In 1982, Melvin Ball hypothesized that Herpes Simpex Virus 1 (HSV-1) was causative in Alzheimer’s Disease. He proposed that HSV-1 located in the 5th cranial nerve, (called Trigeminal ganglia) could travel up the cranial nerve when reactivated, and ascend along known nerve pathways into the Limbic system and areas of the brain most affected in Alzheimer’s Disease!
About 90% of people today have the herpes virus present within them. If you’ve ever had a cold sore on your lip, you have the Herpes Virus 1 present inside you.
Some statistics also have said that 1 in 6 people now have the Herpes Simple Virus 2 (HSV-2) (genital herpes).
The Epstein-Barr Virus, Shingles, Varicella-Zoster, Herpesvirus 1, 2 and 6 are all in the family of Herpesvirus.
What To Do If You Have a Herpes Outbreak:
If you have any of these viruses you should avoid consuming more than a few nuts and seeds everyday. This is because nuts and seeds contain high amounts of the amino acid L-Arginine, which causes the virus to come out and party.
If you have a cold sore right now, avoid all nuts and seeds, nut butters, pre-workouts (which usually contain a lot of arginine for increasing nitric oxide).
Instead, take 1g of L-Lysine 2-3x per day, which acts like birth control for the virus.
You can also take Lemon Balm Force from New Chapter (find at whole foods).
Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) destroys the herpes virus and inhibits attachment to the host cells! In studies that I have read, the dosage that was most effective was 600 mg/day.
In addition, you can apply topically Super Lysine + from Quantum Health. This can be found at your local drug store, and its less expensive than Abreva (and also just as effective.)
Routine Maintenance:
On the regular, you want to take at least 1g of L-Lysine per day to continue to keep viruses at bay.
The Virus – Iron Anemia Connection:
Another interesting fact that I have been researching and experimenting with is taking L-Lysine for Iron Anemia! Why? Because viruses FEED ON IRON.
If you are someone who is always taking iron, and your ferritin (storage of Iron) is staying low…ask your doctor to test Transferrin and Soluble Transferrin Receptor. These markers are most commonly elevated if you have a true iron deficiency. Transferrin can also be elevated in pregnancy or use of oral contraceptives.
Another helpful marker to test is Reticulocytes, this will determine if you are bleeding somewhere (which would cause iron to be low). Aside from having a really serious condition causing internal bleeding, or the destruction of red blood cells (hemolysis), Reticulocytes elevated if a person has bleeding hemorrhoids (internal or external.) If these are high, this can be the source of your iron deficiency.
If your Transferrin & Soluble Transferrin Receptor is not elevated, you may be having a different kind of iron anemia.
There could be an anemia of inflammation or chronic disease going on. Then you must dig deeper to find out why you are having inflammation? Is it something in your diet/food sensitivities? Leaky gut? Viruses? Stress inducing Adrenal issues? Insulin resistance? Toxins?
Support for Anemia of Inflammation or Chronic Disease:
- If you are having Anemia of Inflammation or Chronic Disease, you must dampen the inflammation with an anti-inflammatory diet. You can throw all kinds of supplements at the inflammation in your body, but if you do not change your diet to exclude inflammatory foods then it will be like throwing a bucket of water on a house fire.
- Oxidative Stress contributes to Iron Anemia. How do we get antioxidants? From fruits and vegetables! In conjunction with that, several studies have shown the efficacy of Curcumin and Resveratrol on shutting off the inflammatory cascade that is produced by NF-kB (a self feeding inflammatory loop). I take 1g of Curcuplex from Xymogen, every day. I also take Resvero Active from Apex Energetics.
- SPMs – (specialized pro-resolving mediators) found in fish oil. I recommend the company Metagenics.
- Ginger, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves – all are anti-inflammatory spices that you can incorporate into your diet
- A lot of times, Iron can be low due to these sub-acute viruses that are residing within our bodies (I believe we will find out in the next 10 years how much of a commonality this really is). I recommend rotating anti-viral supplements, as well as eating lots of fruits and veggies, lowering your meat consumption. If you do not wish to do that, at least make sure the meat you choose to eat is of high quailty/grass fed/no antibiotics/no hormones added.
- L-Lysine to keep herpesviruses in check
- Black Elderberry Syrup
- Garlic extract – Allicin, is the antiviral property in Garlic
- Stinging Nettles (anti-viral herb)
- Monolaurin, from coconut
- Probiotic (This should be #1) This maintains our own immune system, you cannot have a healthy immune system without a healthy gut microbiome.
- Lemon Balm
- If you get with a Functional Medicine practitioner, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Chiropractor, or Naturopath who is well versed in Func. Med. they can help you explore these options.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892378/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3377823/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4923765/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22377592
The Medical Medium by Anthony William