Not that long ago, even suggesting that natural immunity from previous COVID-19 infection would label someone as anti-vax, uninformed, selfish, a conspiracy theorist and many other derogatory terms. Now, just recently as of February 16, 2023 a medical review published in The Lancet, and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, J Stanton, T Gillespie, and J and E Nordstrom, suggests that the data and the “science” support that natural immunity to COVID ‘at least as high, if not higher’ than that from mRNA vaccine. Most recently, mainstream media news sources such as MSN, CBS, WebMD and Newsweek have finally found this idea to be somewhat newsworthy and reported their own perspective on this highly controversial subject.
The natural immunity provided by a COVID infection protects a person against severe illness on a par with two doses of mRNA vaccine, a new study says. People who’ve been infected with COVID reduced their chances of hospitalization and death by 88% over 10 months compared to somebody who hasn’t been infected, says the study, published in The Lancet (Ellis, 2023).
“Our findings show that immunity from COVID-19 infection confers substantial protection against infection from pre-omicron variants. By comparison, protection against re-infection from the omicron BA.1 variant was substantially reduced and wanes rapidly over time. Protection against severe disease, although based on scarce data, was maintained at a relatively high level up to 1 year after the initial infection for all variants. Our analysis suggests that the level of protection from past infection by variant and over time is at least equivalent if not greater than that provided by two-dose mRNA vaccines.” (Stein et al., 2023)
Stein, C., Nassereldine, H., Sorensen, R. J. D., Amlag, J. O., Bisignano, C., Byrne, S., Castro, E., Coberly, K., Collins, J. K., Dalos, J., Daoud, F., Deen, A., Gakidou, E., Giles, J. R., Hulland, E. N., Huntley, B. M., Kinzel, K. E., Lozano, R., Mokdad, A. H., . . . Lim, S. S. (2023, February 1). Past SARS-CoV-2 infection protection against re-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet; Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(22)02465-5
I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
It is quite possible that in the near future, drugs that are moderately effective in producing weight (fat) loss will be on the market. It is also quite likely that drugs of this type will bring some risks to health.
I don’t think this is a good option for an “over the counter” drug for weight loss. The American people are already quite dependent upon taking prescription pharmaceuticals to the point of abuse and addiction of many specific drugs. People will often take meds for high blood pressure but won’t change their diet or become more active. Many children and adults as well, are taking medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, where diet, physical activity and exercise have been reported to be helpful with this condition. Every medicine has side-effects on some level, depending upon the dosage and the individual. Individuals that are overweight, often already have other accompanying health issues that can be exacerbated with use and abuse of particular medications.
I think these individuals should be diagnosed, prescribed and treated on a case-by-case basis. Recent events surrounding the opioid crisis should lead to some caution as to what drugs are widely available for what seemed like a great solution to the problems of chronic pain, but in fact led to a myriad of other health issues for those addicted to the pain medicines.
Drugs to solve all of our ills and poor lifestyle choices is a terrible idea and encourages a potential path to continuous downward trends in healthcare self-responsibility. The US has been on a steady increase in body weight for at least the last 50 years. In 1960 the average US male weighed 165 pounds. As of 2010 the average male was 195.5 pounds. I feel drugs are a Band-Aid approach to issues that come down to values and priorities. If we are truly to become a healthier nation, we need to change our actions to reflect what we often state as our highest priorities of wanting healthy minds and bodies for all of our citizens.
I want to address the point about people not having the time, finances or other reasons that would make it hard to eat healthier, be more active and generally live a lifestyle that would help maximize health and well-being.
Often these reasons for poor health are attributed to low income and/or other socioeconomic issues, which in some cases might contribute to poor health. However, I feel from my past experiences and interactions teaching and training people of all income levels as well as career paths, that root causes of disease are more from lack of education, low desire and low self-discipline, than lack of income.
I have given many free classes and lectures over my last 35 years of teaching health and wellness. Even when given the opportunity to attend free events, many times people make the decision to not commit to attending future classes or events whether there is a charge or not. Here is when the excuses arise of no time, no money and ultimately no desire to change their lifestyle. I think that a true paradigm shift needs to come about were the attitude of people changes to make health and self-care an individual responsibility. Throwing money at social and cultural health issues, has often been shown over time to not fix these issues. Education of health issues can be relatively free, when distributed via television, newspapers, online, and even in person. Here in Florida, when a hurricane is coming almost everyone in the state receives the warning days ahead of time. When there are major news events such as Covid19, elections, national tragedies, a celebrity marriage, an eclipse and other sometimes trivial events, almost everyone hears about it within minutes of the occurrence. If only health issues like obesity, diet, stress and physical activity could receive the same level of priority and concern.
I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
Just because food labels say the product is healthy, is it so?
A concise glossary of food-label terminology:
Natural: This means a product is free of artificial or synthetic dyes, coloring, flavorings and preservatives. Items labeled “natural” can still contain GMOs, as well as ingredients grown using agricultural chemicals or synthetic fertilizers.
Free-range: Use of this term only requires that animals have access to the outdoors—no stipulation as to whether they do, in fact, spend any time there.
Cage-free: This designation, typically applied to eggs, means just what it says: The animals cannot be kept in cages. But they can still be heavily crowded into a single barn.
Pasture-raised: This descriptor implies that animals spend their lives roaming outdoors and eating grasses, but there is no federal standard for it, and no regular inspections (Dunn, 2022).
Educate yourself. Don’t rely upon others like the government, the FDA, the CDC, the EPA, schools, the grocery stores and other to watch out for you and your loved ones well-being. Do the work, read the labels, read credible sources. Know what you put in and on your bodies. YOU are your most valuable investment.
I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
Depletion of vitamins and minerals in the soil have lead to lower nutritional quality in fruits and vegetables.
It takes more quantity of fruits and vegetables we consume, in order to obtain the same amount of nutrients, than we did in years past. So if we need to eat 8 oranges to gain out nutrients, instead of one, we are probably consuming to much volume. Most people in the US currently are not eating the recommended amounts to begin with. And we wonder why are population has become so unhealthy.
Become educated to what exactly you put in and on your bodies. No one else should care more about your own health and well-being that you.
I write often about topics that affect our health and well-being. Additionally, I teach and offer lecture about qigong, tai chi, baguazhang, and yoga. I also have hundreds of FREE education video classes, lectures and seminars available on my YouTube channel at:
Our personal happiness has very much to do with having good health, adequate nutrition, positive social interactions, and other resources often not that of wealth, fame, or celebrity. Happiness comes from within an individual, as an inner state of awareness. We can cultivate our happiness. One way is to form a habit to practice deliberate mental exercises. Simple behavior tasks can take about 21 days of repletion to become a habit, whereas more complex or difficult behavior adjustments may take 66-88 days to master, depending upon the individual and their particular circumstances (Morris, 2022).
This first practice helps us to focus on what is most important in our life. Focus on your maximum net worth, what is most valuable to you – the people in your life, your health and well-being. When you are feeling depressed and your self-esteem is low, think of the people who care about you. This can help bring you back to place where your happiness comes from within and those around you. If you don’t have many or anyone in your life that you feel care about you, realize that you exist by means of something greater than you or anyone around or not around you. What do you think about upon waking up from your sleep? How long does it take for your mind to begin to wander after you wake up? How long do you allow your mind to wander before focusing in on what you need to do in order to get your day started. Now, try this exercise first thing when you wake up before even getting out of your bed. Think about five people in your life that you are grateful for. Lay with your eyes closed while performing this practice. Focus upon the first person in your life you want to be grateful for. Contemplate the various ways this person has impacted your life. Send your silent gratitude to this person. Then focus on a second person. Look deep into this person’s eyes and see the color of their irises. Then send this person your silent gratitude. Now focus upon a third person. Try to see your first memory of this person and then send your silent gratitude to them. Onto the fourth person and see this individual as being very content and joyful wherever that person is at right now. Send them your silent gratitude. Try to think back to a time when you were in grade school and try to see yourself as you were at that time. Draw from your memory of how you looked, the clothes you wore, the things that made you happy. Now send silent gratitude to your younger self. Finally, think about someone close to you who has passed away. See yourself embracing this individual and sending them your love. Send your silent gratitude to this individual. Open your eyes when you feel you are complete and satisfied. If you need a reminder to do this practice, take a Post-It note and write “gratitude” on it and place it to your bathroom mirror. Upon waking up, if you forget this exercise, you will eventually find yourself in the bathroom. See your Post-It reminder and go back to bed and start over. This is how you can make it a habit.
A second deliberate mental practice is to treat your loved ones as if you have not seen them for days. The saying of “familiarity breeds contempt” is directly relative to becoming so comfortable with one’s family, that they become bored and begin to look for faults and imperfections, in one another. For at least the first few minutes of encountering your loved ones, treat them with the same novelty that you would, if you were reunited a family member or friend that you have not seen in years – but do this on a daily basis. Become genuinely interested in what is of interest to them, while finding praise, rather than trying to judge or improve somebody’s shortcomings.
The third practice takes literally a few seconds. Look at the world in a way we want the world to look at us. When we meet a stranger, an acquaintance, a co-worker, a service provider, a doctor, a police officer, etc. and we look at one another, in an instant we choose whether to engage with them or not. Is this person trustworthy? Can I trust them with my safety, my health, my family, my house? We develop a judgmental awareness where we begin to make internal judgments about this person’s appearance and character. It takes a mere 30 milliseconds for us to decide if someone is trustworthy or not. 30 milliseconds, before we even begin to know who this person is. However, we all have so much in common in the way of having the same neural predispositions.
We all spend a lot of time with our minds wandering.
We all tend to focus on threats and imperfections.
We all carry negativity bias.
We all try to adapt to be positive.
When we see people and before our mind begins to judge others, try for the first few seconds, to embrace your heart with theirs and send them a silent “I wish you well.” “I wish hope upon you.” “I wish you healing and happiness.” This is how we can improve our world by silently wishing each other well. We don’t need to say it aloud but rather say internally as our private intention. What transpires is that our whole engagement with the world changes. Our threat perception goes down. Let’s not be naive and assume that everyone we encounter is free of executing violence and malfeasance towards others. Start in a time and location where it feels safe.
Once our attention is in our own control, we can take on the fourth practice where we re-frame life’s challenges into higher principles. The five principles of:
gratitude
compassion
acceptance
meaning
forgiveness
Take each day of the week and attach a theme to focus upon suing these principles.
Monday is the day for gratitude or what came before us and what will come after us.
Tuesday is the day for compassion and to be kind to others.
Wednesday is the day for acceptance. Will issues today really matter years from now?
Thursday is the day for seeking higher meaning and purpose.
Friday is the day for forgiveness; not necessarily to forget but to forgive and let go.
This is what we and our children need, to be grateful, to be compassionate, to be accepting, to live our life with meaning and have forgiveness, and by doing so we can create a better world for all of us and future generations.
I teach classes, seminars, and private instruction focusing on methods of wellness from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tai Chi, Qigong, acupressure and exercises from martial arts for fitness and improved health. 407-234-0119.
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