12/05/2025
As Naturopathic Doctors, part of our education is to support our patients through infections. While antibiotics today are creating more resistance to bacteria, they are utilized during a viral infection to help reduce the load of other possible infections so your immune system can target the virus
First off - viruses are real. Since SARS-Cov2 I have seen people post that “viruses are fake” or they think how they feel is a “detox” reaction, which I can’t exactly understand what actually means, but nonetheless, viruses are real.
Second - we cannot kill viruses with drugs or supplements. We utilize tools that help reduce viral replication and WBC cross talk, which then can allow the immune system to seek and destroy (by way of autophagy).
What does “Antiviral” mean? It means the substance we are using - be it pharmaceutical or specific nutrients, work by improving immune function or reduce viral replication. For example, what does zinc do? It can affect a NF-Kb. NF-kb which are transcription factors that control cell proliferation, to cell death and the expression of viruses. It also activates viral gene expression or inhibits host NF-κB activation and inflammation, thereby facilitating viral infection. So the focus would be to halt it and thereby reducing vial replication
Zinc is just one example. Vitamin A is another. So is Vitamin D and Glutathione and Selenium and Vitamin C.
Then we have herbal medicine - nature that halts nature from getting out of control, all while not harming the host.
If you potentially have a viral infection, your healthcare provider should not ever be sending you out of their office without a solution. It’s 2025 - everyone should know how to support someone with a viral infection vs saying “there isn’t any research” or “I can’t help you” - advocate for yourself as there are lots of solutions available to you so you can reduce a viral infection or any infection becoming out of control