6 Biohacker-Approved Tools To Stop The Coronavirus In It’s Tracks
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It is the end of the second month, of the second decade, of the second millenia of the post-Christ era.
The last century and a half has seen the fastest rate of human development in recorded history, but our era is not without its anxieties.
Chief among these is the COVID-19 coronavirus, a strain of coronavirus that appeared suddenly and without warning in a province of China.
Over the course of a few weeks, people began to die, and the statistics quickly had the world panicked.
Is this the new plague?
Still, for a moment the world waited. The virus stayed relatively contained to Asia, without touching Europe or the Americas.
Then in the final week of February, leading up to the time of this writing, the virus killed 15 people in Italy and confirmed cases have popped up all over the world.
Now is the time to act, not to wait. Even with a new virus, there are many things you can do to arm yourself against an epidemic.
I’ve been writing in the health and fitness space for about 3 years. In that time, I’ve healed from chronic disease, become the fittest in my life, and had my writing published in one of medium’s largest publications: Better Humans.
One of my articles on sleep optimization won a full scholarship to the annual Winter Story Summit, a meet-up founded and run by President of Paramount Motion Picture Studios David Paul Kirkpatrick to teach writers how to optimize their craft.
The easiest way to categorize my writing would be to refer to it as biohacking.
According to Dave Asprey, the man who coined the term, Biohackers “[Use] science and technology to make his or her body function better and more efficiently.”
Basically, we want to know how to live optimized lives using the most cutting edge methods out there.
What I love about biohacking is that it’s really self-improvement guised as health.
You see, science is not actually a thing so much as a method. Science simply means knowledge that was found through careful examination and quantifiable measurement.
In this way, anything can be biohacking, as long as it has worthwhile effects on our biology.
I say all of this simply to advise you ahead of time that there is more to your health than the supplements or medications you take.
Several of the methods I use to protect against the coronavirus are supplements, but one of the most important is about how you think. As we’ll get to later, one of the most dangerous aspects of the virus is the panic being spread by the media.
We’ll start with the more traditional biohacks, but later in the article I’ll talk about the importance of perspective and how everyone can immediately improve their health against this virus.
So, without any further delay, here are 6 techniques I’m using to protect myself against the coronavirus this year.
Photo by Danika Perkinson on Unsplash
1. Bee Propolis
In general, bee products are amazing for the immune system. From royal jelly, to bee pollin, to propolis, the hive is one of the first places I go to when addressing everything from wound healing to allergies.
Chief among these is propolis, a sticky, green brown substance that bees make using the sap of evergreen trees (pine trees, etc.) to protect and build their hives.
Propolis has been used for thousands of years to treat the body. The Greeks, Egyptians, Assyrians, Romans all had their own uses for the substance, from healing wounds and tumors to treating abscesses.
What’s more interesting is the research and modern uses for the product. Modern medicine has taken up use of propolis for it’s pharmaceutical properties since the turn of turn of the 20th century and continued using it since.
Close to 200 compounds of pharmacological significance have been identified in propolis, including powerful antivirals and antimicrobials. With regard to the coronoavirus, propolis is my favorite substance to take for protection against disease.
Coronaviruses target the respiratory tract, which is a chief area that propolis protects.
Personally, I use bee propolis throat spray by the company Bee Keeper’s naturals. I have no affiliation with this company at the time of this writing, but their products are high quality and sustainable. They are one of the best companies out there and I cannot recommend them more.
Propolis is the most beneficial for immune function specifically, but bee products in general are all powerfully beneficial for one’s health.
Royal Jelly, the honey fed specifically to the queen bee, is known for it’s beneficial effects on aging, reproductive health, neurodegenerative disorders, and wound healing.
Royal Jelly is more expensive but Honey in general offers many of the benefits as well. Most notably, honey is great for it’s microbial inhibition and wound healing, as well as fighting allergens.
And Bee Pollen is used for everything from boosting athleticism to improving one’s allergies.
You could say that propolis is my mainstay but the whole hive is my pharmacy.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
2. Thieves
Thieves is a blend of herbs that is literally legendary.
As the tale goes, there was a group of bandits and thieves living large in France during the time of the black death, or the bubonic plague.
These brigands were the stuff of legend, as they pillaged the bodies of the dead that lined the streets without ever getting sick themselves.
They were pardoned by the king for revealing the tincture they used to escape the plague, a blend of herbs now named Thieves after the legend.
Now, in the modern day, the ingredients of Thieves oil have been confirmed to be powerfully anti-microbial.
While you can definitely consume Thieves, I use it in an oil diffuser in my house. Thieves has been shown to reduce pathogenic microbes in the air by almost 90% when diffused.
I get my Thieves oil from the company Young Living for quality control reasons. In particular, I use Thieves oil in an oil diffuser as well as their household cleaning product for surfaces. This is how I keep my own spaces clear of harmful pathogens.
Photo by Artem Bryzgalov on Unsplash
3. Ionbiome by Biomic Sciences
Ionbiome is in my top 3 most important biohacking products of all time. Created by Dr. Zach Bush, one of two triple board certified MDs in the nation, this stuff is one of the most important products out their for healing the gut microbiome.
If you’re new to the subject, the gut microbiome is an ecosystem of bacteria that live in our lower digestive system.
These bacteria are not a bad thing, at all. In fact, the gut microbiome is one of the most influential factors on our health. Period.
Think about it like this, the average human has a few thousand different DNA that create what we are.
The gut biome consists of billions of DNA influencing us, and we have a symbiotic relationship with that ecosystem.
I could go on and on about the gut microbiome but the important thing to know is that almost all of us have damage. The highest diversity of a gut microbiome was found to be 30,000 different species of bacteria. This ecosystem was found in the guts of tribal people in south america, in every member of the tribe.
Alternatively, people living in 1st world countries have been found to have 10,000 species at most, and rarely do two people have even remotely similar gut microbiomes.
The reason Ionbiome is so important is that it restores one of the most crucial elements of bacteria biology that is damaged by our environment: communication.
Bacteria and mitochondria (the powerhouses of your own cells) communicate through something called redox interactions. This is super-foundational biology. However, environmental factors damage this communication system.
Without functioning redox interactions, bacteria cannot communicate with one another to form healthy ecosystems, and neither can the cells in our body.
As you can imagine, restoring this communication system causes amazing things to happen.
What the hell does any of this have to do with the coronavirus? Well, the gut microbiome appears to direct the immune system.
Bottom line: repairing the cellular communication in your gut biome and your body makes you more efficient at everything, especially fighting disease.
Independent from the coronavirus, I recommend that everyone use Ionbiome. It is my intent to use this product for the next two years straight to protect and heal my gut microbiome.
If you want to learn more about Dr. Bush’ work, check out his website https://zachbushmd.com/. This guy is one of the most important players in health right now, and his work may very well change the world.
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4. Pau D’Arco Tea
Pau D’Arco is a tree whose bark is used medicinally in South America. This tea has powerful antibacterial, antiseptic and antiviral properties, but the bigger reason I use it is for its NAD and autophagy benefits.
NAD is a molecule that is involved in electron transport in the mitochondria. It also may be the most important emerging field in health and wellness.
Intravenous (IV) NAD+ treatments are so powerfully healing that they are one of the most effective treatments for addiction.
5 days of an NAD+ IV is 90 percent successful at correcting addiction including alcoholism, opioids, and tobacco without relapse.
The theory is that NAD+ allows the brain to heal the damaged parts of itself that become dependent on external substances.
This has made NAD a huge topic of interest recently, and treatments have resulted in miracle stories for everything from brain fog to psychological disorders such as derealization, not to mention massively improved energy and overall health.
However, NAD+ treatments are not covered by insurance, and one IV can cost $500 or more.
This is where Pau D’Arco comes in. This bark tea has been shown to significantly increase NAD levels in the cells of our body when brewed with a fat such as coconut oil.
On top of this, it is a powerful antimicrobial.
Protecting against disease is about more than just sterilizing your environment, it’s about supporting your body and brain.
There are plenty of tools out there for fighting microbes or viruses, but I choose Pau D’Arco because it does so much more.
To make Pau D’Arco Tea:
1. Take a teaspoon of Pau D’Arco and brew in boiling water. I don’t have a specific temperature recommendation, I just use an electric kettle which does just fine.
2. Filter the water to remove the bark, and blend with a tablespoon of coconut oil.
3. Enjoy with cinnamon and Stevia (optional.)
Photo by Mark Hang Fung So on Unsplash
5. Qigong
Movement is one of the pillars of health. You can take supplements all day but if you neglect your body, your biology will suffer.
However, hard exercise wears on the nervous system and can leave you more susceptible to illness if you don’t watch out.
One of the most common signs of overtraining is to catch a sudden illness. As the nervous system breaks down, the immune system becomes less effective.
Some theorize that this is a defense mechanism. Getting sick stops you from hitting the gym before you can overdo things and cause long term damage to your neuroendocrine system.
As you can imagine, this is a problem if you end up with a deadly virus.
I make a point to move my body regularly but not overtrain or push too hard these days.
I’m not saying don’t workout, but if you do, prioritize recovery and ease in to any new programs.
This brings us to Qigong, a movement practice that is available to everyone.
Popular in china for centuries, Qigong is a form of healing movement. Qigong movements involve breathing, intent and visualization to clear energy blockages and allow life force (Qi) to flow to the organs.
Focused particularly on healing and resilience, I think Qigong is one of the best movement practices you can use for your health.
Although the practice is ancient, Qigong is well studied and its health benefits are astounding.
If you’re skeptical, I invite you to peruse the current research at www.qigonginstitute.org, but more than that I’d request you do one short session.
This video takes you through a Qigong flow focused on the 5 elements. Each of these elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, corresponds to a set of organs in your body, and optimizing their flow improves your health and resilience.
At a minimum, I practice this 12 minute routine every morning at sunrise.
To get deeper into Qigong, I strongly recommend the book: The Way Of Qigong, by Kenneth S. Cohen.
A student of the greatest western teacher of zen philosophy, Alan Watts, Kenneth does a phenomenal job teaching Qigong, from astounding and scientifically backed health benefits to such important details as best time to practice and when to use specific techniques.
If you don’t like reading, don’t worry. I received my first Qigong lesson from, of all people, the man who wrote the script for the famous Romcom: Sleepless in Seattle. His suggestion? Just get on Youtube and find a teacher you like.
Type Qigong in the search bar and just do one lesson each morning.
Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash
6. Visualization & Perspective
In the Hubei province of China, coronavirus COVID-19 reached a death toll of 2.6% if confirmed cases.
Slow response times and poor medical infrastructure in the area contributes to this figure, and as the virus spread, death percentages lowered.
Outside of China, the death percentage for coronavirus has been closer to 0.2% if confirmed cases. For perspective, the yearly flu has a death toll of 0.1% of confirmed cases.
Furthermore, most people who catch the coronavirus are exhibiting very mild symptoms which quickly pass.
This means that many people who get the virus will not even know they had it, and are therefore definitely not reporting it.
The reason I’m saying all this is because my final tip for fighting coronavirus has to do with your mind.
How you think has been directly linked to your biological responses. Negative, worried thoughts increase inflammation and susceptibility to disease, while positive thoughts lower inflammation and appear to factor into better outcomes for healing.
This goes beyond purely negative or purely positive. The specific self-view you have can impact your mortality. In one study, people who viewed themselves as less active (even when they were not) had a much higher mortality rate than their peers.
I can’t tell you how many people I know who attribute major healing to their mindset.
For example, a friend of mine was predicted to need several rounds of chemotherapy and surgery for a cancer growth.
Every day, he prayed for god’s love that his cancerous cells would heal. He literally sent positive loving energy towards his disease.
In the end, he received one round of chemo, and in the MRI before his scheduled surgery, the tumor had vanished.
Despite everything I know and all the science-ey biohacker I use; the tactic I believe to be most powerful is that every morning I spend 5 to 10 minutes visualizing myself as healthy.
If you are religious, prayer is a very good way to focus your intent, not to mention tapping in to the divine.
If you are not, don’t underestimate the biological implications of focusing your imagination. To perform a simple health visualization, sit somewhere comfortable and go through the following steps.
Start by taking 5 deep breaths through your nose. Try to inhale for a 5 count and exhale for 5.
Let your breath settle, and simply breathe how you want to. Relax and let your mind go.
After a few moments, imagine sitting in a theater with a big projection screen.
See yourself on the projection screen living in perfect health as you go about your day. You can tie in powerful goals or things you enjoy. The more detail in the image, the better.
I personally visualize myself as having stable energy, with a vibrant and happy aura.
At the very end of your meditation, imagine this version of yourself merging with the real version of you. Really feel that you are this person on the screen.
If you do this well, you may notice just how much your subconscious mind is tuned into negative beliefs.
Despite the fact this is all in your imagination, you may catch yourself seeing images of someone who is not healthy.
Don’t worry, just smile at yourself, let go of the image and come back to your intent.
Conclusion
I’ve listed 6 very powerful methods for not only combating illness but optimizing your health in general.
From Bee Propolis to Qigong, these tools will cover all your bases for general health.
With all of that said, I would rather you see yourself as a healthy and resilient person even if you do not use a single technique.
Is positive thinking enough to solve everything? No. If you break your leg, mindset alone will not un-break it.
With that said, I think the mind is massively powerful, and on the note of broken legs, I’ve heard incredible stories of lightning fast wound healing when combined with breathing techniques and positive visualization.
Remember, the virus (so far) really doesn’t seem to be that bad. Worry and panic may sell more newspapers but it can leave you more susceptible to catching the virus, not to mention less healthy in general.
So arm yourself with some protective tools, but do not lose your sense of perspective.