Katherine Maslen

Research-based Nutritional Treatment Options to Manage COVID-19 and Prevent Severe Disease

Katherine Maslen — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 03:22:26 +0000

Here’s how you can prevent severe disease and hospitalisation due to COVID-19, for both you and those close to you, using these well-researched nutritional treatment options. Read on to learn more about the key vitamins you need and to get our complimentary eBook for the management of COVID-19.

As a health practitioner who has dedicated her life to the assessment of health and treatment of disease, I am alarmed and horrified by the way that we have approached this global pandemic. From day one, health has been ignored, fear has been incited and a single solution has been offered at the peril of many, many people.

The management and treatment of the infection of those with COVID-19 across the globe haven’t just been appalling, it largely hasn’t really happened. Until someone is in a hospital bed, no early intervention or treatment is offered, despite there being ample evidence of many agents that can help to prevent infection, slow progression of the disease, and reduce hospitalisations and mortality rates.

Let’s be real – for most people, COVID isn’t going to be a long-term problem. The issue is, that for a decent amount of people it will, and what we need to focus on here is:

How do we keep people from getting a severe form of the disease?
How do we help your body to deal with this virus in the fastest way with the least impact on your health?
How do we keep you out of the hospital?

This article is not about whether or not a vaccine works, undoubtedly the various vaccines have saved a lot of lives. The vaccines in their current forms do not however, significantly prevent you from acquiring COVID-19 nor from spreading it, and they don’t eliminate your risk of death completely.

It has been nearly 2 years since this pandemic was brought to our shores, and there are NO early interventions being offered to anyone. There are NO preventive measures being offered or promoted, besides public health measures like masks and social distancing.

A vaccine should never have been the only intervention, especially since we had no way of knowing for sure that it would help with future strains. The medical system is inherently reductionistic by nature, and the management of this pandemic is the biggest example I have ever seen of this. But while the mainstream looked to vaccines as the sole and only solution, many doctors and researchers have explored other options. There are hundreds of studies (many of which I have included here) that show mild to excellent efficacy of both natural and medical products for the early intervention of COVID-19.

Before I share some of the interventions that may help you here, let’s go back to some naturopathic principles so you can understand how my mind works. First of all, I am a Bachelor qualified naturopath (I hold two bachelor of health science degrees) with a sound understanding of human physiology, nutritional biochemistry and disease process and treatment. When I am assessing a person sitting in front of me, I’m wanting to understand the landscape of their entire health – what are all the parts of them that make them and how does this contribute to what is happening right now?

As a naturopath my role is to enhance your innate health and natural ability to heal and to fight disease. Everyone has this ability, but our state of health indicates at what level you’re going to be able to do this. What we know is that people who have robust health and great habits to support this, rarely are afflicted with disease. Those that are in poor health, who are eating poorly, highly stressed or have genetic susceptibilities, are going to be more likely to become unwell. This isn’t a fringe theory, science supports this well.

What I began to look at when COVID-19 began to spread – and the data grew – was what types of people were ending up with severe disease. What was it about someone that made them more susceptible to COVID-19?

What we know is that the majority of deaths from COVID-19 are in those aged 50 and above, and that have comorbidities. Given the fact that 82% of Australians will die of a chronic disease, comorbidities are incredibly common and they increase as we age, as a diagnosis of one chronic disease begets another and so forth. Sure, there are cases of younger people who can get severe COVID-19 or even end up with long COVID, but the data shows that the majority of people impacted severely are in the over 50’s demographic. I don’t want to downplay the dangerousness of this virus, it absolutely demanded a global response.

Here are some facts based on what the data is showing us:

The older you are, the more dangerous COVID-19 is.
People over the age of 50 need to be concerned – the chance of death drops below 1 in 100 if you acquire it.
Children 17 and younger are at extremely low risk of dying.
People 85 and over are at extremely high risk of dying.
If you’re over 64 you are 62 times more likely to die of COVID than someone who is under 54 (early strains, Omicron data may be different and vaccines can help).
COVID-19 can be a serious disease, damaging the neurological system and cardiovascular system.
It was the 3rd largest cause of death in 2020, behind heart disease and cancer.
It is generally not dangerous in children. Despite worldwide infection rates, it does not make the top 10 causes for childhood mortality.

COVID-19 is new, but our understanding of the immune system, viruses, and disease is not. This is the reason we were able to make a vaccine so rapidly, because virologists, immunologists, and researchers have been working to understand these types of viruses and create these types of vaccines for years.

We didn’t begin from scratch, and this is why quite early on, possible treatments became apparent. From a naturopathic point of view, we don’t necessarily need to know what we are treating in order to be successful. Even though at the beginning of the pandemic we had no studies to investigate the use of interventions against COVID-19, we could follow some basic principles that were likely to help.

Under the naturopathic principle ‘first do no harm’, these were all regarded as safe, and probably helpful based on current science and clinical experience. When the pandemic began, these were the agents that we called upon to help people, in the hope that if they did contract COVID that they may have a better outcome. Note that many of these will end up on my list of research-backed recommendations – this isn’t because I’m a genius, it’s because if you follow general common sense prescribing rules based on research that could be extrapolated (like we know zinc worked on viruses so why not coronavirus?), it’s likely that it will help.

Vitamin D – Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of just about everything, and it has a role in immunity.
Zinc – many studies support the use of zinc against various viruses.
Vitamin C – a long known immune-supporting nutrient, well studied for respiratory tract infections.
Bioflavonoids (quercetin, rutin, bromelain) – have anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties.
Immune herbs such as Echinacea root – to help increase NK cells and help with immune readiness.

We can justify using these treatments, even though we’re not sure that they will help. Doctors do this all the time, using medications off-label, in the hope that they may help if the risk outweighs the potential benefits. It’s estimated that 20% of the drugs prescribed in the US are done so off label – that is without ample clinical research to support their use in that area.

Fast forward to now, and the clinical research on what is effective against COVID-19 is mounting. I’ll be talking about natural interventions, both because this is in my wheelhouse and because you can take these medicines and support yourself, without causing harm. I’ve also read a heap of research on conventional medicines that have shown superb results, but I’ll leave that side to the doctors and focus on what I know best.

VITAMIN D

I’ll start with Vitamin D because it is the cheapest and most readily available vitamin, and probably the most researched. What we know about Vitamin D, is that it acts more like a hormone than a vitamin. It regulates most tissues and organs in the body and is associated with overall disease prevention. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with an increased risk of most diseases – cancer, heart disease, infertility, autoimmune disease and allergies to name a few. But what we knew even before this pandemic was that Vitamin D supplementation could prevent respiratory tract infections.

This systematic review and meta-analysis was published in the British Medical Journal in 2017 and involved over 11,321 people aged 0-95 (this is serious cred peeps). It found that Vitamin D supplementation significantly reduced the risk of respiratory infection amongst all participants. The authors concluded that “Vitamin D supplementation was safe and it protected against acute respiratory tract infection overall.”

OK so what about COVID-19? What is the evidence for using Vitamin D when it comes to this particular virus-based respiratory tract infection?

Of all the research I conducted in this area, Vitamin D has shown to have an overwhelmingly positive impact on COVID-19. These clever humans have created a dynamic meta-analysis (each time new research is published it is added) which now includes over 156 studies. The data shows that statistically significant improvements are seen in treatment studies for mortality, patients requiring ventilation, ICU admission, hospitalisation and number of cases. We’re talking an average reduction in mortality (death) of 81% for early treatment, and 54% for late treatment. There was also a 35% improvement in prophylaxis, that is, the prevention of getting COVID-19 in the first place. Studies that looked at sufficiency (if your baseline levels were high enough) also showed a strong association between levels and your risk of death.

If you’re not savvy on research terms, a meta-analysis is a study on studies – largely one that collates the results from many studies and publishes them as one mega study. Research results are always going to vary based on who they are studying, where it is taking place, the study design and the researchers who are conducting it. It’s incredibly common to have studies that show positive results, then others that show a negative result. A meta-analysis is a great way to look at the average result and if it is overall positive or negative.

Now because I know that some will argue that the meta-analysis above is not peer reviewed, so I’ll share a few of the larger studies that I came across on Vitamin D and COVID-19.

In this meta-analysis and systematic review that analysed the outcomes of 2311 people, the authors concluded that “prescribing Vitamin D supplementation to patients with COVID-19 infection seems to decrease the mortality rate, the severity of the disease, and serum levels of the inflammatory markers.”

This systematic review and meta-analysis analysed the data of 14 studies with 999,179 (that’s almost a million folks) participants, looking at how serum Vitamin D levels correlated with susceptibility to COVID-19, severity and mortality. Low serum vitamin D was associated with an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, and an increased risk of severe disease and an increased risk of death.

This meta-analysis collated the data from 13 studies involving 2933 COVID-19 patients found that supplementation significantly reduced ICU admission and mortality.

I could go on, but you get the point. Results from well over a million participants have shown that Vitamin D will help if you contract COVID-19. It has no adverse effects when dosed correctly.

VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS

In clinical practice, we’re going to use different doses depending on your unique situation, but without knowing this, here is my recommendation for Vitamin D supplementation. Based on the research I feel called to share this and empower you to take immediate action on this. There is no evidence that these treatments can cause harm when used as advised below.

As a disclaimer, please see this as general advice and seek medical approval from your naturopath or doctor before taking these treatments.

If you’re deficient: diagnosed at under 100/nmol per litre.
Please note that the Australian guidelines put a minimum of 50nmol/L, this is far too low and we’d consider anything below 100 on the low end and worthy of supplementation in these times.
My dosage recommendation: 5000IU daily until levels are replete (usually 6-8 weeks).
If your Vitamin D is replete: (or you don’t know) – serum levels over 100nmol/L. If you don’t get much sun, you can probably assume you’re on the lower side, but I’d be cautious to use too high levels so stick to this (or get tested).
My dosage recommendation: 2000IU daily.
If you contract COVID-19: there is research that backs early intervention so the sooner you begin the better.
My dosage recommendation: 10,000IU twice per day until symptoms subside.
* IMPORTANT – this is a short term dose, please don’t persist past your active infective period.

Note that these dosages are for cholecalciferol, the most widely available Vitamin D3 supplement on the market.

LIFESTYLE FACTORS

Since we are in this for the long haul it’s worth mentioning some lifestyle factors that can help keep your vitamin D replete. I’d still supplement, but every bit counts.

Sun exposure: Sun exposure helps to convert inactive Vitamin D into the active form used in your body. This happens primarily on the soft parts of your body – tummy, inner thighs, inner forearms. Getting 15-20min of unprotected sunlight a day in the middle of the day, can help increase serum Vitamin D.
Organic Butter: All dairy has Vitamin D but if you’re a follower of myself and The Shift Podcast, you’ll know it is not the best to have when it comes to your health. Butter has next to no lactose or casein (the big culprits of dairy issues) but is a very good source of Vitamin D. Use liberally.
Oily Fish: These are also excellent sources of Vitamin D, keep to smaller fish (like anchovies and sardines) to avoid excessive toxin exposure.

ZINC

Next up I’m going to examine Zinc and the research on COVID-19. Zinc is a critical mineral in your body with key roles in immune function, metabolism, mood regulation and tissue healing. Zinc deficiency is incredibly common because our diets are often low in the foods that contain this mineral. Low stomach acid, which is also incredibly common, can make it difficult for us to replete zinc, so our poor diet paired with our digestive insufficiency means many of us will have low levels of zinc.

This review looks at zinc as a potential beneficial intervention for COVID-19 outlines the robust research that shows zincs role in immune function, the health of our respiratory epithelium (the mucous membranes of your airways) and its direct antiviral properties. It makes logical sense that given zincs function, it will probably be helpful in some way.

Unlike Vitamin D which is mostly available as cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3), zinc is available in many different forms. These vary in quality, bioavailability and their ability to actually increase your zinc levels can be quite different. With this in mind, you can’t really compare research papers or do a proper meta analysis on zinc because the data will not correlate well.

There are many many smaller studies on Zinc showing benefit, but no huge ones like we have for Vitamin D. There are a few meta-analyses looking at a small number of studies, and none of these seem to show significant benefit as far as I have found so far. I do think however that zinc has merit based on it’s known mechanism of action, and that there is enough evidence to add it to your treatment protocol (but not to use alone).

This paper analysed the data from 4 studies and included 1474 people. It found no benefit to zinc supplementation and in fact an association between zinc use and longer ICU stays, but on reviewing the data I wouldn’t put too much weight on this, as even the authors point out that the study design was not great and that the 4 studies included had different measures and also different zinc supplements used.

This study showed that patients with COVID-19 had significantly lower zinc levels compared to healthy controls. Zinc deficient patients develop significantly more complications (70.4% vs 30% for those who were zinc replete) and had a prolonged hospital stay (7.9 days vs 5.7 days).

Here’s another study that looked at 254 COVID-19 patients in ICU. They found that low serum zinc levels were correlated with worse clinical presentation, longer time to reach stability, and higher mortality rates.

While I couldn’t find any decent studies showing that supplementing zinc was of benefit when you get COVID-19, there were plenty of studies like this showing that zinc deficiency impacts outcomes in a significant way. For this reason (and knowing what we know about the function of zinc in the body), I think it is imperative that we supplement with zinc before exposure and I don’t think there is any detriment to taking it on onset either (and if you use the right dose and forms it will probably help).

ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATIONS

A few things to know about zinc supplementation. Firstly, there are only a few forms that are easily absorbed by the body. I’d recommend looking for:

Zinc citrate
Zinc picolinate
Zinc carnosine (harder to come by).

And if you can’t find any of these then a zinc amino acid chelate is the next best thing (although if your gut function is not great you’re not going to absorb it as well).

The next thing is that to absorb zinc the best, an empty stomach is best BUT for some people (especially if you’re low in zinc) taking zinc on an empty stomach can make you feel a little unwell.

Zinc dosages vary depending on form, but you want to look for ‘elemental’ zinc on the bottle. This is the dosage that the recommendations below are based on.

Lastly, you don’t really want to take too high of doses of zinc for a long time, because you don’t want your levels to become too high. Using the doses below there is a low risk of this since we are all so zinc depleted but keep this in mind that you might want to check in with a naturopath or nutritionist if you’re considering zinc longer term.

These little specificities are the reason why you don’t really see me recommending herbs and supplements to the general public without a consultation from our naturopaths BUT in these times, I really believe that the masses need to get on to evidence based protocols in order to help decrease your risk.

For general prevention: and to keep you zinc levels replete. Preferably zinc citrate, zinc picolinate or if you can’t get these zinc amino acid chelate.
My dosage recommendation: 50mg taken before bed at night (away from other supps and medications).
If you feel nauseous take it with food instead.
If you contract COVID-19: these dosages are based on what I would prescribe for a respiratory tract infection. Please ensure you follow the general recommendations above.
My dosage recommendation: 50mg twice per day until symptoms subside.
*IMPORTANT – this is a short term dose, please don’t persist past your active infective period.

VITAMIN C

Vitamin C has always been a go to when it comes to immune issues, and there are dozens of smaller studies looking at mostly intravenous Vitamin C in the treatment of COVID-19. Most of these studies are very small and show varying results, with some showing benefits in areas like kidney function, oxygenation rates and mortality, and others not showing any difference. This could be due to dosages used and when the intervention began, but let’s take a look at a few studies that showed positive results.

Like Vitamin D, some clever humans have collated this data into a real-time meta-analysis that shows a statistically significant, but small improvement, particularly with high dose IV use.

This study found that patients given IV Vitamin C in conjunction with the standard protocol showed marked improvements in kidney function

This study of 150 COVID-19 positive ICU patients gave half intravenous vitamin C and half placebo. Patients that received IV Vitamin C became symptom free earlier and spent fewer days in hospital, however there was no statistical significance in the need for ventilators or mortality.

This study of 176 patients admitted to ICU using oral Vitamin C found that it was associated with lower mortality and increased extubation rate (taking you off the ventilator).

I think given the availability of Vitamin C and the low cost, that it is a worthy inclusion in a treatment protocol. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin meaning that we absorb it easily but it also leaves the body quickly. You cannot achieve the doses you would get with IV Vitamin C therapy with oral Vitamin C, although using a liposomal Vitamin C that has enhanced absorbability will help to get higher doses in.

The type of Vitamin C used is not as important here (although liposomal is definitely preferred if you can get your hands on it), as long as you’re reaching the doses needed. The worst thing that can happen if you take too much Vitamin C is that you’ll reach bowel tolerance, meaning it will give you a healthy bout of diarrhoea which is temporary – knock your dose back if this occurs.

Please note: you can only absorb around 250mg of vitamin C at a time, so if you take 500, 1000mg you’ll still get the same amount as if you took 250mg. It’s OK if your supplement has 1000mg (it’s a common dosage) but be aware there isn’t an additional benefit to going higher (and this is why I’ve put dosage ranges below).

VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATION

For general prevention: and to keep you Vitamin C levels replete. Use any form – ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, magnesium ascorbate etc. The mineral ascorbates are gentler on the gut.
My dosage recommendation: 250-1000mg three times a day OR 1000mg liposomal Vitamin C once a day.
If you contract COVID-19: as noted above, Vitamin C does not retain in the body as it is water soluble. This is the dosage I’d recommend to patients with respiratory tract infections and is more based on clinical experience than specific dosages used in research. Because we can’t replicate IV Vitamin C, we want to get as high of levels as possible.
My dosage recommendation: 250-1000mg every 1-2 hours until symptoms subside OR 1000mg liposomal Vitamin C four times per day.
*If you reach bowel tolerance (loose stools) with this frequent dose then space out your doses.V

QUERCETIN

Quercetin is a bioflavonoid that is naturally found in citrus fruit, apples, onions, parsley and sage. Bioflavonoids have long been proven to have potent anti-inflammatory and immune modulating effects. Quercetin has positive research to support its use in COVID-19, which makes sense given what we know about the way it works in the body. There aren’t any massive studies on quercetin yet, but there are lots of promising smaller ones. Let’s take a look at some of the research.

Again, our friends are collating data on quercetin and they show from their meta-analysis that so far quercetin has a statistically significant improvement in hospitalisation, recovery and ICU admissions.

This study shows that quercetin can inhibit the SARS2 Cov-2 Spike protein, ACE2 and neuropilin, which can help to prevent cell entry by the virus and therefore reduce infection rates.

This study used 1000mg a day of quercetin phytosome, a highly absorbable form of quercetin, on half of 152 participants. Patients taking quercetin have a reduction in the frequency and length of hospitalisation, less need for oxygen therapy and a reduced chance of ICU admission and death.

Vitamin C can recycle quercetin, leading to high blood levels so if you can take these nutrients together for the best results.

QUERCETIN SUPPLEMENTATION RECOMMENDATION

Quercetin is not highly bioavailable so we need to use higher doses of standard supplements. If you can get quercetin phytosome that is great, but if you can’t then higher doses of the standard forms will suffice.

For general prevention: take with Vitamin C if possible.
My dosage recommendation: 500mg a day quercetin dihydrate OR 250mg of quercetin phytosome.
If you contract COVID-19: if you have active COVID-19 you want to go for higher doses, again with Vitamin C.
My dosage recommendation: 250mg quercetin dihydrate four times a day OR 250mg twice a day of quercetin phytosome.

Everything I have recommended so far is easily available to most of you, however these next few may be harder to come by. If you’re low risk (young, healthy, no comorbidities) then the list above should suffice. If you’re at high risk, I’d recommend seeing a naturopath or integrative health practitioner if you can for a more comprehensive plan with higher dosages. These are some of the other natural medicines that have evidence of helping with COVID-19.

N ACETYL CYSTEINE (NAC)

There is limited evidence for the use of NAC but some promising data does exist. This review paper discusses NACs ability to increase antioxidant capacity, interfere with virus replication and to reduce inflammation producing cells. In mice studies, it has also reduced the mortality rate in influenza infected animals.

NAC increases your intracellular glutathione, one of your body’s major antioxidants. For those with higher risk profiles I think it is worth considering NAC once you have the above nutrients covered.

CARNITINE

Carnitine, which is an amino acid, has a few early but promising studies.

This study found that those with genetically higher levels of carnitine reduces your susceptibility and severity of COVID-19, which means that supplemental use could do the same.

This study found that carnitine supplementation in both humans and mice lead to a dose-dependent reduction in infection rates, and a reduction of ACE2 which is responsible for viral attachment.

SELENIUM

Selenium is an important mineral in the body and a powerful antioxidant.

In this systematic review, the authors analysed 11 studies looking at selenium levels and COVID-19 outcomes. 9 out of the 11 studies showed that low selenium levels were associated with worse outcomes for patients with COVID-19.

Selenium is found in high levels in Brazil nuts, I’d suggest eating 4 Brazil nuts every day to up your levels.

HERBAL MEDICINE

At our clinic, herbal medicines are always going to be a part of the treatment protocol. I have not included information on herbs here because:

Herbal medicine quality is a problem, it is rife with adulteration (the wrong herb being substituted) and varying levels of active constituents.
Herbal medicines have a much-increased risk of interactions with medications or contraindications with certain issues, compared to the above.
You should seek advice before taking herbal medicines, especially if you have complex health issues.

SYNERGY IN TREATMENT

In the naturopathic prevention and treatment of any viral infection we would use a comprehensive treatment and not something on its own. This study for example shows such an approach, using zinc, quercetin, Vitamin D, Vitamin E and L-Lysine. They found that only 4% of people taking this regime developed flu-like symptoms compared to 20% that developed symptoms without taking it. Three quarters of participants with symptoms were COVID-19 positive.

To summarise, here’s what I’d suggest (based on the evidence) that you take daily to protect you against severe COVID-19.

Nutrient	Preventative Dose	COVID-19 Positive Dose	Notes
Vitamin D	2000IU/day	10,000IU twice a day	If your levels are low, take 5000IU/day until replete
Zinc	50mg/day	50mg twice a day	These doses are elemental zinc
Vitamin C	250-1000mg three times a day OR 1000mg liposomal once a day	250-1000mg every 1-2 hours OR 1000mg liposomal four times a day	Liposomal is superior if you can get it
Quercetin	500mg a day quercetin dihydrate OR 250mg of quercetin phytosome	250mg quercetin dihydrate four times a day OR 250mg twice a day of quercetin phytosome	Take quercetin dihydrate with Vitamin C for best results

WORKING ON YOUR INNATE HEALTH TO FIGHT DISEASE

Earlier I talked about the death rates in COVID-19 and the association with other health conditions and your risk of hospitalisation from these. It’s very important, now more than ever, that we work on our whole health picture. If you need to eat better, lose weight or eat a better diet now is the time to do it.

When you look at the population as a whole, we live on diets with suboptimal nutrition and excesses of sugar which we know impairs your immune function. While eating well might not prevent you from getting COVID-19, it’s clear from the research that if you’re deficient in zinc, Vitamin D, selenium and Vitamin C at the very least, you will have a worse outcome than someone who is not.

It is time to come back to the foundations of health – good food, lots of veggies, lots of living foods, adequate sleep, great water intake, and keeping stress levels at bay. Get some support to reduce inflammation in your body and keep chronic disease at bay. Look after your body so it can look after you.

I hope that from reading this you can see that there is ample evidence for many agents to combat the high hospitalisation and death rates that have occurred as a result of this global pandemic. If you need specific help or are at high risk, I’d recommend booking an appointment with one of our Shift Clinic naturopaths, or another integrative healthcare provider.

Please share this information widely – the more people that have early treatments, the less the mortality rates from COVID-19 will be.

As always, yours in good health.

Sources

https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-020-09826-8 | COVID-19 Mortality Risk for Older Men and Women
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/off-label-drug-use | What to Know About Off-Label Drug Use
https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6583 | Vitamin D Supplements to Prevent Acute Respiratory Tract Infections: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Individual Participant Data
https://c19vitamind.com/ | Vitamin D for COVID-19
https://ps.tbzmed.ac.ir/Article/ps-34133 | The Impact of Vitamin D Supplementation on Moratlity Rate and Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.660420/full | Low Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (Vitamin D) Level Is Associated With Susceptiblity to COVID-19, Severity, and Mortality: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40618-021-01614-4 | Vitamin D supplementation and clinical outcomes in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2020.01712/full | The Potential Impact of Zin Supplementation on COVID-19 Pathogenesis
https://www.mp.pl/paim/issue/article/16048/ | Should we supplement zinc in COVID-19 patients? Evidence from meta-analysis
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30730-X/fulltext | COVID-19: Poor outcomes in patients with zinc deficiency
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/13/2/562/htm | Low Zinc Levels at Admission Associates with Poor Clinical Outcomes in SARS-Cov-2 Infection
https://c19vitaminc.com/cmeta.html | Vitamin C for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 27 studies
https://www.annalsmedres.org/index.php/aomr/article/view/3910 | Effects of high dose vitamin C administration in COVID-19 patients
https://www.cureus.com/articles/45284-the-role-of-vitamin-c-as-adjuvant-therapy-in- | The Role of Vitamin C as Adjuvant Therapy in COVID-19
https://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(20)32508-3/fulltext#relatedArticles | The Significance of Oral Ascorbic Acid in Patients
https://c19quercetin.com/ | Quercetin for COVID-19
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1093326321002096 | In Silico Identification of SARS-CoV-2 Cell Entry Inhibitors from Selected Natural Antivirals
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8197660/ | Possible Therapeutic Effects of Adjuvant Quercetin Supplementation Against Early-Stage COVID-19 Infection: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled, and Open-Label Study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7649937/ | N-Acetylycysteine to Combat COVID-19: An Evidence Review
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.780205/full | Carnitine and COVID-19 Susceptibility and Severity: A Mendelian Randomization Study
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8569840/ | COVID-19 and Selenium Deficiency: a Systematic Review
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2515690X211026193 | 20-Week Study of Clinical Outcomes of Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Prophylaxis and Treatment

The post Research-based Nutritional Treatment Options to Manage COVID-19 and Prevent Severe Disease appeared first on Katherine Maslen.

Choosing the right non-stick cookware for your health

Katherine Maslen — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 06:51:44 +0000

You may have cut our sugar, switched to organics and even cut back on coffee. But have you considered what you’re cooking with as part of your health picture?

When we cook our food has direct contact with whatever vessel it is in, and the effect of heat means you get much more leaching of any chemical into your food. Cookware is always prone to surface damage – your frying pans and pots get banged around and can easily become scratched or chipped by stirring, scraping or cleaning. This damage may not even be visible but leads to the disruption of the surface and the release of whatever is underneath.

ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS THAT DON'T LEAVE YOUR BODY

Perfluorooctanoic acid or PFOA, is the substance found in non-stick cookware, such as Teflon. It has a half life of 3-5 years in the body and is classed as an endocrine disrupting chemical. Half life is the term used to describe how long it takes for half of a substance to leave your body once ingested or absorbed. If you cook with Teflon cookware, even the tiny amounts it contains will accumulate in your body and will take 5 years for half to be eliminated. This would mean it would take at least 30 years to completely eliminate the PFOA from your body.

Unless your exposure is nil, that means a lifetime of exposure to these endocrine disrupting chemicals.

For comparison, caffeine has a half life of about 5 hours, which means after 30 hours or so it has completely cleared.

There is an argument that the amounts of these chemicals are so small that it should not matter, but I want you to consider this. Let’s say you use your non-stick pan three times a week. There are 52 weeks in a year, meaning that you’ll have 156 of these micro exposures in just one year. Add that on top of the last 25 years or so of cumulative exposures that have cleared to varying degrees, and you can easily see how this can become a problem for your body.

THE BAN OF PFOA IN TEFLON PANS

Teflon stopped using PFOA in 2013 due to safety concerns, however it’s replacement chemical, GenX is said to have similar impacts. GenX (HFPO-DA) was brought to market in 2009. It’s inventor DuPont called it a “sustainable replacement” for the persistent and toxic chemical PFOA, which the company formerly used as a manufacturing aid. A growing body of evidence suggests that HFPO-DA, like it’s cousin PFOA, is linked to harmful effects in the liver and reproductive issues. This isn’t surprising since GenX comes from the same class of Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are well known for their toxicity effects, as well as their inability to break down in the environment or be excreted from our human bodies.

IS CERAMIC COOKWARE SAFE?

The most recent trend is ceramic-coated pots and pans. These are metal pans that are coated with a non-stick ceramic coating. The coatings themselves are usually considered safe, however the thin ceramic coating very quickly gets chipped or scratched, which leads to the release of whatever lurks beneath the surface coat. The quality of products can vary widely too, and I’m not completely sold on its safety. I therefore do not recommend ceramic coated cookware at this stage.

What about 100% ceramic cookware?

Cookware that is made from 100% ceramic is much safer and I’d recommend this as an option over non-stick. These products are safer as they are made from 100% ceramic, baked at super high temperatures which leads to quite a stable product. One such company is the US based Xtrema, who make small frying pans, skillets and dutch ovens with high quality ceramics.

Again caution with using metal utensils or steel wool when cleaning, as you don’t want to scratch the surface.

CAST IRON OR STEEL PANS

Cast iron is a really good option to replace your non-stick frying pan. If you seal the iron well, you can get the benefit of a non-stick surface without the worry of chemicals leaching into your food.

You can also get cast steel pans and woks – you can also season these by using a method like this. These are more lightweight so easier to handle, and a great alternative to non-stick cookware also.

Your choice of cookware is important, so hopefully this info has helped you to make better choices. For more on environmental toxicity, check out episode 8 of Season Two of The Shift Podcast where we discuss this more deeply.

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Women’s Wellness – What makes us women unique?

Katherine Maslen — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 04:19:39 +0000

When it comes to health, there are several things that make us unique as women. Unlike men, we have physiology that changes significantly due to our hormonal makeup and our ability to bear children.

Here’s why women’s wellness is unique and needs a little extra care when it comes to keeping healthy.

OUR MAJOR LIFE STAGES

As women, we go through 2-3 major life stages that change us significantly. Like men, puberty is the most significant, where we move into our menstruating years. The influx of hormones during this time kick starts our menstrual cycle, grows our breasts and matures us sexually. The age at which we begin to menstruate can determine our risk for several conditions.

For example, women who begin menstruation earlier than average are at higher risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and breast cancer throughout their lifespan.

Next, for some of us, pregnancy will be a major transition. During pregnancy, the surges of hormones change us significantly and there is a huge nutritional burden on the mother. This stage of life can pose some significant mental and physical health risks for the mother, which can persist for years beyond pregnancy.

Lastly, we have menopause, the transition from being a fertile menstruating woman to post-menopausal, which happens between the ages of 45 and 55 for most women.. This is perhaps the most important, because once we transition through menopause and lose the protective effects of oestrogen, we’re at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, dementia, osteoporosis, cancer and depression.

Menopause is actually a natural transition, however, due to our diet and lifestyle, for many women, this is a time where they really don’t feel their best.

It is very important to recognise that we are up for this increased risk of illness, more than that of men. To combat this, we need to look after ourselves years before this menopausal period comes up so that we can adapt and cope with these hormonal changes and get our bodies ready to transition.

OUR MENSTRUAL CYCLES

The other thing that makes us unique is that in our fertile years, we have the impact of a changing hormonal system that happens with our menstrual cycle. Unlike men, our hormones change from day to day as we go through this process. This can be experienced as PMS or emotional disturbances that can throw us off balance. When our hormones are out of balance, we can experience emotional extremes that interfere with our day to day functioning. These hormones can also affect our energy, sleep and immune function.

What about the pill you ask? The oral contraceptive pill or OCP is a form of hormone replacement therapy. You’re still getting hormones, although the normal fluctuations of the cycle aren’t occurring as its job is to flatline your hormones. It’s worth noting that the OCP has been associated with increased risk for anxiety and depression, disruptions to the gut microbiome and cervical cancer, all things that we need to be aware of as women.

OUR MENTAL LOAD

As women, we often have much more going on than men. Often we are a mother, wife, sister, employee and any of the other hats we choose to wear. The to-do lists never seem to end and we can end up carrying a significant mental load of all of the tasks that need to be completed.

Sometimes one of the best things we can do as women is to create some space in our life to tune back into what we really need. Women are intuitive by nature, but often we are out of touch with our needs due to the ‘busyness’ of life. Space for you might mean getting into nature, sitting with a cup of tea or taking a bath. It’s time to process the mental load and defrag from the oodles of information that come in every day.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

As a woman, you need to be aware that your health is paramount. Getting advice to see what the right diet is for you, moving your body and nurturing your mind and soul is so important for each and every one of us.

Pay attention to your family history and take steps to improve your health so you don’t follow that pathway. See your doctor, a naturopath or nutritionist, acupuncturist or whoever you think can help to guide you in the right direction.

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The Rise of the ‘Influencer’and What It Means for Health

Katherine Maslen — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 04:36:26 +0000

Once upon a time, before the rise of the internet, a person would get passionate about something. They would then go to university or college, get educated in their field and go off and make a difference in the world. Over time they would build experience and credibility in their field, which would lead to them becoming well known through their work, and perhaps then become a speaker or an author.

These days what we’re seeing is the rise of the health “Influencer”, someone who is usually unqualified and often with no clinical experience. They have a large following on social media, giving you the ‘latest’ health advice like it’s the gospel (I use health advice here in the broadest and loosest of terms).

The internet has provided a space where we can get access to information at the tip of our fingers wherever we need it, unfortunately, a downside is that someone can appear to be the right person to get advice from but really isn’t. Let’s explore some of the issues of health “Influencers” and why they may not be the healthiest thing for you.

The unqualified expert

First of all, I want to say that I commend people who are trying to make a difference in the world – I don’t believe you have to have a bachelor degree to do that. What I do believe is there is a big difference between the knowledge higher levels of education and experience gives you vs. a certificate in health coaching or a personal health journey. This level of training or experience provides you with a limited understanding of the complexities that can affect the human body which means the level of advice you can provide is also limited. I don’t doubt that health Influencers are genuine in their goals to help people achieve a healthy life, but this is not the same as being an expert.

Here is what an unqualified expert may look like…

They have a large social media following
They are passionate about their topic, whether it be gut health, endometriosis or weight loss
They have no formal education in health, besides perhaps being a ‘health coach’ – a certificate you obtain with 6-12 months of online study, with no education about how human physiology works and the disease process
They give specific advice to the general public, often without the knowledge of consequences.

Now let me clarify, giving general dietary advice like eat less sugar, remove wheat, eat more vegetables is COMPLETELY FINE. We need more people like this to spread the word. What becomes problematic is when you get an unqualified expert giving the wrong advice because they just don’t have the education to understand the full picture.

I’ll give you an example. There’s a certain influencer out there, I won’t name here but let’s just say she has a significant following and considers herself a bit of an expert on health. She is also a doterra advocate and seller and is constantly telling people to ingest neat essential oils for various health complaints. Now, if you’ve read my article on doterra you’d understand why I’m not a huge fan, essential oils are very effective antibiotics and ingesting them will affect the microbiome of the mouth, stomach and upper intestine. It would take knowledge in the physiology of the gut and microbiome to know this. Ingesting essential oils is NEVER something that a well-educated expert would recommend for gut health.

The Instragram version of health

If you have spent even a small amount of time looking through Instagram at the typical posts around health you’ll be familiar with the type of imagery that is promoted. This is something that has worried me for years, some of the biggest influencers in the health space aren’t the ones with qualifications or experience but the ones that post the hottest bikini bods – which are usually photoshopped or filtered images.

So is this healthy? Do you need to be able to do a backbend in a bikini on a rock on the beach in order to be healthy? Do you need to have perfect hair? Or posing perfectly with a salad? You know what I mean here, you’ve seen it. Influencers with perfect profiles. How do you feel when you see these images? Does it make you feel healthy? Stong? Empowered?

Perfect profiles like this feed into the ‘you’re not good enough’ messages we have been told through the media on TV, advertising, magazines – and now the internet – since we were kids. Having your feed full of women or men with bodies like models, specifically posed to give the best angle and then filtered to look shiny and amazing, will not help you to feel good in your own skin. Because it isn’t REAL. This Instagram veneer is only a tiny portion of this person’s lives, however, it can easily make you feel like yours isn’t good enough. If you really knew yoga, you’d know that doing a pose to get a social media shot actually completely goes against what yoga is really about, which is going internal and working on YOURSELF.

Don’t get me wrong I love a pretty Instagram feed and I’m sure you do too, but ask yourself. Is this authentic, or just pretty?

There are very few qualified experts with large followings

Why are there so few actual experts, that are absolute guns at what they do, with big followings on social media?

My theory on this is that building a following takes time, and a lot of effort, so kudos to the influencers for that. I can imagine if I had spent every week of the 5 years I was studying full time on social media making connections, posting content, writing blogs and growing my following, then my following would be astronomical. True health experts are focused on research, consulting with clients, contributing to medical journals, lecturing at Universities and working hard to ensure that information is given to people the world over. And in a world of beauty saturation we find ourselves in, these experts don’t always fit into the ‘right’ mould to get their followers to the same levels to compete.

If you’re one of these influencers and you’re reading this, you might see this come across as jealousy. I have a solid tribe of my own, certainly not at a level into the hundreds of thousands, I applaud the work you do to spread the message on living a healthy lifestyle. As I said before, the world needs as many voices as possible to highlight making good choices. However, the truth is I hate seeing the wrong info being taken up by people that don’t know any better. Information that can have long-lasting negative effects on their bodies.

What I’m really passionate about is shining a light on some of the best brains in health in the world, and helping them get their message out. This is why I have made the audio docu-series The Shift, where I have brought together 24 of the worlds qualified experts on gut health to help to cut through the misinformation out there and also to highlight these amazing humans that you all should be following. They may not look like supermodels, but I assure you they will knock your socks off nonetheless.

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5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Morning

Katherine Maslen — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 05:02:27 +0000

Do you drag yourself out of bed? Having the right morning routine can be the difference between a good and a bad day. Master your mornings with these essential tips to jumpstart your day.

1. Wake up right away

This can be hard for some, but lingering in bed won’t help to energise you. Snoozing only makes you more tired – so try and get up as soon as you alarm goes off. You’re better off setting your alarm later than snoozing to get the extra sleep. Turing on the lights or opening the curtains right away also helps to reset your sleep/wake cycle.

2. Move your body

Movement in the morning helps to reset the sleep/wake cycle which leads to better sleep and better energy. Once you’re out of bed do 5 jumping jacks or simply dance or run on the spot for 30 seconds. This lets your body know you’re awake and helps to stimulate your cortisol or your ‘hey I’m awake!’ hormones.

3. Have a glass of water with apple cider vinegar

Start your day with a glass of room temperature water with 20ml of apple cider vinegar. This helps to activate your liver and flush the gall bladder as well as increasing your stomach acid ready for breakfast. Opt for organic apple cider vinegar with ‘the mother’ for best results.

4. Centre your mind

Taking a few minutes in the morning to clear your mind and relax your body will help set the tone for a fabulous day. Using a meditation app for even 5 minutes can help. Or simply put on some relaxing music and focus on taking slow deep breaths in and out for a few minutes. Personally, I like to start my day with a cup of peppermint tea on my balcony – this is just pondering time where I can just be with no phones or computers, which brings me to my next tip.

5. Leave the phone alone!

Don’t fall into the trap of checking your social media or emails as soon as you wake up. It can set off anxiety and put you in a frazzled or negative mindset for the day. We can get into the habit of automatically reaching for our phones, but it’s the very worse way to start the day. Buy an alarm clock and leave your phone outside of the bedroom, to avoid temptation.

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The coffee pod debacle

Katherine Maslen — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 05:14:16 +0000

Last week I posted a video on Facebook about coffee pods and was surprised to learn that there are a lot of people out there that, like me, also think that they are a disaster. I also learnt that there are a lot of die-hard fans of the pods that will passionately defend them! The video has had over 450 shares and 73,000 views, so obviously it’s something people want to hear about.

In my video, which I’ve posted below for you, I explain that coffee pods are made with plastic and that when plastic is heated it leaches up to 55 times more endocrine-disrupting chemicals like BPA into your drink. These chemicals have been associated with infertility, high blood pressure, learning difficulties and breast cancer to name a few. More research needs to be done in this area, but there are so many studies linking BPA to adverse health effects that I believe we need to do all that we can to avoid them.

On the other side of the coin – pods are an environmental disaster. They are everything that is wrong with our throwaway society – single-use items that will end up in landfill forever.

Estimates have been that there are enough K-cups (the original US coffee pod brand) to circle the globe more than 12 times if you place them side-by-side. Those cups are tiny, so that is a lot of landfill!

In fact the creator of Keurig cups, the first pod coffee machine has this to say about inventing the machines:

“I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it”

In the hundreds of comments that came up in my video, there were a few that questioned the validity of my claims. Fair enough – my video was only 2 minutes after all and I didn’t go into a lot of detail. Here are some of the questions/comments that came up and my response:

"I use nespresso pods – they are made of aluminum, not plastic"

True this – nespresso pods are made with alumunium, which is coated in food grade shellac. I have this to say about nespresso pods:

Alumunium is also toxic to our health, and although it is coated with Shellac it is still pierced with hot water going through the holes in the other side.
The internals of a nespresso machine are still made from plastic, which stores and heats the water. There are numerous accounts of people having to use their new coffee machine for several weeks before the plastic taste has gone – and just because the taste is gone it does not mean that it is no longer leaching plastic chemicals into your water.

Nespresso has a recycling program so they aren’t bad for the environment.

Yes, nespresso does have a recycling program, which would be great, if it wasn’t just a load of greenwashing. They set recycling targets but in reality, very few are actually recycled in the end. Plus they are not suitable for recycling in our home bins even if they are torn open and the coffee is separated (even the most committed environmentalist would hard up doing this).

You also need to consider that manufacture of these pods requires mining up the alumunium and manufacturing – and with every kilogram of coffee requiring 2 kilograms of packaging you can see this isn’t the most environmentally friendly way to go.

There is no evidence of them being harmful – if there was it would have to say so on the product disclosure statement

Coffee pods have not individually been studied for their toxicity. However, their components, which are plastic or alumunium have been well studied and found to definitely affect human health. Ignoring this evidence is burying your head in the sand, as it is freely available via PubMed and other online journals.

The crux of the matter is that single-use coffee cups and pods are harmful to your health and the environment. Use a plunger, percolator or espresso machine instead, please.

GO DEEPER

Learn more about ‘How environmental toxins can affect your health – and what you can do to reduce their impact‘ in Episode 7 of Season One of The Shift podcast here.

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Essential oil lies –what you need to know about doterra and Young Living

Katherine Maslen — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 23:19:33 +0000

OK, that’s it. The essential oil debate is raging and I can’t help but jump in at this point. As a qualified naturopath and herbalist with over 10 year’s experience and also specific training in aromatherapy – I’d like to give a measured and informed voice to the topic.

The first thing is that I want to say this. Essential oils are AMAZING. They are an excellent healing tool and there are hundreds of very safe, useful and proven applications for them.

But…. and this is a very big but… like any medicine, they have a list of limitations and potential risks if they are not used correctly. Let’s examine some of them. Oh and if you don’t like rants, then maybe you don’t want to read this post (but you should because I make some very good points). If you’re a rep or a convert to brands like doTERRA and Young Living, I hope this helps you, because much of what you’ve been told simply isn’t true.

The Shift is a 12 part documentary-series all about gut health. Listen to episode 1 of Season One – ‘I’ve got a gut feeling you’re going to want to know this’ – to deep dive deeper .

“CERTIFIED THERAPEUTIC GRADE” IS A TERM MADE UP AND POLICED BY DOTERRA.

Point One – “Therapeutic Grade” essential oils

The term ‘therapeutic grade” essential oils is both false and misleading. The term ‘certified therapeutic grade’ was actually created by um… doTERRA, who then registered the name and then told the world that all other essential oils were not as ‘pure’. They even go so far as to call them ‘better than organic’. And just to point out, their oils are NOT organic, which would make them free from pesticide residues, genetic modification or irradiation. There are many oils on the Australian market that are just as good if not better quality than those sold by doTERRA and Young Living. This does not make them universally safe to ingest, which brings me to my next point.

ESSENTIAL OILS DAMAGE THE DELICATE BACTERIA OF THE HUMAN MICROBIOME.

Point Two – Ingesting essential oils

Let’s get this straight – essential oils are volatile compounds, are incredibly concentrated and are NOT the same as taking the herbal equivalent. Until recently only qualified naturopaths, herbalists, and aromatherapists may have indicated very few oils for short periods of time internally.

This is what I think has happened. doTERRA executives were having a meeting. Someone says “People are loving these oils but they probably only go through 5-6 drops a day tops! That means a bottle of oil will last them 2 months. How can we get them to use more?” Then another sales executive says… “I know – why don’t we get them to start ingesting them? Putting drops into the water. Including them in food. That way we’ll sell way more product!!”. “Great idea! I’ll get the marketing plan on the way”.

I’m going to put it out there that the short-term use of some essential oils in a therapeutic setting and prescribed by a qualified practitioner, is safe. For example, if I am undertaking an anti-candida protocol with a patient, I may use products that have essential oils in them such as oregano to help to reduce the fungal overgrowth. However, I weigh up the use of these oils and use it carefully in combination with probiotics and other supplements so that it does not do more harm than good.

Many essential oils are antibacterial and antifungal. LOTS. Most even! Oregano, clove, thyme, fennel, tea tree, and sandalwood to name a few. Some are so powerful, that I would rate their topical bacteria killing effectiveness as good as some antibiotics.

Now think about this. When you ingest an essential oil, where does it go? Into the stomach and then straight into the small intestine. In your gut, you have 2-3kg of symbiotic bacteria and yeasts which make up your microbiome.

Ingesting essential oils daily will damage your microbiome, in my opinion. Is there a study to prove this? No, as the doTERRA advocates will point out. Is there one showing that it does not? Ummm no. But there is research showing how powerful these oils are at killing bacteria. And we know that they will make contact with the microbiome. It isn’t rocket science, you ingest a powerful antibacterial and you will kill your bacteria.

But microbiome damaging effects aside, is it safe to be ingesting an extract of the essential oils from a plant? Many oils are irritant and known to cause skin sensitivity in some people, however, MLM reps are recommending you ‘add 1-2 drops to a glass of water’ and drink it. It is not fully known how essential oils are metabolised. The essential oils are the most potent substance in the plant and should be treated with far more respect. The only cases of serious harm from essential oil use have been when it has been consumed internally. On poisons.org a clinical toxicologist states that the internal use of both eucalyptus and sage oil has caused seizures.

And if you’re not up with what goes on… I keep seeing recipes including essential oils and it drives me crazy. Why use pepper when you could use pepper oil? Why use thyme when you could just add a drop of oil! I even saw this awful recipe for kids ‘immune boosting’ pancakes with On Guard, an essential oil blend that contains herbs like clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and oregano. Giving young children essential oils internally is in my opinion negligent and dangerous.

When I brought this up with DoTERRA, this is their response…

They point out that we do already naturally consume essential oils when we ‘sprinkle cinnamon on our oats’. Yes but these amounts are tiny comparatively and are in whole food form. I mean if you look at the doTERRA website, for example, you’ll see that they are the ones pointing out that it takes A LOT of plant material to make a small amount of essential oil. This is why they are so pricey. Taking an isolated constituent will have a different effect on the body to taking the entire plant part, as the sum of all of the constituents determines how that medicine will work in the body. I asked doTERRRA for the well-documented history of internal safety. They haven’t replied.

Here’s the essential oil content of some herbs…

Peppermint yields about 0.3 – 0.4% volatile oil
Spearmint yields about 0.7% volatile oil
Sweet Marjoram yields about 0.2 – 0.8% volatile oil
Rosemary yields about 0.5% volatile oil
Rose yields about 0.02 – 0.03% volatile oil
Petitgrain yields about 0.2% volatile oil

You can easily see that using a few drops of essential oil is actually not the same as using a sprinkle of herbs.

For more info on this, head over to this website that talks about ingesting essential oils.

Also doTERRA, I just want to point out that humans don’t eat Eucalyptus leaves but you’re putting the essential oil into pancakes (it’s in On Guard).

Here’s a 2016 list of reported adverse reactions from essential oil use from Aromatherapy United in the US. Yeah, there’s quite a few on there. Note the most reactions were reported from the use of antimicrobial blends like Thieves (Young Living) and On Guard (doTERRA) and other blends containing multiple oils.

Sorry, that was a particularly ranty point. Moving on.

SOME CINNAMON OIL CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF COUMARIN WHICH CAN CAUSE LIVER TOXICITY IN SOME PEOPLE.

Point Three – Health ‘Advocates’ giving out medical advice

Let’s address the issue of ‘health advocates’ giving out prescriptive advice of essential oils. I mentioned that I will sometimes prescribe internal essential oils for short periods of time. As a qualified health herbalist and naturopath, I have an intricate understanding of human anatomy, physiology, and metabolism. I can look at research and decide on the safety profile of a new medicine before I prescribe it to my patients. Although essential oil health advocates are well-meaning (I truly believe they are) they simply are not qualified to be giving out health advice. I’m actually fine with them recommending certain oils and blends for diffusing, but I’d even be cautious to take advice on topical applications from someone who was not trained in aromatherapy. I’ve seen countless facebook posts of well-meaning advocates recommending everything from the neat (undiluted) use of essential oils on children, essential oil ‘cocktails’ with 2-3 drops of each oil (I’m not kidding). I’ve also heard countless horror stories of rashes, irritations, diarrhea and headaches from use.

The unfortunate thing is that the information is just passed from rep to rep down the MLM sales chain and the layperson doesn’t question if it is correct or if it could do harm. How easy would it be to assume that you could put a drop of wintergreen oil in a glass of water to relieve pain because you can with all of the others right? Ingesting wintergreen oil is like taking a large quantity of aspirin – highly toxic. However, these oils are sold as harmless, safe and natural. They couldn’t hurt you, right?

Point Four – I do think people need to use more essential oils

Let’s be clear that my beef isn’t with the product – it’s the misleading marketing done by the MLM’s that has led to their gross misuse. Essential oils are fantastic and their biggest benefit is when they are used in an olfactory sense – that is inhaled and smelt. Diffusing essential oils works wonders for stress, anxiety, and moods. Using diluted oils on the skin can be great for relaxation, to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and just to smell nice! They are a very powerful medicine and when used in these safe and non-invasive ways can help to balance the body and promote healing.

So please… diffuse your oils. Breathe in their amazing scents. But keep them out of your body unless prescribed to do so by a qualified naturopath or herbalist.

If you want to know more about how we work at Shift and about your own gut health, listen to The Shift Podcast – Season One – Gut Health.

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Is your CrossFit workout making you unhealthy?

Katherine Maslen — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 00:27:16 +0000

Without a doubt, CrossFit has become a global phenomenon that has developed a cult-like following. It is a high-intensity workout designed to burn a high amount of calories in a short period of time and has helped thousands of people to lose weight and become fitter. But is there a darker side to CrossFit and other high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programs that we need to be aware of?

Does CrossFit increase the risk of injury?

Injury in CrossFit and other HIIT workouts is very common – because it forces us to work beyond our maximum level of fitness, causing fatigue. The focus on endurance, heart rate and exertion points, and not on how our bodies are feeling, is the issue. As a result, we miss the early warning signs of imminent injury and it is easy to strain or sprain something in the body.

Once you’re injured, your fitness routine stops and it can take a while to recover. As exercise is a cornerstone habit – meaning that for most people their exercise precedes other good habits such as healthy eating and meditation – it’s important that our programme is setting the right foundation for us.

Can you over-exercise?

Yes! Over-exercising can have detrimental effects on the body. Intense exercise is a stress, and although this can be beneficial for us in the right amounts if you do too much it can cause inflammation in the body as well as severely affecting your hormonal health.

In my clinic I see this stress show up in a number of different ways. Too much high-intensity exercise can impact your thyroid hormone production (underactive thyroid) and reduce fat stores to low levels, which can result in hormonal deficiencies and amenorrhea (not getting your period). We have had a lot of patients that have improved their health simply by switching their CrossFit workout for another form of fitness, that isn’t so taxing on the body.

Bettering ourselves or pushing too far?

A huge issue with CrossFit is the culture of pushing your body harder and harder, not so much the actual workouts. Pushing your body to be better, to be fitter, slimmer, stronger. While most exercise has an element of pushing yourself, CrossFit takes this to a whole new level.

The problem with CrossFit is that the programme promotes competition. And although this competitiveness is often against yourself (work just a bit harder this session), there has been a whole culture built up around the workout. This has resulted in CrossFit moving from a way to stay healthy, to a competitive sport, resulting in people not focusing on what their bodies are telling them. It has become about who is the best, not the healthiest.

Tuning in to your body vs. focusing on results

What I dislike the most about CrossFit is that it stops you from tuning in to your body and what it needs. Instead, there is a big focus on calories burnt, fat loss and body image. Some people can thrive on HIIT methods but for other people, it can make them quite unwell. Listen to your body and what it is telling you. Do you feel energised after a CrossFit session or do you need to go home and lie down on the couch? Is it helping your stress levels or contributing to them? Are you energised? Or fatigued despite working out 5 times a week?

If you can listen to your body and not push it too hard then CrossFit 3 times a week may be of benefit to you. In between, mix it up with some yoga or pilates, a bushwalk or maybe some dancing, and of course, rest.

Think about your reasons for choosing CrossFit. Is it about being healthier, or is it all about body shape? We need to look at the underlying reasons why we gain weight, rather than trying to simply burn it off with exercise. Think about what you’re eating and drinking but most important of all, what is your emotional state and are you caring for yourself properly?

Exercise is very important for us, but choose it based on what you need, not what will help you lose weight quickest. You want to be able to maintain a healthy body for life.

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Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Tart

Katherine Maslen — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 00:37:14 +0000

If you love caramel and peanut butter then you will sell your first born child for a slice of this tart. Its’ nearly raw – the peanut butter is the only exception (you can’t eat raw peanuts peeps – they toast them to improve flavor and get rid of aflatoxins) and is packed with good nutrition. A slice of this will satisfy most of your calcium requirements – dates, cashews AND buckwheat are all excellent sources of calcium.

You will need:

A food processor or thermomix
A high-speed blender or thermomix
A press out non-stick tart pan
A freezer

Ingredients to make the base…

½ cup raw almonds
1 large medjool date (or 2 small)
1tbsp maple syrup
3tbsp organic peanut paste (100% peanuts)
¾ cup Loving Earth buckinis

Place almonds in the food processor and process on high until you have almond flour.

Add the maple syrup, date and peanut paste and process until a fine crumb (it should look like coarse breadcrumbs).

Add the buckinis and stir through (you want to keep these whole for crunch).

Press this mixture into a pre-form tart pan that has been greased with coconut oil in the serrated bits, so it pops out easier. Make sure it is nice and compact and covering the bottom half of the pan.

Put it in the freezer and get cracking on the filling.

Ingredients to make the filling…

2 cups raw cashews, soaked for 1-2 hours then drained
5 medjool dates, soaked for 1-2 hours then drained
1tbsp cold pressed macadamia oil
1 tsp vanilla powder
1tsp Himalayan salt
¾ – 1 cup of purified water

Place all ingredients in your high-speed blender or thermomix and blend until super smooth. Start with ¾ cup of water and then slowly increase. You want a beautiful thick cream.

Grab your tart out of the freezer and add the filling, smoothing it with a spatula to get it nice and even. Pop it back in the freezer to set.

After 2-3 hours you can get it out of the freezer. Grab some raw chocolate (I used the Loving Earth hazelnut) and melt it on very low heat. Drizzle over the top with dramatic effect.

You can leave this in the freezer until ready to serve – slice it frozen and give it a few minutes to defrost before digging in for that perfect texture.

The post Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Tart appeared first on Katherine Maslen.

Nurturing your adrenals in a stressful world

Katherine Maslen — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 01:03:44 +0000

Stress is one of those words that can mean a lot of things. In a basic sense, stress is s physiological process that happens in your body – sometimes as a result of ‘being stressed’, but also as a result of other stressors, like environmental toxins, lack of sleep or too much coffee.

One thing’s for sure – if you don’t learn to monitor and manage your stress, it will affect your health. Stress causes more disease than smoking and alcohol combined (yes, it’s true) so we need to help keep it in check.

STRESS IS SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS ALL OF US AT TIMES.

Now some stress is a good thing – mild stress helps keep our bodies working well, challenges us and keeps us focused. Stress becomes dangerous when it becomes more robust or goes on and on and on. You see our bodies aren’t really designed to have constant stress – our flight or fight response activates during stress and is meant to be around long enough to allow you to escape from that sabre tooth tiger. What happens to many of us is that our flight or fight response is activated in the background – which means your body cannot function in its normal relaxed state.

Stress is bad news for your nervous system, impairs your digestion (hello bloating) and messes with your hormones (PMT anyone?). The tricky thing is that you might not even know you are stressed. Some people can feel stressed out – you can see it in them, their heads looking like they’re about to explode. For others, stress is something that they feel they are not effected by – and I often get reports that my patients are not stressed when their biochemistry would show otherwise.

Lucky for you I’m going to share a secret with you – your body will let you know that you’re stressed even if your mind does not. If you’ve got any other following going on I’m 99% sure that you’re stress affected.

Anxiety, worrying, nervousness
Difficulty falling asleep (longer than 10 minutes)
Not sleeping right through the night
Tiredness
Having a 3pm slump
Needing coffee to pick you up
Sleeping less than 7 hours a night

Healing your adrenals

Your adrenal glands are the little guys that are helping you cope with stress day to day. When you’re busy doing your thing they are pumping out a hormone called cortisol which helps you deal with stress. The problem is that over time they can become depleted or downright erratic – secreting cortisol at random times (like when you’re trying to sleep) rather than mostly in the morning, when they should.

Nurturing your adrenals requires 2 things:

Rest or modification of behaviours
Herbal adrenal trophorestoratives and adapotgens

Tropho-what? Trophorestorative herbs help to restore your tired old adrenals so that they can do their job properly. Adaptogenic herbs actually help your body to deal with stress more effectively. For many of my clients with huge workloads like business owners and those in executive positions, these herbs help them to work though the huge amount of things they need to do without losing their energy or their sanity.

If we want to have longevity – energy, great sleep and graceful ageing then we need to look after our bodies. Thinking about nurturing your adrenal glands will help to prevent burnout and keep you functioning at your best.

For help with adrenal restoration, see a qualified naturopath or herbalist that will be able to get you ‘the good stuff’ to keep you feeling great.

Katherine specializes in helping business owners, directors, and senior executives to be their best through optimum diet, nutrition and herbal support. She offers a 6 week executive health coaching program to help keep you perform at your best.

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