Tis the season not only for the holidays, but for colds, flu or whatever virus may be lurking around work, school or home. If you want to “Beat The Bug” this year then this information is for you. This will be a good article to bookmark or save, because even the healthiest people will eventually get hit with something.

After 28+ years working as a doctor in Functional Medicine and having a clinical nutrition degree … I’ve put together in this article some of the “Best of the Best” nutritional products to consider to either kick the bug when you feel like you’re starting to come down with something, or to help you decrease the severity or shorten the timeframe if it’s knocked you down and you are already sick.

All of these products I mention we carry in our Elk River clinic, and you do not need to be a patient of our clinic to come in and purchase anything. We specialize in carrying higher quality products, because we are continuously doing detailed Functional Medicine lab testing on our patients and we need products that get great results for our patients. These products can fly off the self in cold and flu season, so I recommend you call ahead to make sure we have it for you before making the trip to our clinic … here’s the number 763-241-5436.

While nothing can replace the 5 basics of: eating healthier food, good hydration, good sleep, better stress management and the body’s need for activity . . . we still get exposed to these little buggers that can drag us down.

Here’s the list, the reason why, and the recommended dose if you choose to do this on your own. Disclaimer: We cannot make recommendations specific to you via a blog post or Facebook post, so this information is for general use and educational purposes.

1 – ACS 200

This is my favorite one, and I always keep this on-hand at home. This is a form of colloidal silver called a “nano” silver. It is much smaller silver particles than a standard colloidal silver which creates more surface area that results in it being much more effective. Silver has been used for thousands of years as a natural antimicrobial, and it is still used in modern medicine for that purpose. In earlier human times when villages all got their water from the same village or town water well … they would throw a few silver coins into the well because they knew it would help prevent bacteria from growing in the water.

This can be used anywhere in or on the body very safely to prevent or decrease infection of any type. We’ve used this in our family ever since our kids were little. If our girls were starting to catch a cold – nano silver. If they had strep throat – nano silver. If it looked like they were starting to get pink eye – nano silver sprayed right into the eye. The ACS 200 nano silver has saved our family time and money. Disclaimer: Still bring your child to their pediatrician or doctor if they have excessive fever, a bad sore throat, or anything else that you are concerned about. The ACS 200 is not a magic potion that fixes everything . . . it is a tool in your toolbox of health.

We’ve even used the nano silver on our dog many times when our yellow lab looked like she was starting to get an ear infection. We clean or flush out the ear with a cleaning solution made for ear issues, and finish off with spraying the ACS 200 nano silver right inside our dog’s ear. This has also saved us time and money of expensive trips to the vet for “another ear infection”.

Now for dose or strategy on taking this. My favorite use of this is if I get into the evening and I’m feeling like Im getting more congested, and little scratchy or strange in my throat, or any sign that I might be getting sick. In the evening typically right before bed I will do 20 sprays of the ACS 200 into my mouth (it come is a 4 oz spray bottle), gargle for a little bit in the back of my throat, and then swallow. I will do this again a half hour later, and I time it so the second dose is right before I lay down for bed. So it is a total dose of 40 sprays before bed, just divided into 20 sprays done twice before bed. This is a higher dose than what is recommended on the bottle, but remember we need to be a little more aggressive as are trying to knock out the bug before it gets a foothold in our body to make us fully sick.

What about a teen, toddler or even a baby . . . basically someone smaller than a fully grown adult. You can lower dose if that’s your comfort level. I have not, and I kept it at 15 – 20 sprays per time even when our girls were very young. This is a very safe product, and unlike colloidal silver that can build up in the body over prolonged use or very high doses, the nano silver does not build up in the body. Once the body has used these much smaller silver particles your body can easily get rid of it. No worries and no concerns from my own personal use of this with my family over many years for many different reasons.

What if you are beyond the “starting to catch a cold” stage, and you are actively sick and down for the count? Still 20 sprays per dose, and you can do this many times during the day. I typically would do it every 2-3 hours while I am awake during the day if I am actively sick and staying away from others so I don’t get anyone else sick. This should help to decrease the severity and shorten the timeframe of whatever bug has “knocked you down”.

2 – Viracid

A blend of the best vitamin, mineral and herbal ingredients to maintain or boost your immune system. Based on the name you can tell it is designed for be more viral specific, but ingredients will help you with any little bugger that is challenging your immune system.

Here what is in this straight from the manufacturers mouth (actually website): Immune Nutrition Base Viracid contains the synergistic nutrient blend of zinc, vitamin C, vitamin A, L-lysine and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), which each play a major role in maintaining a healthy, functioning immune system.

Black Elderberry Extract Black elderberry (Sambucas nigra) has a long history of traditional use among herbalists and is native to Europe, Northern Africa, and Western and Central Asia. The bioactive components of elderberry include the flavonoid anthocyanin. Viracid is standardized to include black elderberry extract with 13% anthocyanins.

Astragalus membranaceus Root Extract Astragalus membranaceus is native to northern China and has been traditionally used to strengthen the immune system. The root of A. membranaceus is one of the two commonly used species in traditional Chinese medicine.

Echinacea Purpurea Extract Echinacea purpurea is a perennial herb that has been used for centuries in Native American medicine. Current research has supported echinacea’s clinical applications as this botanical has been the subject of more than 300 scientific studies. Echinacea activates multiple aspects of immune function, including enhancing leukocyte and granulocyte counts, activating neutrophils, monocytes, and eosinophils and solubilizing immune complexes.

Andrographis Paniculata Leaf Extract Andrographis paniculata is a plant that has been used in Asian medicine for centuries. Traditionally, the plant has been used as an infusion, decoction or powder, either alone or in combination with other herbal plants. A. paniculata has been reported to provide strong antioxidant support due to its ability to activate highly protective antioxidant reactions including superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutahtione-S-transferase.

Here's what they recommend for dose: Suggested Use: For immediate immune support: 1-2 capsules per hour or as recommended by your health care professional. For immune maintenance: 2 capsules per day or as recommended by your health care professional. Do not exceed 2 capsules every hour.

3 – Elderberry Syrup and Elderberry Vitamin C Chewable

I put these 2 together because they both come from the same company called Elderberry Queen. These are great products from a local company that we carry on our shelves. Elderberry has been used in natural medicine for thousands of years and appears to be more viral specific in how it supports your immune system. The Elderberry Syrup comes in a glass bottle and has a very pleasant taste that most kids are OK with (unless you have a very picky child where it seems that nothing tastes good enough for them to take).

I always keep some of the Elderberry Syrup in our fridge, and we take it on an as needed basis if we feel we need something to boost our immune system. I simply put some in a shot glass and chug it down. Very easy to take with a pleasant tate!

The Elderberry Vitamin C Chewable are also great. The chewable tablets give you 500 mg of Vitamin C per tablet, plus a few other ingredients for immune system benefit. I like the taste of these, but I’m not picky with taste or consistency. Some have commented they either didn’t like the overall flavor, or the consistency of the chalkiness of the tablet. I say, “Suck it up and deal with it.” The chewable tablets will give you a higher dose of the immune enhancing ingredients. Otherwise they have it in gummy form which may be easier for younger kids (or picky adults). It will be lower dose of elderberry and Vitamin C per gummy, but still a good option. They are sweetened with a natural sugar but still very low sugar content compared to other gummy products at only 1 gram of sugar per gummy.

Side note: Some people can go overboard with Vitamin C. They think some is good so more is better, but too much of a good thing can backfire. The most common symptom of too much Vitamin C intake is loose stool or diarrhea.

4 – Zinc

Of all the minerals . . . zinc will be the most benefit to your immune system. It benefits lots of other things too like health of skin, hair and nails, your hormones, your digestion (you need enough zinc for stomach acid production), and more. Zinc is known to get easily depleted in a viral attack in the body. This is why a COVID virus would result in some people losing their sense of smell or taste. That virus quickly deletes your zinc stores within your liver and can wipe your zinc status within your body. You need zinc for proper sense of smell and taste. The path to restoring your smell and taste includes getting more zinc back into your body.

While there is a little zinc in a couple products mentions above, it is pretty minimal. Taking a separate zinc would be helpful. The upper limit of a daily dose we will go with our patients when lab testing shows zinc is needed is 120 mg per day taken in divided doses. Zinc is a little tricky, because too much will upset your stomach. If you start at 100 – 120 mg per day and your stomach is bothered, simply reduce your dose the next day. Sometimes with zinc you need to be at a lower dose to start with and give your body a chance to get used to it before going to a little higher dose.

5 – Vitamin D

In northern climates - such as where we are at in Minnesota – I would argue that every person needs to get their Vitamin D tested. It’s one of the most common vitamin deficiencies we see in our lab testing, and we will always test this on everyone. They’ve even done large population studies of people in southern climates where people are closer to the equator, and found that still more than half of these people are low in Vitamin D status within the body even though they are likely getting more sunlight. So it’s not just a thing . . . it’s a very common thing. So common that when we lab test and see that someone has a good Vitamin D levels I am pleasantly surprised. It’s usually because they’ve been taking Vitamin D prior to coming to see us at our clinic.

Vitamin D has MANY benefits to the human body. Your pancreas needs enough Vitamin D in order to produce insulin, and we’ve seen patients in our clinic where blood sugar control improves more easily once we get Vitamin D to an more ideal level in lab testing. Vitamin D is important for hormone balance, healthy brain chemistry, and good energy levels.

Of course, Vitamin D is good for immune system . . . which is why it’s included in this article. Vitamin D seems to have more of an anti-viral benefit. Meaning, once we get Vitamin D to a more optimal level in lab testing people will often comment that they no longer catch a cold or get the flu like they have in the past.

I would say one of the most important benefits of Vitamin D are the cancer protective effects. Vitamin D seems to have the ability to prevent or suppress abnormal cell growth (aka – cancer cell growth). If you’ve had any type of cancer in your lifetime, a strong family history of cancer, or if you want to increase your chances of preventing cancer . . . GET YOUR VITAMIN D TESTED! If your doctor or healthcare provider will not test this for you . . . we will test it for you either a single test or as part of a larger panel of a variety of testing.

Here's the tricky part of Vitamin D testing. You may have been told that your Vitamin D levels are OK by your provider, but they are actually not. A lot of providers simply go by the labs reference range for Vitamin D testing which usually show a range of 30 – 80 on your lab results. So, as an example, people who test at a level of 32 are being told they are OK. As a Functional Medicine doctor for 28+ years with a college degree in clinical nutrition . . . I’m telling you this is not OK. Technically, it is within the labs reference range, but labs often provide a very wide range of what they say is normal and not necessarily reflecting with is OPTIMAL for best health.

Optimal is the key word. In Functional Medicine we view optimal levels of Vitamin D in lab testing as a range of 60 – 80 for most people to get all the health enhancing benefits that Vitamin D has to offer. The exceptions are those people who have been diagnose with cancer in the past or present, and those who have been diagnosed with any type of autoimmune condition. For those 2 situations we look for a range of 80 – 100 in lab testing.

Doses for Vitamin D are a little tricky, because the need or dose will be different for each person. We let lab testing be our guide for the best dose of each person, but I will say that without lab testing I would not go more than 5000 IU per day. We will go higher with our patients if lab testing reveals a greater deficiency. There are some people where the 5000 IU might still be too much for a daily dose. My best advice is to do it the smart way and get your Vitamin D tested first, and then work with a health provider that is trained in clinical nutrition to make sure you are taking the right form of Vitamin D.

Final Disclaimer (because we live in a world of having to be careful to provide disclaimers):
If you are not a patient of our Elk River clinic . . . none of this information is provided as a direct recommendation to you or what you should be doing. This is all offered as information to better educate you. If you would like to be a patient of our clinic, and have us do the clinic thinking and problem solving of what is best for your body and health . . . you can become a patient of our clinic by simply giving us a call at 763-241-5436. We will always do a FREE initial consultation for anyone who is brand new to our clinic. We help lots of people with lots of different health issues ranging from fatigue, hormone issues, digestive issues, autoimmune problems, thyroid issues, and much more. This initial consultation is simply a conversation to learn about you and what kind of help you are looking for, and we talk about the different ways we can help you. No pressure . . . no obligation to do anything . . . just a chance to talk and learn. And it’s FREE if you are new to our clinic . . . so why not?

Dr. John W. Larson, Clinic Director of Healing Choices Clinic, Functional Medicine Provider, Chiropractic Doctor

Healing Choices is a natural healthcare clinic located in Elk River, Minnesota. We have 3 doctors in our clinic and a great staff to support you in your journey towards better health. Here is our location and contact info if you have any questions:

Healing Choices Clinic 19021 Freeport ST NW, Suite 500 Elk River, MN 55330 www.HealingChoices.com Email: service@HealingChoices.com Phone: 763-241-5436