Factors to Consider in COVID-19 Fight and to Safely Reopen Our Country
Social distancing has been effective at easing the COVID-19 crisis but it’s been economically devastating and can cause severe emotional distress. Yet many sections of the country have experienced sharp increases in COVID-19 cases as the country reopens.
But there are safe ways to reopen the country. For example, the surgeon general and World Health Organization say that excessive alcohol can increase the risk of getting COVID-19 as well as experiencing its most serious complications or dying from it. One reason for this is that alcohol prevents the body from absorbing many essential vitamins and minerals in the gut, creating nutritional deficiencies that weaken our immune system. Reducing alcohol consumption is advisable, but increasing vitamin and mineral consumption can also reduce the most serious symptoms.
The same arguments that apply to drinking also apply to smoking. In fact, most drugs can create nutrition deficiencies by reducing nutrient absorption in the gut. The article, “Guide to Avoiding Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion” by Dr. Hyla Cass, deals with this issue (https://nutritionreview.org/2016/12/practical-guide-avoiding-drug-induced-nutrient-depletion/). For instance, she says, “Certain medications reduce the absorption of specific nutrients in the gastrointestinal tract by binding to them before they’re absorbed into the bloodstream.
Perhaps we should also check people at higher risk of becoming COVID-19 victims for nutritional deficiencies. A new study by researchers from Wenzhou Medical University in Zhejiang province led by Dr. Don Chen revealed that almost all COVID-19 patients exhibited a low level of potassium ions in the blood serum, and that supplementation with potassium ions was one of the many factors that assisted in their recovery. Other studies have reported that COVID-19 patients have low levels of zinc, another necessary trace mineral.
The American Medical Association recently reversed its longtime opposition to vitamin/mineral supplementation saying that today most people do not consume an optimal amount of nutrients by diet alone.
A COVID-19 vaccine may not be available for a year or so. Let’s use the tools we have today to ease the terrible suffering that Americans are going through.
Al Schwartz
Pleasantville
