Supporting the health of frontline healthworkers naturally

Two innovative projects have been set up to support the health of frontline healthcare workers tackling the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. Frontline Immune Support for NHS Staff is raising money to provide packs of immune supportive supplements to help maintain strong and resilient immune systems in frontline staff to reduce their risk of becoming seriously ill given their exposure to high viral loads. The campaign has already had many NHS staff signup to receive the packs. You can still donate to support the campaign and provide more packs. The Jade Screen project is offering free consultations with an experienced Chinese herbal practitioner along with tailored Chinese herbal formula’s to NHS staff. The aim of the project is to support immune system resilience and recovery from covid infection. If either project resonates with you and you would like to lend your support or you know anyone who would benefit from either project please click on the links above for more information.

More biased reporting from the BBC on natural health

The Wellness Phenomenon from BBC Radio 4 has been broadcast at a time when the government and BBC should be working together to promote the use of natural therapies to support immune health. The programme adds more fire to suggestions that the BBC is behaving like a propaganda machine for big pharma. In a wide ranging programme, presenter Claudia Hammond systematically picks apart the notion of wellness. Of particular note is the attempt to damn the role of vitamins C and D in supporting immune system health. Instead of interviewing one of the many suitably qualified UK medical practitioners from an organisation such as the British Society for Ecological Medicine the programme instead chose Dale Ogar, Managing Editor of the US-based Berkeley Wellness Letter. A publication set up to debunk health myths. Another commentator suggests those who use food supplements are more likely to be conspiracy theorists, while a Cosmo health journalist comments that natural therapies are not science backed and people should only use mainstream ‘evidence-based’ treatments. This damaging and overtly biased programme comes at a time when its more important than ever to be educating the public on how to support immune and metabolic health to protect against severe effects from covid infection. But is unfortunately consistent with the style of reporting on the BBC that we've come to expect.

5G legal challenge against UK government

With concerns over the safety of 5G continuing to rise, another legal challenge (the other being led by Michael Mansfield QC) to the UK government’s policy on the rollout of 5G has been launched. The 5G EMF Legal Review 2020 is led by solicitor Jessica Learmond-Criqui of LCS Practice Ltd who first became aware of the issues around 5G and electromagnetic radiation when she was alerted to an application to install a mast in her community. Having investigated the potential harms and subsequently written to the government to express her concerns, along with delivering a petition and being consistently ignored, she concluded the only way forward is to take legal action. We will be closely following the progress of both actions and reporting back as updates become available.

Microbiome rewilding

Researchers in South Australia have proposed the use of microbiome rewilding to rebuild soil microbiomes in urban areas. Increasing the diversity of plant species in towns and cities has been found to increase the diversity of the organisms found in soil and the surrounding environment. Historically humans spent a lot of time outdoors exposing themselves to a wide range of microbes in the environment that helped to train their immune systems to fight illness and disease. Such measures not only benefit human health but that of the plants, animals and insects that inhabit the world around us whether urban or rural.

European Commission publishes Farm to Fork strategy

The European Commission has launched its much anticipated Farm to Fork strategy, setting out targets “for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system” as part of the European Green Deal. The strategy promises a lot as it aims to speed up the transition to a sustainable food system in the EU. The strategy aims to reduce the environmental impact of food systems, help mitigate climate change impacts, reverse biodiversity loss and ensure citizens have access to enough, safe, nutritious, affordable and sustainable food. The strategy has come under fire from both environmental campaigners and farmers. The former decrying the strategy for its inclusion of the potential to leverage new generation GMOs to “improve sustainability along the food supply chain” and reduce pesticide use along with inadequate pesticide reduction targets and lack of plans to reduce industrial meat production. The latter for setting targets considered too stringent to reduce pesticide, antimicrobial and chemical fertiliser use. It seems that the European Commission has decided to walk a tightrope between the two camps instead of taking the opportunity to set robust targets to protect the health of its citizens and the environment.