Proven “Plant Prescription” Boosts Immunity and Helps Conquer Covid

Tens of thousands of articles were written last year touting the benefits of CBD. Heck, I wrote at least half a dozen myself.

Even the government’s own internet search engine of papers published in medical journals, PubMed, came up with more than 14,000!

But one of the most widely read CBD articles ever written was regarding a research study that found cannabinoids can prevent Covid from spreading.

It sounds unbelievable. I know. So let me explain...

The study, conducted by Oregon State University researchers, found that certain cannabinoid acids in hemp might be able to prevent SARS-CoV-2 — the coronavirus that causes Covid — from entering human cells.¹

Published in the Journal of Natural Products, the researchers analyzed a variety of plant compounds used as supplements.

The researchers found that two compounds in hemp — cannabigerolic acid and cannabidiolic acid — can bind to the spike protein the virus uses to enter human cells.

Which means it has the potential to block the virus from infecting people.

The research also determined that CBD can induce the expression of interferons — the cell signaling proteins produced by your body as an early response to a viral invasion.

This backs up earlier research done in Canada.

In this study, scientists determined that CBD helps block certain proteins that provide an opening for Covid-19 to enter host cells in the body.²

Covid-19 has spiky proteins that grab onto ACE2 receptors in healthy human cells, especially in the lungs. These receptors are like a “gateway” that allows the infection inside.

But the researchers discovered that certain strains of hemp might decrease the level of ACE2 gene expression...

In other words, they shut the gate to the virus by blocking Covid-19 droplets from infecting our cells.

Earlier studies found that hemp oil alters gene expression. But the effects of hemp oil on ACE2 expression weren’t known.

So the researchers developed more than 800 new hemp extracts. Using artificial 3D human models, they tested whether the high CBD extract could alter ACE2 expression in Covid-19 tissues.

Breakthrough research has found that two compounds in CBD have the potential to block the virus from infecting people.

Given that inflammation is a significant component of viral disease, the researchers also examined the effect of the extracts on ACE2 expression in highly inflamed 3D models.

By the end of the study, they found 13 high-CBD hemp extracts that significantly downregulated the expression of ACE2.³

Reducing virus receptors reduces the chance of a person catching coronavirus. Here’s what Dr. Igor Kovalchuk, the lead researcher of the study, said: “A number of [these CBD strains] have reduced the number of receptors by 73%. If they can reduce the number of receptors, there’s much less chance of getting infected.”

He went on to say... “Our work could have a huge influence. There aren’t many drugs that have the potential of reducing infection by 70 to 80%.”

A third study found that CBD was able to “stop viral gene expression and reverse many of the effects the virus has on host gene transcription.”⁴

CBD Works In Four Ways To Improve Your Immunity

According to current studies, cannabinoids can help boost your immune system and promote better health in four unique ways. For example, CBD can:

1. Increase natural killer cells: Natural killer (NK) cells are critical to your immune system because they destroy virus-infected cells. They also help your body remember foreign invaders so it can respond quickly when it detects an invasion.

Studies have shown that CBD increases the activity of NK cells.⁵

2. Target lung inflammation: In one study, CBD reduced inflammation and improved lung function in mice with damaged lungs.⁶ A second study found that CBD can help open up bronchial passages, allowing patients breathe more easily and avoid low blood oxygen levels and other complications.⁷

3. Maintain a healthy gut microbiome: Since 80% of your immune system lives in your gut, it’s necessary to keep your gastrointestinal tract in top shape. Excessive inflammation in the gut can lead to “leaky gut” and an impaired intestinal immune response. Your body counteracts this through the endocannabinoid system.⁸ In human trials, CBD was found to support a healthy intestinal inflammatory response.⁹

4. Alleviate stress to strengthen immunity. Stress and anxiety can weaken immunity. In one study, 10 healthy men were given a single dose of 600 mg of CBD oil. Their resting blood pressure dropped. Then the volunteers took several stress tests to increase blood pressure.

But, after just one CBD dose, their blood pressure barely changed.¹⁰

CBD Can Protect Your Lungs

The recovery rate from Covid-19 is about 99.75%. Fortunately, most people who have had it won’t have any long-lasting damage.

Unfortunately, in about 5% percent of critical cases, the virus triggers an overreaction of the immune system in what is known as a “cytokine storm.”

This leads to inflammation that can damage the walls and lining of the air sacs in your lungs.

The result is acute respiratory distress syndrome — or ARDS.

But there’s a novel way you can protect your lungs.

A new study published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine found that CBD can reduce — and even reverse — this lung damage by normalizing levels of an inflammation-causing peptide called apelin.

Apelin is made by cells in the blood, brain, heart, fat, and lung tissue. It plays a major role in regulating your blood pressure, while also keeping inflammation down.

When you’re infected with coronavirus, your levels of this peptide plummet. But researchers say that even when levels were close to zero in patients with ARDS, treatment with CBD increased apelin blood levels by 20 times — and restored lung function back to normal levels.

The study authors found that using CBD also:¹¹

This study backs up an earlier study that found CBD helps open bronchial passes allowing patients with COPD to breathe more easily and avoid low blood oxygen levels.¹²

Protect Your Immunity With The Right Kind Of CBD

When it comes to CBD, you want to get the greatest — and fastest — benefit. And that means increasing its bioavailability.

Like most medications and supplements, it’s best to take CBD with a meal because it increases the absorption. And the more CBD you absorb in your bloodstream, the more potent the effect.

You know CBD can be taken a lot of different ways: in tinctures, capsules, vaping, balms, edibles and more. Each method has benefits, but some allow for more CBD to be directly absorbed than others.

For example, eating or swallowing CBD requires digestion, which means some of the CBD gets broken down by your liver before circulating into your bloodstream.

Tinctures, on the other hand, get absorbed more quickly into your bloodstream under your tongue.

I’ve found that an oral spray that uses nanotechnology is the most bioavailable. That’s because it’s a quicker, more direct route to the bloodstream, and it avoids the liver’s “first pass” effect, which lowers CBD bioavailability.

In fact, nanotechnology gets 1,500% more CBD past your cell membranes. When you’re having trouble with your lungs, that’s pretty important.¹³

To get maximum benefit, spray the liquid under your tongue, hold it without talking for 60 seconds and then swallow.

3 More Ways To Boost Bioavailability

1. Look for an emulsified product. Some products emulsify their CBD using nanotechnology. This breaks CBD down into even smaller molecules. The smaller and more dispersed the molecules are, the more bioavailable they are, because they pass more easily through cell membranes and into the bloodstream than larger CBD particles.¹⁴

2. Take it with healthy fats. CBD is a fat-soluble compound, meaning it dissolves in fats. This breaks CBD down into smaller molecules that are more easily absorbed by the body. One way to increase CBD’s bioavailability is to mix it with a healthy high-fat snack or meal. A recent study found that people who took CBD with high-fat foods increased their absorption up to 14 times more than those who took it on an empty stomach.¹⁵

3. Look for full-spectrum CBD. Terpenes are fatty oils found in the essential oils of almost all plants. They occur naturally in hemp and are extracted along with CBD and other compounds to create full-spectrum CBD products. These compounds work together and amplify each other’s benefits, a synergy known as the “entourage effect.” Terpenes increase CBD bioavailability and enhance the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids.

Two More Proven Plant Prescriptions That Increase Immunity

Of course, CBD isn’t the only alternative therapy to combat Covid. I’ve had incredible success at my clinic treating patients with powerful plant therapies the CDC continues to question. These plant prescriptions include:

1. Use the ancient immune booster I’ve taken for three decades. I flew to my home away from home in Uganda earlier this month, during the height of the latest “twindemic” of Covid and flu. A lot of people have asked me recently if I’m worried about getting sick.

I gave them the same answer gave them... I know my immune strength is strong thanks to an ancient immune boosting herb called astragalus.

It’s proven to boost the body’s natural defense system — and I’ve been using it for 30 years.

You see, astragalus extract is the key ingredient in a nutritional supplement called TA-65. I was privileged to become the first doctor in the U.S. licensed to administer TA-65. It’s a telomerase-activating formula that significantly reverses aging of the immune system.¹⁶

Astragalus gets its power from its remarkable apoptogenic properties.

Adaptogens are a special class of healing herbs, which coax your body to adapt to its stressors — both internal and external. They work to normalize your body and bring about homeostasis, or a state of equilibrium.

Astragalus contains dozens of active, synergistic and supportive components — including immune-boosting saponins, antioxidant flavonoids, and dozens of anti-inflammatory, oxygen-rich polysaccharides.

This super adaptogen heightens the efficiency of virtually every component of your immune system and provides your body with a near-impenetrable defense. It does this by triggering the production of immune system stem cells, flooding your body with young, new immune cells ready to battle against any viral or bacterial invader.

Just look at some of the research:

I recommend supplementing with nano astragalus. Made from an astragalus extract called cycloastragenol, this nano technology extract is more easily absorbed, which makes it more effective.

In one study, researchers tested the effects of cycloastragenol on white blood cells — the backbone of your immune system. After just a few months, they found that those taking this form had cells that were typical of people 20 years younger. I suggest taking 100 mg daily.

2. Use the immune booster good enough for the U.S. army. This powerful polyphenol found in onions, apples, berries, cocoa, red wine — and my favorite, buchu — can reduce your susceptibility to viruses and prevents them from multiplying once they’ve entered your body.²⁰

Studies found that quercetin is a powerful immune booster that provides broad-spectrum protection against the common cold as well as a number of viruses, including the flu, SARS, Ebola, H1N1 — and even Covid-19.  

A recent study published in the International Journal of General Medicine found that Covid patients given quercetin significantly reduced virus persistence by 76% in the first week, compared to 9.5% in the standard care group.²¹

Previous research shows that quercetin’s antiviral capacity works in three ways. Studies show this immune booster can help prevent the virus from infecting cells and reduce the reproduction of cells that are already infected. In fact, this natural supplement is so powerful that the U.S. Department of Defense tested it to see if it could protect our soldiers from contracting deadly viral infections.

They gave study participants a daily dose of 1,000 mg of quercetin (along with vitamin C and niacin to boost quercetin levels and improve bioavailability) or a placebo.

They found that after five weeks, those who were given quercetin were significantly less likely to develop a viral infection after putting their bodies under considerable stress for three consecutive days. Only 5% of the treatment group got sick, compared to 45% of the placebo group.²²

In a second study by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), researchers infected four groups of mice with the H1N1 virus. Two of the groups were put into stressful situations, while the others were not. Half the animals were given quercetin.

Researchers found that after three days, 50% of the control group became ill with H1N1. Again, only 5% of the quercetin-supplemented group did.²³

Sip My Favorite Source Of Quercetin

One of my favorite sources of quercetin comes from a noble plant I discovered on my travels in Africa. Called buchu, this botanical is so rich in quercetin that I use it as a natural flu remedy.

Because buchu is a strong herb, I recommend taking it with food.

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