NO consensus precautions

Is it just me, or is there NO precaution that’s universally agreed on? It seems that compliance is poor to zilch on ALL of them.

The “main” ones are:

  • Physical distancing: This is the most “extreme” precaution, but it’s clearly necessary at this time. People are STILL getting long COVID. When it’s safer (as was the case last year), the physical distancing precautions are the ones I’m most eager to drop. (But traveling again will be one of the last steps in my reopening process.)
  • Vaccination: This should be a no-brainer. Then again, I wouldn’t mind getting the free 5G and the spider powers. When people die after getting vaccinated, people blame the vaccine, as if that’s the only cause of death. When people die after eating Cheetos, nobody blames the Cheetos or Chester the Cheetah.
  • Face masks: This should also be a no-brainer. Or maybe I missed the memo stating that wearing a face mask is like wearing high spike-heeled shoes. Even when COVID-19 is no longer a threat, I will mask up at the height of cold/flu season, and I will mask up in certain places (airports, airplanes, health care facilities, assisted living facilities, etc.).

Then there are the nutritional precautions for promoting optimal immune system health and minimizing inflammation. I can’t help but wonder if the controversies over the “main” precautions suppress dialogue about nutritional precautions. If people cannot understand the benefits of vaccines and face masks, can they really understand the benefits of Vitamin D, selenium, or healthier eating habits?

I regard these nutritional precautions as an ADDITION to the “main” ones, and I’m not following the unwritten rule limiting the number of precautions we can follow or advocate for. I feel like I’m caught between the Joe Rogan types and the CDC people. The former insist that the nutritional precautions are a substitute for the “main” precautions, and the latter push ONLY the “main” precautions and are silent about the nutritional precautions.

These nutritional measures will still be a good idea after COVID-19 is no longer a threat. The benefits go far beyond immune system health. These nutritional precautions are:

  • Vitamin D3: How hard can it be to take an oil-filled Vitamin D3 softgel every day? What’s the harm in taking 50% to 100% of the outdated and too-conservative Tolerable Upper Limit? Or is Vitamin D3 deficiency sacred? I know what I need to maintain a blood Vitamin D level of 60 to 80 ng/mL, and it will be part of my daily routine for the rest of my life.
  • Selenium: How hard can it be to eat one Brazil nut every day or take a daily supplement containing selenium? This is comfortably above the US RDA and far below the Tolerable Upper Limit (which some say is set too low). Or is selenium deficiency sacred? Getting enough selenium will be part of my daily routine for the rest of my life.
  • Vitamin B12: How hard can it be to take a Vitamin B12 supplement on a regular basis? There’s NO Tolerable Upper Limit, because the body can easily get rid of the excess. Or is selenium deficiency sacred?
  • Eating pineapple, papaya, kiwi fruit, and figs regularly: Each of these fruits is compatible with jello, because the enzymes prevent the jello from setting. The protein-breaking actions of these enzymes is said to have health benefits, such as reducing inflammation and breaking up viral proteins. I’m still waiting for my free 5G and spider powers, or maybe that’s only available from vaccines.
  • Eating ginger regularly: I recall reading that ginger can decrease bradykinins. (Like the cytokine storm, the bradykinin storm is said to be a mechanism behind severe/deadly COVID.) Ginger has numerous other health benefits as well. I’m still waiting for my free 5G and spider powers, or maybe that’s only available from vaccines.
  • Eating a variety of other spices as well: Spices provide lots of health benefits. I also consume garlic, turmeric, fresh-ground black pepper, oregano, and cinnamon on a regular basis. I’m still waiting for my free 5G and spider powers, or maybe that’s only available from vaccines.
  • Eating a wide variety of vegetables and other superfoods as well: Each of these foods is likely the exclusive source of at least one beneficial nutrient. (The bromelain in pineapple is one example.)
  • Avoiding/minimizing junk food consumption: If refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup, FD&C chemicals, fast food, candy, potato chips, vegetable seed oils, or deep-fried vegetable seed oils were essential for good health, I’d be dead by now after more than 2 years without them. Oh, wait, clogged arteries, diabetes, cancer, heart attacks, strokes, dementia, and Alzheimer’s are sacred! That’s why people ridiculed a certain First Lady who pushed for better foods in school cafeterias. While I won’t avoid junk food forever, I’ll be consuming substantially less in the future than I ever did in the past. My future includes brown-bagging, looking at menus online before showing up, calling restaurants ahead of time about low sodium options, and steering clear of the deep-fried options on the menu.
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Is it just me, or is there NO precaution that’s universally agreed on?

The main take home should be: don’t be obese, don’t have diabetes, don’t have hypertension, and don’t be old. Three of the four you can reasonably do something about. But that could be said on just about any disease.

JLC

The main take home should be: don’t be obese, don’t have diabetes, don’t have hypertension, and don’t be old. Three of the four you can reasonably do something about.

News just out that a seventy-something year-old resident of the White House has Covid.

DB2

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…and don’t be old. Three of the four you can reasonably do something about.

For the fourth, get yourself a Darwin Award! It’d easier than losing weight!

The Captain

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