Peak Human - Unbiased Nutrition Info for Optimum Health, Fitness & Living

Part 83 - Ivor Cummins on Vitamin D, the Immune System, Severe COVID Cases, and Locking People in Their Homes

May 12, 2020

01:29:21

Hey there friends, hope everyone is well. I’m on a vitamin D roll over here with another great guest talking about how it is a central part of almost every system in our body, including (and maybe most importantly these days) our immune system. Again I want to stress that D is not a vitamin, but a pre-hormone. I know talking about vitamins can make many people’s eyes glaze over. I am kind of one of these people actually. I think we can get all the vitamins and minerals we need from the food we eat and if we’re eating an ancestral, nutrient dense diet then we don’t need to supplement or worry about this kind of thing.

But vitamin D is different. Just like our bodies expect ancestral foods, we also expect an ancestral environment. Humans lived outdoors for all of history. Is it surprising at all that when we live and work indoors for the vast majority of the day this might not be ideal?

This interview also covers the link between vitamin D and the coronavirus. This is very striking and we go into even more studies and correlations on this. Tying this all together, we get into the efficacy of the lockdown. Ivor has been tracking this data for the last couple months. Nobody is minimizing the tragic deaths or saying the lockdown didn’t help in many ways, but maybe there is a smarter way to do “smart distancing” instead of blanket mandates for everyone in the country.

Maybe forcing people to be locked in their homes might actually weaken their immune system. Maybe it would have been better for people to get sunlight and vitamin D this entire time considering we have good data showing the virus isn't really transmitted outdoors. Maybe there are many unintended deaths from these lockdown measures. Maybe there was a different way to go about things once we initially reacted. These are all interesting questions and it’s great to live in the United States where you are free to ask these questions.

Ivor Cummins BE(Chem) CEng MIEI PMP completed a Biochemical Engineering degree in 1990. He has since spent over 25 years in corporate technical leadership and management positions. His career specialty has been leading large worldwide teams in complex problem-solving activity.

Since 2012 Ivor has been intensively researching the root causes of modern chronic disease. A particular focus has been on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. He shares his research insights at public speaking engagements around the world, revealing the key nutritional and lifestyle interventions which will deliver excellent health and personal productivity. He has recently presented on heart disease primary root causes at the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR). He has also debated Irish Professors of Medicine on stage, at the annual conference of the Irish National Institute of Preventive Cardiology (NIPC).

Before we start I’ll just mention a few other things. If you're new to this podcast I’d start at episode 1. It’s best to experience the whole journey and soak up the valuable information from each hand-picked guest. You also should know about http://NoseToTail.org where we deliver grass finished, sustainably raised beef, buffalo, lamb as well as our one-of-a-kind high omega 3 pork and chicken. This is special stuff that is not only beyond organic and humanely raised, but is fed a special diet so that the meat has an extremely high omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. It’s in high demand so we can only sell the bacon 1 package at a time. Our other signature product is the primal ground beef with liver, heart, kidney, and spleen mixed. Very tasty stuff. I’ve seen and heard of so many kids chowing down on this stuff and enjoying it immensely. They don’t mind the organ taste at all and I think have an intuitive sense for the superior nutrition it provides.

That’s my company so you can get your meat there and support me (in a small way) and our ranch in Texas. You can also support the Food Lies film on http://indiegogo.com/projects/food-lies-post by clicking through http://FoodLies.org - we still are taking preorders and have the Eat Meat shirts there. We are in the last steps of getting the film finished but still need your help.

You can also get the private food and exercise videos as well as the extended show notes for this podcast by becoming a Patreon supporter on http://patreon.com/peakhuman

And if you’d like to support in a non-monetary way you can give the podcast a review on iTunes or the Apple podcast app and share any of these things with family and friends! Thanks so much everyone, it wouldn't be possible without you. Please enjoy this interview with Ivor Cummins.

BUY THE MEAT NosetoTail.org Support me on Patreon! http://patreon.com/peakhuman Preorder the film here: http://indiegogo.com/projects/food-lies-post SHOW NOTES

[1:25] Small study of 100 people, no selection bias. COVID-19. Those with lower vitamin D levels were experiencing much more severe/critical symptoms.
[8:40] There are many reasons as to why your Vitamin D may be low.
[11:30] How latitude can be affecting COVID-19.
[23:00] Should you use sunscreen?
[38:00] Italy has some of the worst vitamin D levels in Europe.
[42:45] Brazil’s experience with SARS-1 and COVID-19.
[44:10] Imposing lockdowns in the various countries does not seem to have influenced the R0 value.
[47:20] All cause mortality per head of population.
[1:00:40] How lockdown has affected the R not value in various countries
[1:08:20] Those over 65 years old should stick to isolation.
[1:14:20**] It seems like people are no longer trying to look at the big picture and the data supporting that the lockdown may not be as effective as we thought it was going to be