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Wise Traditions Podcast Interviews

INTERVIEW WITH LESLIE MANOOKIAN

BEHIND THE CORONAVIRUS

Note: What follow are the opinions of Leslie two decades—which is kind of peculiar.
Manookian, which do not necessarily reflect
those of the Weston A. Price Foundation. For HG: Some people identified as having the
further information, see lesliemanookian.com. coronavirus are labeled as asymptomatic. It
made me think that maybe it is benign—that
HILDA LABRADA GORE: Leslie Manookian you have it, but it is not bad for us—but no one
is the writer and producer of the 2011 docu- seems to want to agree with me. They say that
mentary The Greater Good. We are having being “asymptomatic” means you are a carrier
this conversation at a time when there is much and you can infect someone else.
confusion and concern as well as lockdowns and
quarantines. Words that we never used before LM: Let’s consider how the immune system
have become a part of our daily vocabulary. works. If a bug were all that was required to
Leslie addresses the big picture related to the make us sick or kill us, we would all be sick or
coronavirus, giving us context and helping us dead. None of us would be alive today. Let’s pick
wrap our heads around the nature of the virus. this apart. Roughly one-third of the population
She also dispels the myth of the asymptomatic carries staph on their skin and in their noses. If
carrier and explains why—although a vaccine all that matters is that you are exposed to it and
is unlikely to be of any help—health authorities, that is going to cause infectious disease, why
politicians and Bill Gates are accelerating a vac- don’t all those people have staph infections? Hilda Labrada Gore
cine’s development nonetheless. Finally, Leslie And why are they not infecting everyone else? is the producer and
uncovers the many conflicts of interest that exist It is because our immune system is made up of host of our Wise
between those who are touting the benefits of this huge microbiome—bacteria, viruses and Traditions podcast
vaccination and those who stand to benefit from all sorts of things. Generally, experts say, if 80 and a Washington,
DC, co-chapter
its widespread distribution. Leslie, what is your percent of our microbiome is beneficial, it keeps leader. An
assessment of our current situation? the other 20 percent in check. The problem is enthusiastic
when the bad guys start to multiply and become communicator,
LESLIE MANOOKIAN: I think that it’s been more than 20 percent. Hilda is passionate
massively overhyped in the media and by certain What causes that to happen? One cause is about wellness on
political factions as well. While I do think that bad diet—a diet lacking in vitamins A, D and every level, which
it’s real, it’s important to understand that there K2, which boost our immune system so much. is why she is known
is a difference between something being real It is a diet lacking real vitamin C (not the lab- as “holistic Hilda.”
She is a speaker,
and something being catastrophic. The response made stuff) and vitamin E. We Weston Pricers podcast consultant
has been as though this illness is a giant catas- know how important nutrition is. Other factors and the co-author
trophe. To begin, I think that it is important to are maintaining or managing low stress levels of Podcasting Made
understand that there are seven different types and getting adequate sleep and exercise. We Simple. Hilda lives in
of coronavirus that infect human beings. Four have to have all those things to keep our im- Washington, DC,
of them are benign and three of them are SARS mune system healthy. It is when we don’t pay with her husband,
(which we first saw in the early 2000s), MERS attention to those things that we see a prolifera- children, dog and cat.
(which was about five years ago) and now tion of the “bad guys” and open ourselves up to Subscribe to her blog
SARS-CoV-2. Coronavirus has been around for getting sick from the stuff that is already there. through her website
(holistichilda.com)
decades. It is generally associated with common It doesn’t jump out of somewhere and get us. It and follow her
colds and other respiratory infections. The idea is there, but we are not susceptible to it when on Instagram:
that it is dangerous is new—literally in the last our immune system is robust. @holistichilda.

SUMMER 2020 Wise Traditions 69