Fulvic Acid as a Potent Antiviral

Research shows that humic acid, of which fulvic acid forms part, binds so strongly to viruses that it can actually displace them from a cell surface. In vitro studies have shown, for example, that if you allow herpes simplex viruses to attach to host cells and then add humic acid to the solution, it will displace viruses from infected cell surfaces. That is, humic acid has a greater affinity for the virus than the virus does for the host cell. Thus, humic acid can actually displace a virus even after it has attached itself to the surface of a cell.

The following article was originally posted by Michael Ash for the website of Clinical Education, a ‘Not for Profit’ organisation that brings a range of educational experiences to healthcare professionals. Follow Clinical Education by clicking on the following link: https://www.clinicaleducation.org/

The interview with Richard J Laub, MS, PhD, CChem, FRSC, was conducted by Focus Allergy Research Group.

*Note by Oshun Health: Humic Acids referred to in this article is the collective name for both humic acid and fulvic acid. In order to utilise humic acid, it is broken down to fulvic acid in the human gut. This is because humic acid is not soluble at the low pH (acidic) level of the stomach whereas fulvic acid is soluble at any pH level. The antiviral properties referred to in the article, therefore, applies to fulvic acid as well as humic acid.

An Interview with: Richard J Laub, MS, PhD, CChem, FRSC, is a chemist with nearly 150 peer-reviewed published research papers, sixteen patents, and numerous invited reviews and symposium presentations. He was formerly a professor of chemistry at The Ohio State University and San Diego State University, was a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in London, England, was an Alcoa fellow in San Diego, and a Science Research Council fellow in Swansea, Wales. For the last 17 years, Dr. Laub has focused exclusively on sourcing, analysing, studying, extracting and purifying humic acid, a remarkable high-mineral, healing substance with potent antiviral properties, found in ancient soil deposits.

Focus: You have devoted the last 17 years of your life to researching humic acid, an extract of ancient organic soil deposits. These ancient soil deposits—named humus, or humin, from the Greek word for soil—can be found all over the world and contain highly-concentrated minerals and healing substances. It’s interesting that in essence, the soil that nourishes plant life–and later the plant that dies and becomes part of the soil–contains such potent healing substances. Can you give us some basic facts about humic and fulvic acids before we discuss the health benefits?

RJL: Both humic and fulvic acids are extracts from composted organic matter and prove to be excellent mineral supplements. They excel at providing all the trace minerals we need. Fulvic acid is a small and somewhat rigid molecule, with a molecular weight of about 1,500 daltons (a dalton is a unit of mass commonly used in chemistry). Humic acid is equally potent as a mineral supplement, but is a much heavier, bigger molecule. It weighs about 50,000 daltons. Humic acid is flexible, because it is made up of many chains of molecules. It looks a bit like a series of wagon wheels, one inside the other, with spokes going from one wheel to the next. This flexibility is a very important contributor to its antiviral properties.

Focus: What do these very different shapes—small and rigid, or large and flexible—mean in terms of human health?

RJL: Because of its size and flexibility, certain humic acids from particular soil deposits turn out to be potent, broad-spectrum antivirals. That is because humic acid contains many kinds of “functional groups” (specific groups of atoms) that can bind to a multitude of viruses. Research has shown certain humic acids to be effective in vitro against a wide range of viruses, including influenza, HSV, HIV, and others.

Focus: How exactly does humic acid bind to a virus?

RJL: Binding occurs through hydrogen bonding. Electropositive atoms attract electronegative atoms. These are the same forces that hold DNA together. What is remarkable is that humic acid, with its many kinds of functional groups, binds more strongly to viruses than do our own cells. Certain humic acids from certain soil deposits are essentially like a really, really sticky piece of Velcro. Viruses also have really sticky sites—that’s how they manage to bind to a host cell. When these two very sticky pieces of Velcro come together they bind together very strongly.

Focus: Can you explain what a virus does once it attaches to a cell receptor?

RJL: It essentially pokes a hole in the cell, and injects either its RNA or DNA–its genomic material–into the cell. At that point the virus has essentially spent itself, but the viral material inside the cell uses the cell’s machinery to create more viruses, which then leave the cell and go on to bind to and infect other cells.

Focus: What happens to a virus when it binds to humic acid instead of a cell surface?

RJL: Humic acid essentially neutralises a virus’s chemical “stickiness”. Doing so in turn prevents the virus from reproducing since it can no longer attach (“fuse”) to the surface of a host cell. The immune system can then begin to eliminate the virus (largely through the action of macrophages). Also, viruses don’t live forever: if not allowed to reproduce, influenza viruses, for example, die out in 36-48 hours.

Focus: What happens if viruses have already attached to your cells? Can humic acid help?

RJL: Humic acid binds so strongly to viruses that it can actually displace them from a cell surface. In vitro studies have shown, for example, that if you allow herpes simplex viruses to attach to host cells and then add humic acid to the solution, it will displace viruses from infected cell surfaces. That is, humic acid has a greater affinity for the virus than the virus does for the host cell. Thus, humic acid can actually displace a virus even after it has attached itself to the surface of a cell.

Focus: That’s quite amazing—that this natural substance can displace viruses that have already locked onto cells. Is this true of any humic acid from around the world?

RJL: No. Humic acid varies dramatically from site to site. Humic acids from different deposits have very different physicochemical properties. Just like coal—the coal from South Africa is very different in makeup than the coal from Birmingham in Britain. For instance, one of the better-known humic acid deposits in the United States occurs in the state of New Mexico, where humic acid is mined for agriculture–as a fertiliser–and also for the petroleum industry as a drilling mud additive. From an agricultural standpoint New Mexico humic acid is great, but it is not very effective at combating human viruses. A lot of the research I carried out in the early days was simply obtaining samples of humic acid from around the world and testing them to see which ones were efficacious against human viral disease. Remember, humic acid is the result of composted organic matter that is 50-100,000 years old, and that can be found almost anywhere—places where there are freshwater deposits and vegetation living around freshwater lakes, other places where there are saltwater deposits and decomposed organic matter at the edge of marine environments. Some humic acids come from decomposed forests, others from marshes, peat bogs, or scrub-brush. Any plant can be composted into humic acid, but the enormous variety of plant life means that each source of humic acid is unique.

Focus: Once you found the ideal antiviral humic acid, what did you do?

RJL: The next challenge was to purify and sterilise it without degrading it. When you first dig humic acid out of the ground it is dark-brown or even black. Shilajit is a very crude form of humic acid that has been used around the world for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. The most familiar form of humic acid looks like coal, and is sometimes called leonardite or brown coal—though it isn’t actually coal. So, the challenge was to extract the humic acid without damaging it. Methodologies suitable for sterilisation of the final processed product also took very considerable research and development. (The original microbes that created the humus are of course long since dead, but other bacteria and moulds flourish in such soil deposits.) Overall, ten solid years of research and development were required to identify a quality source of humic acid that could also be purified and sterilised without diminishing its effectiveness as a human antiviral agent.

Focus: If one takes humic acid orally, when do peak blood levels occur?

RJL: Peak levels occur at about four hours. By eight to twelve hours the substance is pretty much cleared out of the bloodstream.

Focus: Do you think it has any other special properties beyond being a great mineral source and a potent antiviral?

RJL: Some researchers claim it boosts the immune system, but I’m not convinced it does so directly. I think that humic acid’s wide spectrum of important trace minerals, coupled with its antiviral properties, result in a stronger immune system indirectly. Some of the trace minerals are present in very, very tiny amounts—just a few parts per million—but that’s exactly what we need to support enzyme functions among other things. I also think there are a lot of viruses we are all carrying that haven’t yet been identified (“stealth” viruses). But humic acid will bind to them, regardless.

Focus: That just shows you the broad-spectrum action of humic acid, so that it’s likely to work on many viruses we carry that have not yet been identified. I assume you take it yourself?

RJL: Of course. And I haven’t had a cold or the flu since 2004. Not one.

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Chinese Medical Team Report Successful Treatment Of Coronavirus Patients With High-Dose Vitamin C

A medical team from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University in China has reported the successful treatment of coronavirus patients with vitamin C. In a press release posted on the hospital website, the team describes how patients suffering from severe coronary pneumonia, a potentially fatal complication of the new coronavirus COVID-19, have recovered after being treated with high doses of the vitamin. The medical team recommend that for critically ill patients and those with severe neonatal pneumonia, vitamin C treatment should be initiated as soon as possible after admission to hospital.

Significantly, the press release acknowledges that early application of vitamin C can have a strong antioxidant effect, reduce inflammatory responses, and improve endothelial function. It also describes how numerous studies have shown the dose of vitamin C used has a lot to do with the treatment’s effect. The medical team say their past experience shows that high-dose vitamin C can not only improve antiviral levels, but more importantly can prevent and treat acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress.

Shanghai Medical Association recommends high-dose vitamin C for treatment of coronavirus

In a further development, the Shanghai Medical Association (SMA) in China has published a consensus on the comprehensive treatment of coronavirus disease. Based on the study of more than 300 clinical patients and developed by 30 experts in the treatment of new coronavirus pneumonia, it recommends high-dose vitamin C for even light infection with the virus.

The dose recommended in the consensus is 50 to 100 mg per kilogram of bodyweight per day. For severe and critically ill patients, up to 200 mg per kilogram of bodyweight per day is advised, injected intravenously. Described as the ‘Shanghai Plan’, the SMA says its consensus has attracted widespread attention, including on Shanghai TV.

High-dose vitamin C therapies on verge of becoming mainstream

Reporting on these developments, some natural health websites have chosen to ignore the fact that the Xi’an Jiaotong University Hospital press release discusses claimed side effects of vitamin C treatment, such as the discredited suggestion that it can supposedly cause kidney stones. These websites similarly fail to mention that the SMA’s expert consensus also recommends drugs for the treatment of the new coronavirus. While one can perhaps understand their reasoning, in that they may feel these aspects detract from the positive natural health theme of the story, they have failed to appreciate that high-dose vitamin C therapies are on the verge of becoming mainstream. Orthodox medicine will continue using drugs for some time yet, in other words, but its invasion by vitamins is now well underway.

In a further illustration of this, the U.S. government’s National Cancer Institute recently published a long article on intravenous high-dose vitamin C in cancer therapy. Examining the history and use of vitamin C in the treatment of cancer, the writers concluded that “given the current high financial cost of new cancer drugs, it seems rational to improve the effectiveness of current therapies by studying their clinical interactions with vitamin C.” They added that in their view, “the implementation of this treatment paradigm could provide benefit to many cancer patients.”

Not so many years ago it would have been unthinkable for the U.S. National Cancer Institute to have written about vitamin C in this way. Clearly, therefore, as described in the groundbreaking book ‘Victory Over Cancer’, published by Dr. Rath and Dr. Aleksandra Niedzwiecki in 2011, the ‘Age of Intoxication’ in the treatment of cancer is on the way to being replaced by the ‘Age of Cellular Regulation’.

A similar medical revolution is underway in the treatment of sepsis, a life-threatening condition resulting from the body’s response to an infection. The leading cause of death among hospitalized patients, during the last 3 decades over 100 drug trials have failed to improve clinical outcomes for sepsis patients. Today, however, a treatment based on the use of vitamin C is showing remarkable results. Led by Dr. Paul E. Marik, an intensive-care unit physician at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in the United States, a study published in the journal Chest in 2017 describes how an intravenous combination of vitamin C , vitamin B1, and the hormone hydrocortisone saw just 4 deaths among 47 sepsis patients who received it.

As these developments demonstrate, the ‘vitamin genie’ is now out of the bottle. And with worldwide awareness of the power of vitamins growing rapidly, there is no way of holding it back. In the years ahead, the use of vitamin C and other micronutrients is set to become increasingly common in orthodox medicine. While we have not yet reached the point where heart disease is widely accepted by doctors as an early form of the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy, as Dr. Rath’s research has decisively proven, this too will eventually follow. Meantime, we send our congratulations to the medical team from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. Where they have led, other medical teams will surely follow.

https://www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2020/03/chinese-medical-team-report-successful-treatment-of-coronavirus-patients-with-high-dose-vitamin-c/

Published by Paul Anthony Taylor at March 6, 2020

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Guidelines to Being Prepared for, and Managing Fevers

Fever is a sign that the body is trying to eliminate disease. It is best to work with a fever, not against it. Using fever suppressing drugs makes it harder for the body to fight illness and can prolong disease. It can also lead to febrile convulsions as the body has to push temperatures up higher, once the drugs wear off. This document compares current Fever practices against scientific evidence.

The best thing to do when your baby has a fever is to get into bed together and put him/her on your naked chest skin to skin. A mother is capable of regulating her baby’s core temperature by practicing kangaroo care. Put a light blanket over the two of you and get a good sweat out going. This is also the best way to monitor your baby. Do not allow your child to get cold or dehydrated.

Tuirebao Fever formula is wonderful for supporting the body during fevers as well as speeding up healing during tonsillitis, measles and mumps.

Verbascum is always good to keep on hand in case of ear infections.

Liposomal Vit C is essential for boosting the immune system and powering up white blood cells.

As is OrganIForce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spore Probiotic is a fantastic probiotic to balance gut flora and help to reduce unhealthy bacteria.

I also swear by Immu-Bomb which contains Liposomal vitamin C, Liposomal Sutherlandia (potent immune booster) and Liposomal Verbascum (natural cough expectorant when taken orally). This can be taken hourly when sick.

 

For effective pain management, Liposomal MSM is a much safer option than ibuprofen or paracetamol.

Wet sock treatment is used to stimulate the immune system and increase blood circulation. This treatment is an old, effective natural remedy and can be used as a replacement for fever reducing medications. It is best to use wet sock treatment on the first day of the illness and to do it for a few nights in a row for maximum effectiveness.

Supplies You Will Need:

• 1 pair of very thin cotton socks
• 1 pair of wool socks
• 1 bowl of ice water
• 1 warm bath or 1 bowl of very warm water (large enough to soak feet)

Directions:

1. Soak the pair of thin socks in the bowl of ice water.  When the socks are completely wet, remove them from the water and wring them out thoroughly.
2. Take a warm bath for 5-10 minutes. Warming the feet first is very important for the effectiveness of the treatment. Wet sock treatment can be harmful if your feet are not warmed.  Instead of a bath you may also soak your child’s feet in a bowl of very warm water (make the water temperature as warm as possible without burning your child of course). Once the feet have been warmed for 10 minutes do the next step.
3. Dry off feet (and body if a bath was taken) with a dry towel.
4. Place ice-cold wet socks on feet. Then cover the wet socks with the thick (dry) wool socks. Put on pajamas and go directly to bed. Make sure your child gets under the covers and avoids getting chilled.
5. Wear the socks overnight. During the night, your child might wake up with wet pajamas from sweating.  If so, have your child change into dry pajamas, but leave on the socks. You will find that the wet cotton socks will be dry in the morning.

A healthy fever will spike and then drop several times over the course of a few days. It is essential to keep your child at home, hydrated and warm during this time. Many parents make the mistake of sending their child back to school once the fever has dropped, only to be called back to fetch their child again because the fever has spiked again. Rather keep your little one at home for at least two days after the fever has broken to ensure that he/she has completely recovered.

It is very common to find your child breaking out in a rash at the end of the fever. This is typical to viral infections and is a good sign that the body has eliminated the pathogen. If a rash and fever occur at the same time though, it would be wise to seek medical attention as it is possible that the viral infection could be rubella (German Measles) or rubeola (Measles).

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Curcumin Helps Patient Recovery

For those who appreciate the unique spiciness of turmeric, it’s serendipitous to learn there are several layers of extraordinary health benefits included with the active ingredient known as curcumin. One of the latest was revealed in a study in which scientists tested the powerful compound for its effects on heart failure patients.

Heart failure, experienced by nearly 6 million people in the U.S., weakens your heart and affects its ability to pump sufficient oxygen. Patients no longer have the ability to participate in activities and exercise like they once did, which could be described as life altering.

Heart failure is also described as chronic, progressive and incurable, although a change in lifestyle, such as eating a balanced, healthy diet and performing regular exercise can decrease feelings of fatigue and enhance their mood enough to help people resume their lives to a large degree.

Research published in the Journal of Applied Physiology reports that curcumin may help patients with chronic heart failure by increasing skeletal muscle strength, endurance and exercise capacity.  Although mice were the subjects used in the trial, the scientists are hopeful their research can eventually be translated to human patients in a clinical setting.

Turmeric is in the same botanical family as ginger, another powerful spice with proven, health-beneficial compounds. With that in mind, corresponding study author Dr. Lie Gao, assistant professor of cellular and integrative physiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), notes:

“This study showed an important proof of principle. Some foods and spices, such as broccoli and turmeric, contain a rich supply of antioxidant compounds. Consumption of these foods or spices may improve skeletal muscle health. For patients with stable heart failure that have limited ability to exercise, compounds like these may be beneficial.”

Interestingly, previous studies proposed that targeting skeletal muscle with antioxidants may be advantageous for heart failure patients, but Gao states that it’s not possible to use curcumin on humans because of the high amounts it would take.

Gao then suggests that “other antioxidants” such as dimethyl fumarate, a drug currently popular for treating multiple sclerosis, could be used for its health-improving benefits. That said, curcumin is one of hundreds of plant-based nutriments, from carrots to tobacco, to be unapologetically sourced and manufactured into pharmaceuticals.

Curcumin: Gingery, Earthy, Healing

Curcumin, taken from the underground rhizome of the plant, is the pigment that gives curry its bright yellow hue, explaining why turmeric is an ingredient used to complement and color stir-fries and sautéed root vegetables, rice, scrambled eggs and braised greens such as kale and collards.

In just the past few years, queries about the spice touted to have a “cult following” have increased exponentially, according to The Guardian.⁵ It’s showing up in foods like smoothies and the trendy turmeric latte known as golden milk, a potent blend of organic turmeric powder and coconut milk and/or virgin coconut oil.

Optional flavor additions include vanilla, raw honey or stevia, a stick of ginger and/or cinnamon, and sometimes a healthy dash of black or white pepper. The addition of ghee is used to soothe a sore throat.

In fact, the use of black pepper in golden milk is supported by a study in which the “curcuminoid-piperine combination” addressed the symptoms of metabolic syndrome in 117 study subjects who exhibited both oxidative stress and inflammation. According to the randomized, controlled trial and updated meta-analysis, oxidative and inflammatory status showed significant improvement, even with short-term curcumin supplementation.

Tellingly, turmeric is called the “spice of life” in India. Golden milk is becoming increasingly popular not just as a pleasant, warming drink for cool autumn evenings, but as a sleep aid for people who struggle with insomnia. Further, curcumin has been identified as a substance that’s safe, effective and natural.

A plethora of studies point to the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin (Curcuma longa) and reveal more than 160 separate physiological and cell-signaling pathways, positively influencing arthritic conditions, cancer, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, and, more recently, metabolic syndrome and dementia.

Studies Reveal Curcumin’s Powerful Potential for Your Brain

In another study from mid-2018, scientists at Texas A&M endeavored to relieve patients suffering from Gulf War illness (GWI), characterized by “substantially declined neurogenesis, chronic low-grade inflammation, increased oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the hippocampus.” In the animal study, GWI rats treated with curcumin (CUR) maintained better memory and mood function. In addition:

“Enhanced neurogenesis, restrained inflammation and oxidative stress with normalized mitochondrial respiration may underlie better memory and mood function mediated by CUR treatment.”

The scientists wrote that their use of curcumin was due to its long-recognized ability to positively influence several aspects of brain health. The rats in the study were exposed to low doses of DEET, or N-diethyl-m-toluamide, a common insect repellant, and other chemicals related to GWI, such as pyridostigmine bromide and permethrin. They were also subjected to restraint for five minutes daily for a period of 28 days.

Even more recently, another study shows that chronic neuropathic pain and the cognitive impairment that accompanies it can be addressed with the antinociceptive (reduced sensitivity to painful stimuli) and neuroprotective application of curcumin, demonstrated using rats in a lab setting subjected to cobra venom.

Interestingly, the rats exhibited improvements in spatial learning and memory deficits, as well as increased exploratory activities due to the ability of curcumin to reverse the damage done to hippocampal neurons and synapses. Scientists concluded that curcumin can “alleviate pain, improve spatial learning and memory deficits, and treat chronic neuropathic pain-induced cognitive deficits.”

Mood and Memory Enhancement via Curcumin

The inflammatory and antioxidant properties of curcumin to improve memory and mood were again confirmed when UCLA published results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled 18-month trial in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychology, in which 90 milligrams (mg) of a bioavailable form of curcumin, taken twice a day, “led to significant memory and attention benefits” in people with mild memory loss.

Curcumin has been suggested as the explanation for why senior citizens in India, whose regular diets include generous amounts of curcumin-containing foods, show both a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease and sharper cognitive function. Further, the study “results suggest that taking this relatively safe form of curcumin could provide meaningful cognitive benefits over the years.”

Gary Small, director of the University’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the study’s first author, notes that while the mechanisms behind curcumin’s brain benefits aren’t yet known definitively, they might be due to its inhibitory effect on brain inflammation, which has been associated with both major depression and Alzheimer’s disease.

Forty people, including healthy people without dementia as well as those with the characteristic “microscopic plaques and tangles” of Alzheimer’s, ranging in age from 51 to 84 years, participated in the study. Scientists took standardized cognitive assessments at the beginning of the study as well as at six-month intervals, and participants’ curcumin levels were checked in their blood after 18 months. Further:

“Thirty of the volunteers underwent positron emission tomography, or PET scans, to determine the levels of amyloid and tau in their brains at the start of the study and after 18 months. The people who took curcumin experienced significant improvements in their memory and attention abilities, while the subjects who received placebo did not …

In memory tests, the people taking curcumin improved by 28 percent over the 18 months. Those taking curcumin also had mild improvements in mood, and their brain PET scans showed significantly less amyloid and tau signals in the amygdala and hypothalamus than those who took placebos.”¹³

The participants’ amygdala and hypothalamus — regions of the brain known to control several memory and emotional functions, which were positively influenced by the curcumin — were defined as critical areas of the brain.

Curcumin Is Used to Alleviate Stroke Damage

Still another study, this one presented at an American Heart Association International Stroke Conference, uncovered curcumin’s ability to repair damage caused by strokes, which have been called “brain attacks” caused when a blood clot blocks an artery or blood vessel, effectively cutting off blood flow and triggering brain cell death and sometimes brain damage and even death.

Stroke symptoms include an inability for individuals to walk due to a loss of balance, a sudden, severe headache, difficulty seeing, weakness, often on one side only, and sudden confusion. It’s crucial to know that the longer your brain goes without oxygen, the greater your risk of lasting damage.

A drug used on stroke victims, referred to as “clot-busting,” the current and most common intervention, is a synthetic contrast to the curcumin-hybrid known as CNB-001, which repairs damage sustained at the molecular level by the lack of oxygen.

Besides crossing the blood-brain barrier, CNB-001 works by influencing the mechanism responsible for the regeneration of brain cells and offers future stroke victims new hope for more complete recovery.

This is a specific example of a time when a drug can both save your life and prevent the very frequent and devastating outcomes of a stroke. Incidentally, medical intervention is crucial to help prevent such damage from stroke, but must be obtained within 60 minutes.

Curcumin to Help Prevent Cancer

Curcumin has been identified as one of the most powerful chemopreventive and anticancer agents, and recognized for its wide spectrum of pharmacological properties and inhibitory effects on metabolic enzymes, according to PubChem, which notes its wound healing and antimicrobial effects, and states:

“Curcumin blocks the formation of reactive-oxygen species, possesses anti-inflammatory properties as a result of inhibition of cyclooxygenases (COX) and other enzymes involved in inflammation; and disrupts cell signal transduction by various mechanisms including inhibition of protein kinase C.

These effects may play a role in the agent’s observed antineoplastic properties, which include inhibition of tumor cell proliferation and suppression of chemically induced carcinogenesis and tumor growth in animal models of cancer.”

The same study shows curcumin as able to suppress cancer proliferation and apoptosis (programmed cell death), thereby acting as a chemopreventive agent in skin, colon and stomach cancers. Other studies using animal models list breast, bladder, brain, esophageal, kidney, liver, lung, pancreas and prostate cancers, and more.

Significantly, the active elements in curcumin attack cancer while leaving healthy cells untouched. For the purpose of disease intervention, while turmeric is available in powdered form, it contains very little of the active compounds in curcumin, or only about a 3 percent curcumin concentration.

Because it’s not easily absorbed through your gastrointestinal tract, it’s more effective to use a high-quality bioavailable curcumin extract, according to a 2013 study.¹⁷ A typical anticancer dose is just under 1 teaspoon of curcumin extract three or four times daily.

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/01/28/curcumin-helps-patient-recovery.aspx

Order The Health Nut’s Liposomal Curcumin, CurcuBoost here 

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The Little Known Miracle of Life: Fulvic acid

In the beginning, the earth was blessed with rich, fertile soil and lush vegetation. The soil was teaming with microbes — bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, to name a few. In the perfect cycle of life, microbes in the soil break down dead plant material and create substances and nutrients that nourish plants. When humans eat these plants, we enjoy the nutrients that they provide

The microbes in the soil make the hidden treasure called fulvic acid, the miracle of life. Fulvic acid is not a vitamin or a mineral and science cannot synthesize this substance in a laboratory. Our bodies require it for optimal health, but, we no longer get fulvic acid in adequate amounts from our food.

While the scientific research is growing in support of fulvic acid, there are less than 1,750 studies on PubMed.gov. One needs to dig around to find fulvic studies related to human benefits, but information and clinical evidence exists. This is not “just another supplement” but a powerful, life-giving substance that is quietly disappearing from our food and this is taking a toll on human health.

Fulvic acid has been reported to rejuvenate health and bring a multitude of benefits that are unmatched by any other natural substance.

Fulvic acid (FA) has been used for 3,000 years as Shilajit in Indian medicine.

Carrasco-Gallardo stated, “It is likely that the curative properties attributable to shilajit are provided by the significant levels of fulvic acids that shilajit contains, considering that fulvic acid is known by its strong antioxidant actions.” [v]

Historically, it was believed that fulvic acid/Shilajit had immune-modulating, antioxidant, diuretic, antihypertensive, and hypoglycemic benefits. [Winker][Trivadi] FA was used in diabetes, and to support the urinary, immune, digestive, cardiac, and nervous systems. [xxiv][i][ii][viii]

In Ayurveda literature it is called “rasayana” or rejuvenator, enhancing the quality of life. [xxxviii][xv]

Benefits

Fulvic acids can be found in compost or peat, lignite (brown coal which gives inferior fulvic acid) or ancient humic deposits that come from deep within the earth. Unlike other deposits formed over time deep below the earth’s surface, like coal, oil and natural gas, humic deposits are safe, providing powerful compounds that provide an impressive number of benefits for plants, humans and animals.

• enhances the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals
• anti-inflammatory effects
• anti-allergy
• improves many aspects of eczema
• speeds skin healing
• enhances healing of wounds infected with drug-resistant pathogens
• protects against free radical damage as an antioxidant
• anti-aging benefits
• improves gut flora and gut health
• anti-diarrheal effects in animals and humans
• improves energy levels
• reduces oxidative stress
• useful in treatment of osteoarthritis patients
• shows antiviral activity, interfering with a virus’ ability to attach to a host cell, penetrate the host cell, and reproduce itself
• displays antimicrobial activity
• displays antifungal activity
• effective for the management of oral biofilm infections
• anti-aging effect on the skin, increasing fibroblast viability and reducing collagen degradation
• neuroprotective, improves memory and brain function
• supports the immune system
• stimulates metabolism
• cleanses toxins and heavy metals from the body
• shows immunomodulatory activity
• modulates homocysteine and pro-inflammatory mediators linked to atherosclerosis
• promotes ulcer healing

Science cannot create fulvic acid

Fulvic acid offers a seemingly endless spectrum of benefits for human and animal health that would make any pharmaceutical company nervous. Fulvic acid cannot be made by man because it involves photosynthesis and humification. The process that creates fulvic acid requires nature’s recyclers, microorganisms, working in fertile, rich soil over a long period of time. Microbes decompose organic material (manure, compost, decaying plant material), in the soil to create nutrients for the plant including trace minerals, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Microbes make the minerals in the soil into a useful form for plants and over time the microbes help create an amazing substance called humus (hyoo-muh s).

“Essentially, All Life Depends Upon The Soil … There Can Be No Life Without Soil And No Soil Without Life”

~ Charles E. Kellogg, head of the Soil Survey in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for 37 years (1934-1971)

We never had to worry about getting enough fulvic acid, it simply existed in our soil and in our food, since time began. Fertile soil, and the microbial life within it, is a highly valuable natural resource that is critical for food security and for human health. Fertile soil is teaming with microbial life (it is interesting to note that there are more bacteria in two spoonfuls of rich, fertile soil than there are humans on planet earth). Sustainable farming practices that add compost and organic compounds to the soil help create a robust microbial community. Microbes are required for the cycle of life. They work to break down plant and animal matter, and over hundreds and thousands of years, fulvic acid is one of the end products of decomposition.

Common agricultural practices cause the loss of fulvic acid in food and the progressive deterioration of human health

Over the past 50 to 100 years, farming practices that sustained humans for thousands of years have drastically changed. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides were created to increase crop yield, kill insects and control weeds. Modern agricultural practices increase the amount of food produced but the toll this has taken on soil microbes, plant nutrients and human and animal health is underappreciated.

While attempting to kill the pests and weeds and bolster plant production, the chemicals used in agriculture have inadvertently attacked friendly troops in the soil jungle.

The price of growing food this way is dramatically altering the natural recycling process required in nature, and the downstream effects on human health are mounting.

Fulvic acid may seem like “just another nutrient” that is declining in food, but it is actually the most important health-building compound because it is nature’s intended vehicle for transporting minerals and other nutrients into living cells.

Fulvic acid is nature’s answer to depleted food and too many toxins

Fulvic acid and humic acid are the key substances found in humus, the end result of the humification process where microbes in the soil break down once living matter, usually plants. It is believed that most of the health benefits attributed to Shilajit and humic substances are primarily due to the presence of fulvic acid.

Fulvic acid is a very small molecule of low molecular weight. It is smaller than humic acid and penetrates the cell membrane and even the mitochondria. [v] Because fulvic acid bonds easily to nutrients like vitamins and minerals, it efficiently delivers nutrients where they are needed. Without fulvic acid our bodies’ ability to absorb nutrients (from food or supplementation) is diminished.

Fulvic acid’s small molecular weight coupled with the fact that it is water soluble at all pH levels, makes it superior for working in the body to:

• deliver nutrients
• bring antioxidant benefits
• remove cellular waste products and toxins [xliii]

“You can trace every sickness, every disease and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.”

~Dr. Linus Pauling, awarded two Nobel Prizes

It is well known that minerals are required for a range of biochemical processes, but mineral deficiencies are epidemic. Our food lacks the vitamin and mineral content that it should have and most supplements do not absorb well enough to correct mineral deficiencies. The fulvic acid complex contains bioavailable minerals and trace elements that are desperately needed to combat widespread mineral deficiency in humans.

Fulvic acid is nature’s answer to the problem that man has created with over-farming and the production of processed foods.

Fulvic acid is a magical vehicle with 60 seats

The main components of fulvic acid are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. These molecules in fulvic acid easily bond to other molecules and transport them through the body. It can possess over 70 trace elements, electrolytes, polyphenols, flavonoids, and essential amino acids.

Naturopathic physician, Dr. Daniel Nuzum, has been studying fulvic acid since 1998. He has used fulvic acid supplements with thousands of patients, and he researches and teaches extensively about fulvic acid. Very few doctors can make this claim, and have little to no experience with fulvic acid. Dr. Nuzum is an expert and he is able to communicate a difficult concept in a way that is easy to understand. “Fulvic acts like the FedEx truck and the garbage truck,” Dr. Nuzum explained. “It delivers nutrition into the cell and carries the trash (toxins & waste) out too!”

Fulvic acid has 60 receptor sites and because it is a carbon-based compound, it bonds easily to nutrients. Dr. Nuzum likens fulvic acid to a 60-passenger bus carrying nutrients in each of the 60 seats. The fulvic acid bus travels along to cells needing a nutrient package delivered. When it drops off the nutrient package, a seat is empty on the fulvic acid bus, so it picks up cellular waste and toxins, like the garbage man, and removes them from your system.

The missing puzzle piece

Many people are feeling the effects of low nutrient absorption, even in the presence of a good diet with regular intake of supplemental vitamins and minerals. This information about fulvic acid is the missing puzzle piece for many people seeking health. Whether you are fighting an infection, rebuilding health, or desire anti-aging strategies, add fulvic acid daily to help your body absorb and use needed nutrients. Take advantage of this powerful electrolyte and antioxidant.

Increase cellular voltage to increase health and energy

Fulvic acid has highly active carbon, hydrogen, molecular oxygen (available oxygen) and enables better electrolyte balance. It recharges cells allowing them to carry an electrical charge longer than normal and survive longer as a cell.

Your body must get enough electrons to keep cells at a healthy, healing voltage. While proper nutrition is a critical piece, it is not enough without voltage. This is where fulvic acid comes in to help. Fulvic acid brings molecular oxygen into the body, increasing the oxygen concentration.

CareyLyn Carter, biochemist and researcher said in an interview, “Fulvic acid molecules act like mini-batteries, going around and charging everything that it comes in contact with. It raises the voltage. When our cell’s membranes are fully charged, nutrients can get inside the cell more easily. When nutrients are inside cells they are available for biochemical processes that support our wellness.”

A closer look at fulvic acid for skin conditions, cancer and brain health

Fulvic acid improves skin conditions

Fulvic acid has anti-inflammatory properties.

A randomized, double blind, controlled study showed that fulvic acid significantly improves inflammatory skin conditions, like eczema with topical use, twice daily. It has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for skin infections, and would be useful for humans and animals.

It was found that fulvic acid reduces the pH of the skin, relieves the itch and improves the appearance of the skin rash. FA relieves inflammatory skin conditions.

Fulvic acid has antimicrobial properties and is a safe and effective topical treatment for skin infections. [xxxvi] Previously studies were cited supporting the use of fulvic acid and humic substances for wounds, rashes and fungal infections.

Fulvic acid has anti-cancer actions

Fulvic acid and the humic compounds are potential cancer chemopreventive agents [xxvii] and have been shown to induce cancer cell apoptosis.

Fulvic acid and humic substances have actions that combat certain cancer risk factors:

• free radicals (fulvic acid acts as an antioxidant)
• toxins and heavy metals (fulvic acid bonds to and removes toxins and heavy metals)
• UV Radiation (fulvic acid is a photoprotective agent)
• diabetes (humic substances showed hypoglycemic effects in animal studies)
• inflammation (Winkler and Ghosh stated in a 2018 review study “there is substantial evidence to pursue FvA (fulvic acid) research in preventing chronic inflammatory diseases, including diabetes.”)

Huang showed that fulvic acid suppresses resistin. High levels of serum resistin are associated with several types of cancer and is thought to play a role in the development of colorectal cancer (CRC) by initiating the adhesion of colorectal cancer cells to the endothelium. FA inhibits the adhesion of CRC activated by resistin.

Fulvic acid is neuroprotective and gives brain benefits

The Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, published a study in 2011 that concluded, fulvic acid “has several nutraceutical properties with potential activity to protect cognitive impairment.” Researchers showed evidence that fulvic acid inhibited the formation of intracellular tangles of tau protein, seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

How to supplement with fulvic acid

Natural sources of fulvic acid

As discussed, conventional food production methods are destroying microbes in the soil, therefore it is imperative to eat the highest quality, organically grown food possible to increase the fulvic acid content and nutrient content of the food.

Organic vegetables

It is possible to get fulvic acid from plants, provided that they have been grown organically, in fertile soil, rich in humic substances. As you know from the earlier discussion on current agricultural practices, this is very difficult to find these days so most people benefit from taking fulvic acid as a supplement.

The best organic vegetables, in terms of fulvic acid, are the root vegetables like radishes, carrots and beets, but there is no way to know for sure that you are getting adequate fulvic acid from your diet.

Organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses from sugar cane

Another source of fulvic acid is organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses from sugar cane. This sweetener provides a good source of minerals and fulvic acid to aid in mineral absorption.

Fulvic acid supplementation

If you are taking any medication, please consult with your healthcare provider for contraindications. While fulvic acid is safe, there just are not enough studies on using fulvic acid with medication.

Take fulvic acid daily as part of your health rejuvenation regimen.

As fulvic acid supplements are being added to the market in a variety of forms, the consumer must be aware that not all fulvic acid supplements are equally safe. Fulvic acid is available in liquid preparations or powder supplements and capsules. It is believed that liquid forms are more bioavailable.

Here are a few things to consider when looking for a fulvic acid supplement:

• Source. It is important to know that the fulvic acid was not obtained from brown coal (lignite) or deposits from a source contaminated with heavy metals like aluminum, lead, mercury and arsenic. Look for a product sourced from high quality humic shale.
• Extraction. Look for fulvic acid extracted with pure, distilled water (not tap water) and no harsh solvents.
• Water. Tap water containing chlorine and fluoride must never mix with fulvic acid or any of nature’s nutrients as harmful compounds can form. Find out if your fulvic acid provider uses tap water in their supplement preparation.
• Potency. Will the supplier provide lab-verified data about their potency.
• Preservative-free, ideally.
• Glass packaging. Using any type of plastic in the extraction or bottling of fulvic acid is dangerous because the fulvic acid breaks plastic down. Plastic is a petroleum-based substance and will contaminate fulvic acid solutions.

Fulvic acid is a natural, water soluble substance that can be combined with liquids for oral consumption and it can be used topically. Follow directions from the manufacturer of the product you choose, and consider different options for use:

• Combine fulvic acid with other plant compounds, like spirulina in water, to enhance the benefits.
• Add fulvic acid to a smoothie or antioxidant superfood supplement drink.
• Take fulvic acid with herbs, medicinal mushrooms or essential oils suitable for internal consumption.
• Topically, use fulvic acid in a natural healing salve recipe including plant extracts known to support the skin’s healing.

Should you add fulvic acid to your daily health regimen?

The choice is yours. I believe that we need to supplement with fulvic acid now in order to harness the ability to get more nutrient absorption, increased detoxification, and increased electrical potential.

This may be the missing puzzle piece and help explain the dramatic increase in chronic disease that people of all ages are experiencing. The information on fulvic acid resonated with me the first time I began hearing about it. When that happens, I cannot keep silent – for who knows whether you and I have come to this information for such a time as this.

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