by Dr. Zoltan P. Rona, MD, M.Sc. for vitalitymagazine.com

The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in January has caused worldwide fear, panic, and confusion. Fueled by non-stop media accounts of infection and death rates, quarantines of entire cities, and misleading propaganda to “get your ’flu shots” as a way of fighting the outbreak, the hysteria is building with each passing day.

People are walking around wearing useless surgical face masks as if this offers some degree of protection from coronavrus. It does not, but could be of some value in preventing cameras from discovering your identity. Viruses are too small to be prevented from spreading by the surgical face masks that many folks are using.

Medical authorities are urging us daily to wash our hands repeatedly to reduce the spread of viruses. Similar to the SARS epidemic of more than a decade ago, antibacterial soaps can be found in hospitals, doctor’s offices, banks, tennis clubs, gyms, grocery stores, and elsewhere. But they are toxic. I recommend that you avoid using these. Such products are quite toxic to the skin and put an added strain on the immune system. Antibacterial soaps contain triclosan and triclocarban, two ingredients recently exposed by the U.S. FDA as being neither safe or effective infection preventers.

While it is wise to keep your hands clean, it’s best to use natural soaps, tea tree oil cleansers, or those containing neem, aloe, or oregano oil. And avoid people who are sick with the ’flu or other viral illnesses. Other than endorsing handwashing and the ‘flu vaccine, medical authorities have made no attempt to inform the public about safe and effective natural measures to both prevent and treat viral infections.

From a dietary perspective, sugar, allergenic foods, and stress can feed microbes and spread disease. Instead, try to follow a high protein, sugar-free, gluten-free and dairy-free organic diet with copious amounts of raw vegetables. In addition, exercise regularly and get enough sleep. Here are my top 10 supplement recommendations.

1.Vitamin D

Vitamin D deficiency is likely responsible for the high incidences of colds and ’flus during winter in Canada. By nature, vitamin D is anti-inflammatory. Deficiency causes immune system weakness and chronic inflammation. For prevention, supplementing with 5,000 – 10,000 IU daily from October to May of each year is safe for most adults. It is effective for prevention of ’flus, colds, cancer, and approximately 200 different diseases.

Humans manufacture their own antibiotic through vitamin D stimulation. Vitamin D promotes the production of cathelicidin, a protein with natural antibiotic properties. Cathelicidin kills viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. The more vitamin D in the system, the more the body makes this antibiotic.

For those unfortunate enough to get the ’flu or any viral illness, Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council recommends taking 50,000 IU daily of vitamin D at the first sign of the ’flu for 5 days, then dropping the level down to 5 – 10,000 IU daily for the winter season. This strategy can also be employed if you get the ’flu or a cold right after receiving the ’flu shot. (Most conventional doctors do not believe that you can get the ’flu after a ’flu shot.

Then again, most conventional doctors continue to ignore the overwhelming evidence that vitamin D prevents infection.) In any event, vitamin D is both great prevention and effective treatment for colds, ’flus, and probably many other infections. World authorities on vitamin D verify that up to 30,000 IU daily for a healthy adult is quite safe and that periodic higher doses (50,000 IU daily for 5 days) are also of no concern.

Vitamin D works even better if taken with vitamin K2. Both are anti-inflammatory and can prevent as well as treat infections successfully.

2.Vitamin A

It is often deficient in the Canadian population, especially in people with problems absorbing fat soluble vitamins from food. Vitamin A is not only vital for healthy vision but also important as a viral illness preventive. Dr. David Brownstein recommends that healthy people take 5,000 IU daily, and 100,000 IU daily for four days at the first sign of illness. This is not a recommended dose for pregnant women who should just stick with a good prenatal multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. Be sure to take vitamin A, not beta-carotene (which won’t work for this purpose).