundup itself has long list of negative effects, with the product even shown to kill human kidney cells (https://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-roundup-biopesticide-is-killing-human-kidney-cells/). Much of the ill effects of Roundup are produced by the active ingredient, glyphosate (https://naturalsociety.com/monsantos-infertility-linked-roundup-found-in-all-urine-samples-tested/).
This doctor was way before his time. If only he had been listened to by more people.
Sarah Delatorre comments:
Hands down, this is one of the most empowering, educational books I’ve read so far… straight from a Pediatrician’s heart to any parent that will listen.
I’d encourage every single one of you to look him up and read his book!
Our research papers show COVID-19 vaccine myocarditis is common, serious, and fatal. Cannot be blamed on prior SARS-CoV-2 infection. Extremely concerned about cases if cardiac arrest 2+ years after ill-advised shots. Only hope until we know more is detoxification.
Every weekend, 93-year-old Bob Williams walks into his local dollar store in Long Grove, Iowa, and buys a box of Hersheys. Not those small, regular-sized candy bars… but the really big ones.
Bob, however, typically doesn’t enjoy them himself. He gives one to the cashier, and then to the person waiting behind him in line. And then he walks the downtown area handing them out to everyone he sees… …young, old, men, women, happy, sad… …everyone. He has been doing this for the past 11 years and he’s known as “The Candy Bar guy.”
It’s estimated that over the years, Bob has handed out about 6,000 chocolate bars.
So why does Bob do it? Because it puts a smile on everyone’s face. And THAT’S always worth it.
(Tom: Here’s a man making a positive difference in people’s lives!
Not many of us cannot do something this simple.
Doesn’t take an iron will, superhuman strength or millions of dollars. Just a bit of money, time, care and the intention to make the world a better place.
And if you want to start with zero dollars down, here’s a great quote I saw yesterday:
“You cannot add to the peace and goodwill of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love right where you live and work.” – Thomas Dreier
So, on your list of things to do today, what are you going to add that makes the world better than it was yesterday? Here are some suggestions.
Smile more. Especially when you first make eye contact and answering the phone.
Compliment people.
Hold a door open.
Let someone merge into your lane when driving.
Smile and wave or say thank you when someone lets you cut in or is otherwise polite to you.
Pay more attention when someone is talking to you.
