First I wish everyone a blessed and productive Happy New Year, a good 2024. I think everyone can kinda feel in the air that this will be a rougher year, yet if the horrors persist, so must we.
The next 3 to 4 articles are all connected to this one, and I will write about the mechanisms for persistence too. They are all very significant too, and some were propositions from me and a friend since 2021.
Appreciate the patience, really. I don't like bad vibes in December, at all.
PROTOCOLS OF THE MEETINGS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION . . . Protocol X – Preparing for Power . . . (((SARS-CoV2)))
❝. . . utterly exhaust humanity with dissention, hatred, struggle, envy and even by the use of torture, by starvation, by the inoculation of diseases. by want, so that the “Goyim” see no other issue than to take refuge in our complete sovereignty in money and in all else.❞
Thanks for sharing ! I always appreciated your articles. It helps to navigate the different narratives promoted on X. By the way what’s your name on X ? I want to follow you there as well. Futhermore you mentioned to keep good health and aggressive supplementation. Are you planning to write a short summary on this ? I mean for acute infection but also risk management for long term harm as well as long COVID. I want to finish my comment with a quick anecdotal observation. Since I added a amino acid complex (Whey Protein) to my daily supplement plan, my „long COVID sickness feeling“ disappeared within days. Maybe I was short on amino acids due to Long COVID ? Or is there another explanation for this ?
I only reactivate my account once per month for a few days, otherwise I don't use X. Most people get good use of it, to me it became just a whirlwind of negativity, and wastes a lot of my time. The algorithm is absolute garbage so I don't get any meaningful use.
I have written a few, but yes I plan on writing a shorter summary, less sciency and more to the point and easier to understand.
Whey and creatine are two things I suggested almost anyone to take, especially with long covid, and yes, Long Covid recovery time is out of whack because the amino acid metabolism is dysfunctional, supplementing helps it get back into place and the body to start recovering. I am sure whey played a signfiicant role on your symptoms disappering.
Thanks for the post. I wonder how much of actual full virus particles or the full 30000 base pair viral genome in an exosome can actually get past a healthly lung epithelium. Viral replication process will produce magnitudes of more sub genomic RNA (Envelope, Membrane, Spike, Nucleocapsid, RdRp) than is needed per full length RNA sequence produced. And many of the subgenomic RNA or proteins would be carried by small exosomes through the body. Several papers claiming viral persistence within blood or organs look for the spike protein and one other (usually E or N, or RdRp) as confirmation of viral infection. But this still does not mean the full virus is there much less a replication competent version. In these two papers, one directly inserts virus in heart cells bypassing any barrier and the other uses a PCR test for E and RdRp, but this does not prove the entire virus is present within the body and is a much different scenario as the solution and danger are different. Now COVID spike, and other proteins potentially, may have higher affinity to and ability to bind to receptors in the body that influenza subgenomic proteins cannot as an example, and this means even this subgenomic RNA can cause issues within body until finally cleared. The supplements you mention would work well in this case and don't worry about having latent persistent full replication competent viruses in your brain or heart. I just see some fear mongering and disengeniousness in these papers that equate small subgenomic RNA or proteins as persistent viral replication competent infection. They would need to do full length genomic sequencing and not just PCR tests for 2 proteins to prove this. Don't get me wrong, having spike and other proteins throughout the body after infection is not great and can cause damage, but minimizing the initial infection by not getting a high viral load initially, keeping healthy immune system to reduce initial infection will dramatically reduce these protein volume in exosomes and then taking care after infection to reduce inflammation and clear the body of these is sufficient as you suggested. Or am I off base?
This is the next "step" and a continuous point of contention among, well everyone interested in this. If there is replication competent virus inside tissues and in the EVs. The EVs one instantly reminded me of a paper Pfizer was proud of where they found EVs carrying the mRNA-derived Spike Protein for quite a while.
I have proposed for a long time now that protein fragments from the virus will persistin inside tissue and certain cells (not Lymphocytes though) for long periods of time and it is one of the causitive agents of the dysfunction in a subset of Long Covid (and also vaccine injury).
To the credit of the first paper and their honesty, they raise the point that their model is very simplistic in relation to an organoid model, let alone a fully functional body with a immune system, but I think it is a great first step towards answers. The current set of mutations on JN.1 are selecting for more immune evasion, and preference towards other receptors, it has been one of my concern that the virus is changing tropism towards persistence in certain tissues.
It is not a problem for most people, but it will be a problem for immune compromised, the old, a sizable portion of the vaccianted with a depreciated immune system (since most of them don't take any steps towards recovery, and keep boosting). The immune response Omicron is eliciting is a very strong one, but it is tilting towards "too much" of a response. The virus mutated all the "hot spots" for antibodies, including the FCS.
Proving replication competent viruses inside tissue will take a lot of time (if ever ?), especially one of the ones that I am most eager form (the virus inside bacterial biofilms), but persistence in different tissues in some patients has been presented recently, I just decided to focus on these two, since they fit the next few ones in odd ways.
Otherwise, no I don't think you are off base, very pertinent and good points.
Moriarty, I take 500 mg of Berberine with 10 mg PQQ at night before I go to bed. Is 500 mg/day the dose of berberine you think is best in healthy, non-diabetic people? Or should I double the dose of berberine, one in am and one in pm?
I did some further investigation of Berberine and found an article that discusses its possible toxicities (which I gather are similar to metformin's). I'd like to run my concern by you.
I found this description:
"Emerging studies have shown that berberine is almost safe at conventional doses, with a relatively low incidence of adverse reactions, such as gastrointestinal discomfort, and transient increases in plasma bilirubin levels (16). Although berberine is relatively safe, it should be used with caution in specific circumstances to avoid adverse reactions. For example, A mouse study found that administration of berberine (5 mg/kg) could induce skeletal muscle atrophy via increasing atrogin-1 expression (17), whether this effect extends to humans is not currently known. Berberine can be toxic to nerve cells by affecting the mitochondrial respiratory chain and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors (18). Berberine replaces bilirubin in binding to albumin, suggesting that the use of the herb and other traditional Chinese medicines containing a high proportion of berberine is best avoided in jaundiced neonates and pregnant women (19). Berberine interacts with macrolides to inhibit human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channels, leading to arrhythmias (20). Berberine in combination with statins increases cardiotoxicity by inhibiting CYP3A4 and hERG potassium channels (21)."
I am very thin (5'10" and 125 pounds) and have had quite a lot of difficulty building muscle mass all my life (now 72 and trying to preserve what I have). Due to the above comment about skeletal muscle atrophy, perhaps my use of berberine (500 mg nightly before bed) is making it harder to rebuild my muscle mass in day-time exercise, and I should stop using it. Apparently, some of its benefits, like Metformin's, spring from inhibiting ETC Complex 1. However, in the case of "ectomorph" folks like me, I'm thinking the negative issues with muscle atrophy outweigh the benefits of enhancing AMPK shifts even if taking Berberine at night when its amplification of positive AMPK pathway effects should be most beneficial.
From memory, I think there is a gene SNP that makes it hard for certain people to build muscle mass, perhaps something to do with myostatin not being properly inhibited (??). If that is true for me (whatever that mass-inhibiting effect is from), I would need to be more careful than most to avoid *any* substance that would make building muscle mass even marginally more difficult.
I'm wondering if you can shake your brain a bit and see what falls out about folks like me with that anti-mass phenotype (ooh, I'm using a big word, like I know what I'm talking about!) and weigh the possible sensitivity to berberine. Do you know of any substance that would inhibit that inhibiting influence in my genotype and enable me to build mass significantly more easily? And should I also consider dropping the berberine despite its other positive effects?
well, i would like to add that whenever we are taking berberine and creatine and having much eggs, we must consume lots of water... .i did not test but once when i took all those and did not have enough water my eyes were slightly yellowish.. anyway i had lost of water and sugarcane juice too ( to break up the bilirubin faster) and by next day or two it was normal again, since then i take little care of more water intake while taking berberine and creatine and 6-8 eggs same day (within 6hrs ).. its nothing to worry about but just to be aware off....
Creatine will suck up water into your muscles and Berberine can make people urinate more (Metformin makes me urinate more), but I thought most people people had their hydration on point.
Electrolyte packets sometimes help with that too 🫡
Now since last 1 month i have moved to OMAD, so taking lots of salt water and electrolytes too at times (when more than 24hrs.
That time when i had that small issue with less water, it was overall less as per my level of walking 12-15k steps plus all the supps, usually i drink lot of water ,its never an issue, but creatine 3-5grams and berberine (around 1hr gap between) required much more than my normal level )plus the walking too) it was nothing actually, but better to be aware of!( btw berberine and creatine, before and after meal , works wonderfully together(did some research when started ), so that combo should be tried by interested ones :D ( berberine i carry always, its just too good for stomach, and mouth infections plus other benefits as usual)..
Metformin is considered, among certain circles, a "anti-gains" drug, meaning it directly interfere with the hypertrophy process, but many bodybuilders and "anti-aging"doctors who are <10% bodyfat make use of the drug and have better muscle mass than me.
Dropping Berberine is your choice, if you think Berberine is directly affecting your muscle gain capacity, do it, but from experience with other people, at a 8 hour window, usually both Berberine and Metformin don't affect much acquiring lean mass.
At your age there are two variables that will play a significantly larger role than any gene or drug. Your entire digestive system capacity to absorb nutrients and amino acids, which decays over time, at 70 your body will absorb less, adding personal variables will affect this outcome even more.
But even more so is...testosterone. It declines at 40, and keeps declining, and there is no other human hormone that makes you achieve "gains" than testosterone, it is paramount for human, especially males, health. Genetics play a signfiicant role in muscle building, but any man can overcome his "genetic maximum" with just TRT, not even talking about all the other peptides one can use (and they often abuse).
Dropping berberine or not, I would suggest you go to a reputable TRT (Testosterone Replacament Therapy) clinic, talk to the doctor and get a prescription. Even at low weekly dosages, without even exercising, you get more lean mass =P. This is effectively the easiest, arguably cheapest method, all other possible suggestions I would personally consider fluff, even if based on a lot of science.
FYI, I myself plan of "juicing" in the future. (Taking testosterone, since after almost dying multiple times in the last 5 years I also lost a considerable amount of lean mass. Over 100 pounds to be exact).
OK, good. I'm not going to worry about that issue then, and I will keep taking it for its other (positive) effects. Yeah, I've been planning on working on BHRT over the next year, so you are kick-starting me along that process. Thanks for your response - and so quick this time! :-)
Notifications for commentary pop up in both e-mail, tablet and my cell phone, so sometimes it is easier if there isn't a couple dozen notifications at once. =D
I can't seen to find the paper, but there was a recent-ish paper on Testosterone usage and gain of lean mass, and even sitting on their ass all day, man still gained muscle by doing nothing, with the people "lifting" gaining more.
Need to figure out best approach to current/future variants for family members who have never had covid, confirmed by regular testing and serology (strict precautions since youngest is high risk), also remain unvaccinated. Mix of adults (30s, 40s) and children. Adults supplement with olive leaf, Berberine, Fucoidan, NAC, D, C, Magnesium, Melatonin and a Multivitamin + IF. Kids w/multivitamin and extra vit D. Should something like one dose new Novavax be consider at this point for some “exposure”? Or continue with current supplements + take paxlovid and increase supplements when infected?
Your current approach with the supplementation and choices to the adults and kids is already excellent enough to stave off severe sickness and hospitalization.
Getting vaccinated is your choice, I would do it only if the person is immuno compromised, or really at risk. I DO NOT like the Spike-centric approach of all vaccines, but if you take some precautions it can stave off any potential adverse effects.
Paxlovid directly intereferes with your immune response, it quite literally affects the body capacity to generate immune memory and memory cells towards the virus. Unless critically needed, I would stay away from Paxlovid because if you take for a mild sniffle, you don't develop a proper immune memory and get the next mildly changed variant again. Social media is filled with Paxlovid "abusers" that Covid reactivation 2, 3 times.
Thank you JP, always better to be clear on what's coming. Not entirely related to your post (or maybe yes) but what should we make of the enormous quantity of people at least in the US claiming a mysterious cough and cold that won't clear and apparently is not the flu, strep or covid?
There are a few caveats to that. There are "uncommon" respiratory infections that for the most part, most places don't test because up until very recently they were extremely rare. Other infections can be missed or mistaken by other type of diseases.
That mysterious cough and cold became a trend every Northern Hemisphere winter since 2021. I still think it is just lingering symptoms from a previous infection, be it flu, strep, covid, or something else.
Very helpful as always. I was wondering about the "get infected" part given that we can get exposed to the virus while being healthy enough that it won't replicate to the point of making us sick. Then I read this part: "If you take care of your health, most likely you won’t even develop symptoms from your infections." My approach is just to live life as I normally do and expect that somewhere along the way, I'll have exposures here and there.
Another interesting point is this: "As described by a few, SARS-CoV-2 might be the world’s most successful Hit and Runner." It reminded me of this article from 2004: "Researchers Discover Cold Virus Can 'Hit And Hide'"
I thought of that when I read the story about the Belgian researchers who tested negative for COVID, were sent to Antarctica, and 12 weeks later had a COVID outbreak. This underscores your recommendations to stay healthy, supplement well, and don't let your guard down.
There is a good portion of people, from the average person to experts that can't accept that mild exposure to antigens on daily life, especially if you are healthy enough, is enough to create a immune response so when you actually get "infected" you barely develop disease. My approach to life has been the same, live life, and get small amounts of exposure (after I corrected my immune response).
I also think Covid is one of the best hit and hide viruses, but many also find it hard to accept the virus can develop a latent phase in some people. Most of what I write shouldn't be generalized too (which the majority do, they read X or Y and generalize to billions of people).
Professor - Testing insulin signaling in rats and "We also noticed that the insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels were only affected by boosters of COVID-19 in pre-diabetic and diabetic subjects but not healthy controls in our present study" are the concessions which allowed that study to see the light of day.
As for EV's, the lipid raft M.O. was established long ago, look to statins. Idiopathic?? LMAO, cardiomyopathy by persistent infection viz bacterial affected cardiac remodeling via proteome - it's the ties that bind. Latency has side effects, and you've been barking up the right tree all along Mr. Mulder. https://youtu.be/DlnOcZK892E?
Oh I am aware, almost any paper that would further create hurdles and more criticism and bad press to the mRNA is a no go unless the fiddle the message a little.
According to most I have been barking at the air. Thank you for your considerate comments as always 😁
BPS-induced decrease in atrial contractions was blocked by L-NAME
The atria (n=5) were pretreated with L‐NAME (nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, 10 μM, 15 minutes) to examine the involvement of NO. The rate and force of atrial contractions were not affected significantly after pretreatment with L-NAME (Table 2). However, L‐NAME could block the BPS‐induced decreases in the rate and force of atrial contractions even on exposure to the highest dose of exposure to BPS (10 mM) (p<0.05, two-way ANOVA) (Figure 3).
Maybe L-Name is one to add to your list and perhaps protocol?
Thank you for this message ! I Have looked into L-NAME in late 2021 but since many of the dysfunctions we see are in fact the improper or dysfunctional capacity to create NO, I decided to not add, only to a selective few with specific problems.
Perhaps a separated post on NO is needed at some point, with L-NAME present within.
This might be a comment from left field, but in the interest of sharing information - did you know that humming increases nasal nitric oxide? I find that fascinating and connect it with the practices of many yogis who hum OM (or something similar) while meditating. Could it be an ancient way of boosting the immune system and something we should all perhaps be doing? I'll attempt to link the PubMed article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12119224/
Also - thank you very, very much for your hard work. Upgrading to paid today.
I did NOT know that 😲. First cold shower and breathing exercise, now humming. I think our ancestors had deeper insights on our bodies than we do with all our technology thank you for sharing this 🙏🏻. Have a blessed 2024.
Yes, they certainly did. We have lost so much. I first read about nasal nitric oxide increasing by 15-fold in James Nestor's book, Breath. He recommends a minimum of 5 minutes/day. He also included this study in his work, which is also related to heart health: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11751348/
Here's to cold showers, breathing exercises, and humming our way through 2024!!
Effects of six-month creatine supplementation on patient- and clinician-reported outcomes, and tissue creatine levels in patients with post-COVID-19 fatigue syndrome
Thanks for the post. To be honest I was dreading worst doom and gloom news. While no virus would be better, knowing healthy lifestyle is the best course of action is reassuring.
Do you know if for example small pox had this behavior too? Or the concept of health was too different back then?
There is no cataclismic news unless the virus mutates in a very specific way, otherwise it is just decades long "degradation" at a civilizational level. But everything has a way out or a fix.
I think other viruses are able to do some of these "unique" effects but SARS-CoV-2 remains unique.
Unfortunately, I got two shots more than two years ago, and caught Delta. But nothing since and I know people around me are still catching it. I’ve done the entire serrapeptase and nattokinease protocol to clear out spike from my system (thanks to your into here) and have kept my keto diet (3-4 years now) throughout. Did a couple of 72h fasts and 96h over the last two years.
As far as I'm aware neither my husband nor I have been infected (not even a sniffle in 5/6yrs) and even before I read this it was beginning to concern me. We're both around 60, no conditions/medications, don't mask, aren't vaxed but have been IF/keto and supplementing for several years. Is it worthwhile checking for antibodies? BTW Happy New Year!
If you are doing IF and keto and supplementing you shouldn't worry about it, your immune system, especially CD8 and Natural Killer cells are working fine, perhaps adding taurine if you haven't, otherwise you are good.
No, I do not think it is worth checking for antibodies, just keep taking care of your health, seems you have been doing a good job so far =).
First I wish everyone a blessed and productive Happy New Year, a good 2024. I think everyone can kinda feel in the air that this will be a rougher year, yet if the horrors persist, so must we.
The next 3 to 4 articles are all connected to this one, and I will write about the mechanisms for persistence too. They are all very significant too, and some were propositions from me and a friend since 2021.
Appreciate the patience, really. I don't like bad vibes in December, at all.
PROTOCOLS OF THE MEETINGS OF THE LEARNED ELDERS OF ZION . . . Protocol X – Preparing for Power . . . (((SARS-CoV2)))
❝. . . utterly exhaust humanity with dissention, hatred, struggle, envy and even by the use of torture, by starvation, by the inoculation of diseases. by want, so that the “Goyim” see no other issue than to take refuge in our complete sovereignty in money and in all else.❞
https://cwspangle.substack.com/p/protocol-x-preparing-for-power-sars
While this article is not “good news” it is really nice to be able to get insight into what we are up against. Thank you so much.
That is why I kept silent for a while and focused on positive stuff, now comes how the virus can induce long-term harm.
Thanks for sharing ! I always appreciated your articles. It helps to navigate the different narratives promoted on X. By the way what’s your name on X ? I want to follow you there as well. Futhermore you mentioned to keep good health and aggressive supplementation. Are you planning to write a short summary on this ? I mean for acute infection but also risk management for long term harm as well as long COVID. I want to finish my comment with a quick anecdotal observation. Since I added a amino acid complex (Whey Protein) to my daily supplement plan, my „long COVID sickness feeling“ disappeared within days. Maybe I was short on amino acids due to Long COVID ? Or is there another explanation for this ?
I only reactivate my account once per month for a few days, otherwise I don't use X. Most people get good use of it, to me it became just a whirlwind of negativity, and wastes a lot of my time. The algorithm is absolute garbage so I don't get any meaningful use.
I have written a few, but yes I plan on writing a shorter summary, less sciency and more to the point and easier to understand.
Whey and creatine are two things I suggested almost anyone to take, especially with long covid, and yes, Long Covid recovery time is out of whack because the amino acid metabolism is dysfunctional, supplementing helps it get back into place and the body to start recovering. I am sure whey played a signfiicant role on your symptoms disappering.
Best regards.
Thanks for the post. I wonder how much of actual full virus particles or the full 30000 base pair viral genome in an exosome can actually get past a healthly lung epithelium. Viral replication process will produce magnitudes of more sub genomic RNA (Envelope, Membrane, Spike, Nucleocapsid, RdRp) than is needed per full length RNA sequence produced. And many of the subgenomic RNA or proteins would be carried by small exosomes through the body. Several papers claiming viral persistence within blood or organs look for the spike protein and one other (usually E or N, or RdRp) as confirmation of viral infection. But this still does not mean the full virus is there much less a replication competent version. In these two papers, one directly inserts virus in heart cells bypassing any barrier and the other uses a PCR test for E and RdRp, but this does not prove the entire virus is present within the body and is a much different scenario as the solution and danger are different. Now COVID spike, and other proteins potentially, may have higher affinity to and ability to bind to receptors in the body that influenza subgenomic proteins cannot as an example, and this means even this subgenomic RNA can cause issues within body until finally cleared. The supplements you mention would work well in this case and don't worry about having latent persistent full replication competent viruses in your brain or heart. I just see some fear mongering and disengeniousness in these papers that equate small subgenomic RNA or proteins as persistent viral replication competent infection. They would need to do full length genomic sequencing and not just PCR tests for 2 proteins to prove this. Don't get me wrong, having spike and other proteins throughout the body after infection is not great and can cause damage, but minimizing the initial infection by not getting a high viral load initially, keeping healthy immune system to reduce initial infection will dramatically reduce these protein volume in exosomes and then taking care after infection to reduce inflammation and clear the body of these is sufficient as you suggested. Or am I off base?
This is the next "step" and a continuous point of contention among, well everyone interested in this. If there is replication competent virus inside tissues and in the EVs. The EVs one instantly reminded me of a paper Pfizer was proud of where they found EVs carrying the mRNA-derived Spike Protein for quite a while.
I have proposed for a long time now that protein fragments from the virus will persistin inside tissue and certain cells (not Lymphocytes though) for long periods of time and it is one of the causitive agents of the dysfunction in a subset of Long Covid (and also vaccine injury).
To the credit of the first paper and their honesty, they raise the point that their model is very simplistic in relation to an organoid model, let alone a fully functional body with a immune system, but I think it is a great first step towards answers. The current set of mutations on JN.1 are selecting for more immune evasion, and preference towards other receptors, it has been one of my concern that the virus is changing tropism towards persistence in certain tissues.
It is not a problem for most people, but it will be a problem for immune compromised, the old, a sizable portion of the vaccianted with a depreciated immune system (since most of them don't take any steps towards recovery, and keep boosting). The immune response Omicron is eliciting is a very strong one, but it is tilting towards "too much" of a response. The virus mutated all the "hot spots" for antibodies, including the FCS.
Proving replication competent viruses inside tissue will take a lot of time (if ever ?), especially one of the ones that I am most eager form (the virus inside bacterial biofilms), but persistence in different tissues in some patients has been presented recently, I just decided to focus on these two, since they fit the next few ones in odd ways.
Otherwise, no I don't think you are off base, very pertinent and good points.
Moriarty, I take 500 mg of Berberine with 10 mg PQQ at night before I go to bed. Is 500 mg/day the dose of berberine you think is best in healthy, non-diabetic people? Or should I double the dose of berberine, one in am and one in pm?
500 mg of Berberine is good, the "most" I recommend is 1000 (I take 1000 of Metformin, and it is often alluded you need less of Berberine).
If you get sick, I think upping the dosage in sickness to 1000 is a good choice, but otherwise keep it at 500.
I did some further investigation of Berberine and found an article that discusses its possible toxicities (which I gather are similar to metformin's). I'd like to run my concern by you.
I found this description:
"Emerging studies have shown that berberine is almost safe at conventional doses, with a relatively low incidence of adverse reactions, such as gastrointestinal discomfort, and transient increases in plasma bilirubin levels (16). Although berberine is relatively safe, it should be used with caution in specific circumstances to avoid adverse reactions. For example, A mouse study found that administration of berberine (5 mg/kg) could induce skeletal muscle atrophy via increasing atrogin-1 expression (17), whether this effect extends to humans is not currently known. Berberine can be toxic to nerve cells by affecting the mitochondrial respiratory chain and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors (18). Berberine replaces bilirubin in binding to albumin, suggesting that the use of the herb and other traditional Chinese medicines containing a high proportion of berberine is best avoided in jaundiced neonates and pregnant women (19). Berberine interacts with macrolides to inhibit human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channels, leading to arrhythmias (20). Berberine in combination with statins increases cardiotoxicity by inhibiting CYP3A4 and hERG potassium channels (21)."
in this article on NIH: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9410360/
I am very thin (5'10" and 125 pounds) and have had quite a lot of difficulty building muscle mass all my life (now 72 and trying to preserve what I have). Due to the above comment about skeletal muscle atrophy, perhaps my use of berberine (500 mg nightly before bed) is making it harder to rebuild my muscle mass in day-time exercise, and I should stop using it. Apparently, some of its benefits, like Metformin's, spring from inhibiting ETC Complex 1. However, in the case of "ectomorph" folks like me, I'm thinking the negative issues with muscle atrophy outweigh the benefits of enhancing AMPK shifts even if taking Berberine at night when its amplification of positive AMPK pathway effects should be most beneficial.
From memory, I think there is a gene SNP that makes it hard for certain people to build muscle mass, perhaps something to do with myostatin not being properly inhibited (??). If that is true for me (whatever that mass-inhibiting effect is from), I would need to be more careful than most to avoid *any* substance that would make building muscle mass even marginally more difficult.
I'm wondering if you can shake your brain a bit and see what falls out about folks like me with that anti-mass phenotype (ooh, I'm using a big word, like I know what I'm talking about!) and weigh the possible sensitivity to berberine. Do you know of any substance that would inhibit that inhibiting influence in my genotype and enable me to build mass significantly more easily? And should I also consider dropping the berberine despite its other positive effects?
well, i would like to add that whenever we are taking berberine and creatine and having much eggs, we must consume lots of water... .i did not test but once when i took all those and did not have enough water my eyes were slightly yellowish.. anyway i had lost of water and sugarcane juice too ( to break up the bilirubin faster) and by next day or two it was normal again, since then i take little care of more water intake while taking berberine and creatine and 6-8 eggs same day (within 6hrs ).. its nothing to worry about but just to be aware off....
Creatine will suck up water into your muscles and Berberine can make people urinate more (Metformin makes me urinate more), but I thought most people people had their hydration on point.
Electrolyte packets sometimes help with that too 🫡
Now since last 1 month i have moved to OMAD, so taking lots of salt water and electrolytes too at times (when more than 24hrs.
That time when i had that small issue with less water, it was overall less as per my level of walking 12-15k steps plus all the supps, usually i drink lot of water ,its never an issue, but creatine 3-5grams and berberine (around 1hr gap between) required much more than my normal level )plus the walking too) it was nothing actually, but better to be aware of!( btw berberine and creatine, before and after meal , works wonderfully together(did some research when started ), so that combo should be tried by interested ones :D ( berberine i carry always, its just too good for stomach, and mouth infections plus other benefits as usual)..
Metformin is considered, among certain circles, a "anti-gains" drug, meaning it directly interfere with the hypertrophy process, but many bodybuilders and "anti-aging"doctors who are <10% bodyfat make use of the drug and have better muscle mass than me.
Dropping Berberine is your choice, if you think Berberine is directly affecting your muscle gain capacity, do it, but from experience with other people, at a 8 hour window, usually both Berberine and Metformin don't affect much acquiring lean mass.
At your age there are two variables that will play a significantly larger role than any gene or drug. Your entire digestive system capacity to absorb nutrients and amino acids, which decays over time, at 70 your body will absorb less, adding personal variables will affect this outcome even more.
But even more so is...testosterone. It declines at 40, and keeps declining, and there is no other human hormone that makes you achieve "gains" than testosterone, it is paramount for human, especially males, health. Genetics play a signfiicant role in muscle building, but any man can overcome his "genetic maximum" with just TRT, not even talking about all the other peptides one can use (and they often abuse).
Dropping berberine or not, I would suggest you go to a reputable TRT (Testosterone Replacament Therapy) clinic, talk to the doctor and get a prescription. Even at low weekly dosages, without even exercising, you get more lean mass =P. This is effectively the easiest, arguably cheapest method, all other possible suggestions I would personally consider fluff, even if based on a lot of science.
FYI, I myself plan of "juicing" in the future. (Taking testosterone, since after almost dying multiple times in the last 5 years I also lost a considerable amount of lean mass. Over 100 pounds to be exact).
OK, good. I'm not going to worry about that issue then, and I will keep taking it for its other (positive) effects. Yeah, I've been planning on working on BHRT over the next year, so you are kick-starting me along that process. Thanks for your response - and so quick this time! :-)
Notifications for commentary pop up in both e-mail, tablet and my cell phone, so sometimes it is easier if there isn't a couple dozen notifications at once. =D
I can't seen to find the paper, but there was a recent-ish paper on Testosterone usage and gain of lean mass, and even sitting on their ass all day, man still gained muscle by doing nothing, with the people "lifting" gaining more.
I love easy gains. Putting on muscle while reading a book (or a Moriarty article) is my kind of gain! :-D
Thanks, M.
Great. Thank you, Moriarty!
Need to figure out best approach to current/future variants for family members who have never had covid, confirmed by regular testing and serology (strict precautions since youngest is high risk), also remain unvaccinated. Mix of adults (30s, 40s) and children. Adults supplement with olive leaf, Berberine, Fucoidan, NAC, D, C, Magnesium, Melatonin and a Multivitamin + IF. Kids w/multivitamin and extra vit D. Should something like one dose new Novavax be consider at this point for some “exposure”? Or continue with current supplements + take paxlovid and increase supplements when infected?
Your current approach with the supplementation and choices to the adults and kids is already excellent enough to stave off severe sickness and hospitalization.
Getting vaccinated is your choice, I would do it only if the person is immuno compromised, or really at risk. I DO NOT like the Spike-centric approach of all vaccines, but if you take some precautions it can stave off any potential adverse effects.
Paxlovid directly intereferes with your immune response, it quite literally affects the body capacity to generate immune memory and memory cells towards the virus. Unless critically needed, I would stay away from Paxlovid because if you take for a mild sniffle, you don't develop a proper immune memory and get the next mildly changed variant again. Social media is filled with Paxlovid "abusers" that Covid reactivation 2, 3 times.
Thank you JP, always better to be clear on what's coming. Not entirely related to your post (or maybe yes) but what should we make of the enormous quantity of people at least in the US claiming a mysterious cough and cold that won't clear and apparently is not the flu, strep or covid?
There are a few caveats to that. There are "uncommon" respiratory infections that for the most part, most places don't test because up until very recently they were extremely rare. Other infections can be missed or mistaken by other type of diseases.
That mysterious cough and cold became a trend every Northern Hemisphere winter since 2021. I still think it is just lingering symptoms from a previous infection, be it flu, strep, covid, or something else.
Very helpful as always. I was wondering about the "get infected" part given that we can get exposed to the virus while being healthy enough that it won't replicate to the point of making us sick. Then I read this part: "If you take care of your health, most likely you won’t even develop symptoms from your infections." My approach is just to live life as I normally do and expect that somewhere along the way, I'll have exposures here and there.
Another interesting point is this: "As described by a few, SARS-CoV-2 might be the world’s most successful Hit and Runner." It reminded me of this article from 2004: "Researchers Discover Cold Virus Can 'Hit And Hide'"
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/04/040426055429.htm
I thought of that when I read the story about the Belgian researchers who tested negative for COVID, were sent to Antarctica, and 12 weeks later had a COVID outbreak. This underscores your recommendations to stay healthy, supplement well, and don't let your guard down.
There is a good portion of people, from the average person to experts that can't accept that mild exposure to antigens on daily life, especially if you are healthy enough, is enough to create a immune response so when you actually get "infected" you barely develop disease. My approach to life has been the same, live life, and get small amounts of exposure (after I corrected my immune response).
I also think Covid is one of the best hit and hide viruses, but many also find it hard to accept the virus can develop a latent phase in some people. Most of what I write shouldn't be generalized too (which the majority do, they read X or Y and generalize to billions of people).
Great article thanks =D.
Professor - Testing insulin signaling in rats and "We also noticed that the insulin sensitivity and triglyceride levels were only affected by boosters of COVID-19 in pre-diabetic and diabetic subjects but not healthy controls in our present study" are the concessions which allowed that study to see the light of day.
As for EV's, the lipid raft M.O. was established long ago, look to statins. Idiopathic?? LMAO, cardiomyopathy by persistent infection viz bacterial affected cardiac remodeling via proteome - it's the ties that bind. Latency has side effects, and you've been barking up the right tree all along Mr. Mulder. https://youtu.be/DlnOcZK892E?
Oh I am aware, almost any paper that would further create hurdles and more criticism and bad press to the mRNA is a no go unless the fiddle the message a little.
According to most I have been barking at the air. Thank you for your considerate comments as always 😁
I thought you might find this one interesting.
https://www.cureus.com/articles/214874-acute-exposure-to-bisphenol-s-decreases-in-vitro-right-atrial-contractility-in-rats#!/
BPS-induced decrease in atrial contractions was blocked by L-NAME
The atria (n=5) were pretreated with L‐NAME (nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor, 10 μM, 15 minutes) to examine the involvement of NO. The rate and force of atrial contractions were not affected significantly after pretreatment with L-NAME (Table 2). However, L‐NAME could block the BPS‐induced decreases in the rate and force of atrial contractions even on exposure to the highest dose of exposure to BPS (10 mM) (p<0.05, two-way ANOVA) (Figure 3).
Maybe L-Name is one to add to your list and perhaps protocol?
Thank you for this message ! I Have looked into L-NAME in late 2021 but since many of the dysfunctions we see are in fact the improper or dysfunctional capacity to create NO, I decided to not add, only to a selective few with specific problems.
Perhaps a separated post on NO is needed at some point, with L-NAME present within.
This might be a comment from left field, but in the interest of sharing information - did you know that humming increases nasal nitric oxide? I find that fascinating and connect it with the practices of many yogis who hum OM (or something similar) while meditating. Could it be an ancient way of boosting the immune system and something we should all perhaps be doing? I'll attempt to link the PubMed article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12119224/
Also - thank you very, very much for your hard work. Upgrading to paid today.
I did NOT know that 😲. First cold shower and breathing exercise, now humming. I think our ancestors had deeper insights on our bodies than we do with all our technology thank you for sharing this 🙏🏻. Have a blessed 2024.
Yes, they certainly did. We have lost so much. I first read about nasal nitric oxide increasing by 15-fold in James Nestor's book, Breath. He recommends a minimum of 5 minutes/day. He also included this study in his work, which is also related to heart health: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11751348/
Here's to cold showers, breathing exercises, and humming our way through 2024!!
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsn3.3597
Effects of six-month creatine supplementation on patient- and clinician-reported outcomes, and tissue creatine levels in patients with post-COVID-19 fatigue syndrome
That was the primary reason I wrote a whole thing on creatine =D
Thanks, That would be great!
I am in good shape, but have never been infected. Are you saying I need to get infected once a year to avoid hospitalization?
Not necessarily if you are healthy and in good shape. But I would suggest you supplement if you ever get infected.
Thanks for the post. To be honest I was dreading worst doom and gloom news. While no virus would be better, knowing healthy lifestyle is the best course of action is reassuring.
Do you know if for example small pox had this behavior too? Or the concept of health was too different back then?
There is no cataclismic news unless the virus mutates in a very specific way, otherwise it is just decades long "degradation" at a civilizational level. But everything has a way out or a fix.
I think other viruses are able to do some of these "unique" effects but SARS-CoV-2 remains unique.
Interesting. For those who are vaxxed, you are also suggesting to get infected once or twice a year?
Vaccinated ONCE ONLY. And supplement accordingly.
Or getting a booster. But I personally don't trust the current mRNA plataform, especially against respiratory viruses.
Unfortunately, I got two shots more than two years ago, and caught Delta. But nothing since and I know people around me are still catching it. I’ve done the entire serrapeptase and nattokinease protocol to clear out spike from my system (thanks to your into here) and have kept my keto diet (3-4 years now) throughout. Did a couple of 72h fasts and 96h over the last two years.
You are pretty much good 👍🏻 Many people who got Delta (which was very aggressive) didn't get Omicron if they stayed at 2 doses
Just keep the healthy lifestyle, supplement some vitamin D in the winter and you are good, same like us since you took care of your health
Appreciate all the education on your substack. It’s been great!
As far as I'm aware neither my husband nor I have been infected (not even a sniffle in 5/6yrs) and even before I read this it was beginning to concern me. We're both around 60, no conditions/medications, don't mask, aren't vaxed but have been IF/keto and supplementing for several years. Is it worthwhile checking for antibodies? BTW Happy New Year!
If you are doing IF and keto and supplementing you shouldn't worry about it, your immune system, especially CD8 and Natural Killer cells are working fine, perhaps adding taurine if you haven't, otherwise you are good.
No, I do not think it is worth checking for antibodies, just keep taking care of your health, seems you have been doing a good job so far =).
Thanks so much for your response and for your fascinating posts