One theory behind this is the cytokine storm – an out-of-control immune response that can be lethal. The Vitamin D Council agrees with you that high quantities (at least 5,000 IU) of vitamin D3 may be good, but they also warn that it may be better to take none at all than to take just a little. So, either take >5,000 IU or stay vitamin D deficient (the latter choice only being a good idea in the case of cytokine storms).

Usually, preventing inflammation is a good thing, but it’s possible that some anti-inflammatory cytokines are actually a bad thing if you get the swine flu.

For more information on which foods and supplements may be a good idea and which may not, see this post: Swine flu and the cytokine storm – what to eat and what not to eat. Keep in mind, though, that it’s more speculation than concrete evidence.

At least green tea appears to be good even for avoiding the swine influenza

- JLL

So they did and both—within about a day and a half in each case—ended up sick in bed for about a week, one was moved to the hospital and came within an inch of his life. Since then one has continued getting shots and the other hasn’t ever, but both have gotten sick every year since then (thank God not nearly as badly as the first time.)

They both regret having those first shots. Maybe they were bad batches?

I personally haven’t gotten a flu shot in my life (maybe when I was five or six)… I’m 26 now and I very rarely get sick. When I do it’s never a big deal; I never take medication (if it was a matter of life and death I would, of course) and I always feel better afterward than I did before becoming ill.

We have both the 50,000 IU caps and the 5,000 IU caps on our site (www.proteinpower.com) in the products section. You can also find them other places online.

The bird flu “epidemic” in the UK was actually in a turkey factory just the other side of town, we could see the news helicopter hovering above the plant for days. That was tough on the turkeys but a fart in a colander as far as the human population was concerned. Mind you I know few local people who work there and even fewer who eat their product, which may have helped.

We had a New Manager where I used to work: he pulled in everyone who’d had more than one sick day in three years for a verbal warning. One of my colleagues had a breast removed (cancer) and was so paranoid about losing her job she used to take holiday days for her chemo, which is appalling. Quite illegal too but with unemployment as it was probably very widespread. Said manager used to drag himself in to work coughing and hacking all over everybody else. Another colleague got through his cancer surgery, chemo and radiation and then died of pneumonia. Are these events connected?

OTOH there may be something to be said for building up immunity over the years through exposure to minor illnesses, mother and other teachers, shopkeepers and others who have wide exposure to the public and their diseases seem to find themselves less prone to catching stuff over time, I suspect this may also apply to doctors? Then again such people may be vectors for diseases they don’t actually catch themselves, a substantial number of people seem to go to the doctor or hospital with one thing and come out with a couple of others.

What would be REALLY useful would be to discover why this particular strain appears to have been so virulent in Mexico and so comparatively mild everywhere else.

Permit me to recommend the column “The Dilemma of Personal Stockpiling of Tamiflu” written by Peter M. Sandman, Ph.D. and Dr. Jody Lanard, M.D. at http://www.psandman.com/col/tamiflu.htm. It discusses the ethical dilemma(s) and considerations of individual “stockpiling” (prescriptions) vs. govt control of antivirals.

Love your books, blogs, and twittering!

Thanks for the long, interesting column.

When you do have a moment to breathe, sure would love to see that info on various Krill Oils. I have great success with NKO, and love it. However, my son has been looking into Superba Krill from Jedwards International. Their CEO’s claims are as follows:

“Neptune, as you know, is also a supplier of Krill Oil and as you mentioned does have a patent, but that patent is on the extraction process that they use not Krill Oil itself.
The krill that we offer is Superba brand Krill Oil, which is manufactured by Aker Biomarine, a Norwegian Company. http://www.akerbiomarine.com/ Honestly our specs are pretty similar to NKO but I think we have typically higher levels of phospholipids, EPA, DHA and omega-3 fatty acids, even though their specs claim otherwise. Our Astaxanthin is lower but this is most likely due to the fact that our material is extracted with ethanol (drinking alcohol) while NKO uses acetone (nail polish remover, which is their patent). ”

The extraction chemicals don’t sound great, but would really appreciate your take on this and possibly other brands/processes, etc.

Thanks

Corky

There are various ways of extracting krill oil from the krill. Neptune has one way, which they have patented, while other companies have other ways. So far, all the published studies on the benefits of krill oil (which are many) have been done using NKO. And NKO has all the certifications for purity, strength, etc from all the various regulatory agencies around the world, which, as of yet, these other companies don’t have. Until I see the studies using the other brands of krill oil and showing positive outcomes, I’m sticking with NKO. I have no affiliation or investment in Neptune Technologies, so I have no self-interest at stake in this.

I was told that I shouldn’t take magnesium and calcium together as the calcium binds up the magnesium. Is that so? I eat some dairy, do I even need calcium?

Love the book recommendations.

Make sure the magnesium is of the chelated variety and you won’t have a problem. You can tell it is chelated if it has an ‘ate’ on the end of it, as in magnesium aspartate or magnesium citramate, etc.

An unrelated question on cholesterol oxidation. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the dangers of industrial fats. Specifically refined fats meaning (I’m assuming) fats that have been subjected to high temperatures and chemical extraction. Its a logical to me that intake of highly processed and likely oxidized fat is bad news. Therefore one should avoid most modern vegetable oils unless they’ve been lightly treated like extra virgin olive oil. I’m assuming the “damaged goods” argument carries over to processed cholesterol — so powdered eggs and milk should be avoided.

Which brings me to one of my pantry staples –whey protein. Whatayathink? I use the EAS brand which has 70mg cholesterol per serving — I’ve sworn by the stuff for years but now I’m worried about frequently ingesting small amounts of damaged fat. (after years of unknowingly ingesting large amounts of it — but who’s counting)

Its a good reason to give ImmunoPro a second thought at least (Sorry I was never sold on the non-denatured protein argument — although I’m receptive to learning more on that as well)

Thanks-