Recovering From Long Covid

In spite of my best efforts I caught COVID two, maybe three times during the pandemic. It was not fun but my symptoms only lasted less than 48 hours. Why? Because as a research scientist I already knew quite a bit about viruses and immunity and used several tools explained in my article “IMPROVING RESISTANCE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) AND OTHER VIRAL INFECTIONS” which I wrote at the very, very beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately because I have a very small following not many people were able to learn this information, but not one person I knew ended up in the hospital, not even my 70-year old parents.

It seems that many people still require help, and now that the pandemic has passed—no, by saying that I do not mean that COVID is gone. Pandemic is a specific word that describes mass communication and high mortality of a novel disease. Coronavirus is still in circulation because it is now endemic just like the seasonal flu is endemic, and the majority of the population now has some immunity to COVID it will be a disease that we contend with for the entire foreseeable future.

The scientific evidence coming out of studies seems to indicate that those with long covid harbor persistent reservoirs of the virus, meaning that the immune system is not strong enough to finally finish them off which means that long covid is likely a condition of incomplete removal of the virus from the body, but because this would be limited to the same strain by which they were first infected those around them have developed immunity and do not keep getting reinfected.

The good news is this means that following the guidelines from my initial paper on improving coronavirus resistance will greatly help to promote resolution of long covid. But it would also help to understand a little about how the immune system works—while there is much emphasis on things like immune cells when discussing immunity (T-cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, etc.) the immune system mostly operates on a principle of reactive oxygen species and the halide elements chlorine, iodine, bromine, fluorine, and the pseudohalide cyanide from foods which contain cyanide like brassicas, almonds, and yuca. The immune system oxidizes these halides into specific forms called hypohalous acids which are specifically toxic to microbes and help control and eliminate all kinds of pathogens from bacteria to parasites to viruses. The immune system is not effective enough to remove all pathogens, which is why chronic colonization by pathogens like the herpes viruses cannot be entirely cured, but it is very effective against short duration illnesses like the flu or coronavirus. So yes, this means that chloride from normal table salt participates in the immune reaction, and in fact many people’s lack of immunocompetence represents halide deficiency, specifically of chloride, iodine, and dietary cyanide from leafy greens. The participation of cyanide in the immune system, however, leads some people to advocate for increased, even dangerous consumption of cyanide sources but cyanide is not toxic to microbes on its own and must be converted by the immune system to hypothiocyanous acid which, if it cannot do this, instead results in poisoning of the human body. It is also entirely unnecessary to consume excess and it should be possible to benefit simply from daily consumption of normal dietary sources like leafy greens, almonds, yuca, or even chewing on a few apple seeds which are also high in cyanide (and as such actually taste like almonds).

The problem is too that chloride uptake into the body is inhibited by alkaline pH and promoted by acid, and many people have dysfunctional stomach acid production due to colonization by other pathogens which inhibit stomach acid. My book goes into great detail on how to reverse this problem (it takes up several chapters so is not possible to fully explain here) but can be circumvented by mixing a dose of supplemental salt with a source of dietary acid like lemon juice or vinegar. No more than about 1/2 tsp of salt is necessary per dose and taking more will cause vomiting and is absolutely not a function of excess or a situation of more equalling faster recovery, as our body can only absorb so much salt at one time, and being impatient and overdoing this will only result in more misery and not faster resolution. After mixing 1/2 tsp of salt with dietary acid it can be diluted in acidic beverages like grape juice, orange juice, or tea to improve taste on administration, and in fact is quite delicious in fruit juice which helps to cut the intensity of the salt. This can be done twice a day but should be taken apart from food (such as well after breakfast, not before, and well after dinner). In addition to the other steps in treatment of coronavirus should help resolve Long Covid. It is important to get enough nutrition and if you find it difficult to eat because of the condition use lots of fruit juice or other easy to consume sources of calories instead.

As discussed in my earlier article, aspirin is slightly antiviral and helps cells to resist viral infection while riboflavin directly supports the immune system. But it’s important to use aspirin and not other NSAIDs as only aspirin has antiviral properties while other NSAIDs like acetaminophen or ibuprofen can actually inhibit the immune response. Aspirin can also have some side effects like stomach irritation so if that occurs stop using it, and it should never be given to very young children which can be dangerous for them.

The reason for requiring riboflavin is not that it’s an alternative health treatment—there are actually opportunistic microbes which can colonize our bodies and produce a riboflavin analog called roseoflavin which interrupts riboflavin pathways. Riboflavin is required for the function of hemoglobin which facilitates respiration and for oxidase enzymes which provide a source of oxygen for the immune system to attack invasive pathogens, and the presence of roseoflavin producers in the body interfere with these pathways necessary for immune function and survival during serious immunological insult such as what occurs with a novel virus like coronavirus. Most mortality from COVID likely occurred due to riboflavin depletion and since riboflavin is required for oxygen transport in the body. Taking a riboflavin supplement easily overcomes the influence of roseoflavin and, with the help of aspirin which can temporariliy inhibit the virus, promote the immune system to eradicate infection.

Good luck!

Aspirin (325 mg once a day, adults only)
Riboflavin (about 25 mg) once a day
Iodized salt (1/2 tsp for adults, 1/4 tsp for children, mixed with about 3 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar then diluted into a glass of fruit juice—do not use water, which will lower the pH too much).