We are now facing a second COVID-19 epidemic—the emergence of so-called long haul COVID-19. Infectious disease expert Dr. Eric Topol and colleagues estimate that over 65 thousand individuals around the world now have what is termed “long COVID-19”. This is a common condition where the symptoms of COVID-19 persist indefinitely after a person suffers from an acute infection of the virus. The cause of this condition is presently unknown, and the experts have put forth many possible scenarios, but at present there is no universal consensus about the nature of this beast. Three academic concepts have risen to the top, but we still don’t really know who is driving the bus when it comes to long haul COVID.
I believe that my research interests could possibly fill in some of these blanks when it comes to long COVID. For several decades I have been exploring the idea that our diet of highly processed food is neurotoxic, and over time can trigger a form of food-induced brain dysfunction that fits the pattern of a distinct disease. I call this disease Carbohydrate Associated Reversible Brain syndrome or CARB syndrome. Because our diet is loaded with highly processed food, most people living in developed societies have developed some degree of CARB syndrome. The disease varies from extremely mild to severe. In addition to the 22 brain dysfunction symptoms that can develop with this disorder, individuals with this disease will also start to store excessive body fat at virtually any caloric intake and they tend to develop metabolic problems like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus. I believe CARB syndrome is a major contributor to our current epidemic of obesity and related metabolic disorders. To me it’s also clear that these conditions are driven by the composition of diet, rather than calories or the amount of food consumed.
Likewise, long haul COVID-19 is also characterized by a long list of symptoms, many of which overlap with the symptoms of CARB syndrome. I believe this is because CARB syndrome suppresses immune function, making it much more likely that you will become ill when exposed to various infectious diseases. This is the formula driving a lot of illness and poor quality of life in today’s world:
Long COVID-19 = COVID-19 + CARB Syndrome
This creates a particularly deadly combination, where quality of life, ability to function, and morbidity and mortality are all adversely affected. The true tragedy is that CARB syndrome is generally preventable and treatable, but to do so, you first need to understand the pathophysiology of the disorder. I provide all of this information in my book “Brain Drain”. In today’s world, individuals whose symptoms are primarily from CARB syndrome, are misdiagnosed with various common brain and psychiatric disorders. When they are treated for these disorders, their underlying CARB syndrome inevitably becomes worse over time. The individual then is often diagnosed with other traditional brain or psychiatric disorders, leading to a diagnostic and therapeutic mess, similar to what we are seeing in our world today! Their brain function plummets, and they develop worsening metabolic problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Thus adding CARB syndrome to an individual with COVID-19 is like throwing gas on a fire.
In one recent study, obesity and type 2 diabetes were strongly associated with severe COVID-19. The study concluded: “The exact mechanism underlying obesity and diabetes contributing to severe outcomes among patients with COVID‐19 is still unclear”. I’m here to tell you that a significant portion of this mystery has now been solved. Even though we don’t fully understand all the intricacies of the pathology of long COVID, the CARB syndrome concept is starting to gain some real traction in the academic and scientific worlds. It appears that combining COVID-19 with any degree of CARB syndrome is the trigger for many if not all cases of long COVID.
The good news is that CARB syndrome can often be prevented and effectively treated, taking the gas away from the COVID fire. The key to prevention is greatly reducing your intake of highly processed food, which is made up of the following three components:
- Excessive fructose, especially from sucrose (sugar) and HFCS.
- Excessive highly glycemic carbohydrates, especially from white flour, white rice, potatoes, and other rapidly absorbed carbohydrates.
- Excessive omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils relative to omega-3 fatty acid.
On the surface avoiding these dietary elements seems to be simple. There’s only one problem. The lead symptom of CARB syndrome is having strong cravings for sweet and starchy food, even when your body doesn’t need nourishment. These cravings push people to consume more of the food that is driving the pathology. It has also become apparent that these cravings and the other symptoms of CARB syndrome are driven by low levels of monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine and serotonin. Decades ago, I learned that to prevent and treat this condition, these cravings must be suppressed.
The most effective way to suppress these symptoms is to provide the precursors the brain needs to manufacture monoamine neurotransmitters. The most effective way to do this is to take the proper ratio of L-tyrosine and 5-htp along with certain co-factors. Over time this type of supplement will restore monoamine levels and suppress all the symptoms of CARB syndrome, especially the cravings. I have developed a supplement called CARB-22 that meets these requirements. The patient also needs to eat a healthy, whole foods diet and avoid consuming any highly processed food. This approach will prevent the development of CARB syndrome if you don’t already have it, and it will also help reverse the disease for those who already have the condition.
In my opinion, most if not all cases of long COVID-19 will resolve using this safe and relatively inexpensive approach. I suspect this will also make it less likely that a person will ever develop COVID-19. Once again, I recommend reading my book “Brain Drain” for details on how to diagnose, prevent and treat CARB syndrome. Let’s all work together to greatly limit the specter of long COVID-19.