Editor's Note: The protocol below was written by longtime Earth Clinic contributor and author Bill Thompson during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020. At that time, COVID-19 was a new disease, vaccines were not yet available, established outpatient treatments were extremely limited, and researchers worldwide were urgently investigating potential therapies.
Earth Clinic has preserved Bill's original protocol and subsequent posts because they are part of the site's historical reader and contributor archive. However, the protocol should not be interpreted as current medical guidance for preventing or treating COVID-19. Evidence and medical treatment have changed substantially since these posts were written.
About Bill Thompson's Original Protocol
Bill Thompson was a longtime Earth Clinic contributor and the author of Candida: Killing So Sweetly. During the early COVID-19 pandemic, he shared the supplements and alternative approaches he personally used or considered using for prevention and recovery.
His original protocol discussed substances including BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene), virgin coconut oil, vitamin C, iodine, sodium bicarbonate, potassium compounds, borax, herbs, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and nebulized hydrogen peroxide.
These recommendations reflected Bill's interpretation of research and alternative-health literature available during the earliest months of the pandemic. Several of the proposed mechanisms and treatment claims have not subsequently been established in human clinical research.
Research Snapshot
COVID-19 treatment has changed substantially since 2020. Effective antiviral medications are now available for certain people at increased risk of severe disease and work best when started early. No supplement combination, alkalizing protocol, BHT regimen, borax preparation, or hydrogen peroxide inhalation protocol has been established as a replacement for evidence-based COVID-19 treatment.
What Has Changed Since 2020?
When Bill wrote this protocol, clinicians had very few proven options for treating COVID-19 outside the hospital. Years of clinical research have since provided considerably more information about SARS-CoV-2, risk factors for severe disease, and treatments that can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in higher-risk patients.
People at increased risk of severe COVID-19 should seek medical advice promptly after symptoms begin because currently available antiviral treatments are time-sensitive and generally need to be started within the first several days of illness.
Supplements and Immune Support
Several nutrients discussed in the original protocol, including vitamin C, zinc, and iodine, have legitimate physiological roles in normal immune function. However, a nutrient being necessary for immune function does not mean that taking high doses prevents or cures COVID-19.
Correcting a nutritional deficiency may be important for overall health, but high-dose supplementation can also cause adverse effects. This is particularly relevant when multiple supplements, minerals, and medications are combined.
Alkalizing and COVID-19
The original posts proposed that sodium bicarbonate and other alkalizing ingredients might make it more difficult for SARS-CoV-2 to attach to or replicate in human cells.
This mechanism has not been established as an effective treatment or prevention strategy in people. Drinking an alkaline solution can alter urine chemistry and temporarily affect conditions within the digestive tract, but the body tightly regulates blood pH. A change in urine pH does not demonstrate that the blood, lungs, or tissues have been made sufficiently alkaline to prevent a viral infection.
BHT and Coconut Oil
Bill's original protocol included BHT combined with virgin coconut oil based on the theory that these substances could disrupt the lipid envelope surrounding SARS-CoV-2.
Although laboratory chemistry involving lipid-enveloped viruses can generate interesting hypotheses, this does not establish that orally consumed BHT or coconut oil destroys SARS-CoV-2 inside the human body. BHT has not been established as a treatment or preventive medication for COVID-19.
Hydrogen Peroxide Inhalation
The original protocol also discusses inhaling or nebulizing diluted hydrogen peroxide in an attempt to protect the lungs from infection.
Hydrogen peroxide inhalation is not an established treatment for COVID-19. Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing chemical and can irritate or injure respiratory tissues. It should not be assumed that a substance capable of killing microorganisms on surfaces can safely destroy a virus inside the human respiratory tract.
Borax and Iodine
Bill also included borax and iodine-containing preparations in some versions of his protocol. Neither borax nor high-dose iodine has been established as a treatment or preventive therapy for COVID-19.
Excess iodine can disrupt thyroid function, and borax is not an approved medication for treating viral infections. Readers should not assume that the amounts described in an older alternative-health protocol are appropriate for their individual health circumstances.
What to Know
The posts below are preserved as a historical record of one Earth Clinic contributor's approach during the extraordinary circumstances of early 2020. They include specific dosages and treatment theories that should not be interpreted as current Earth Clinic recommendations. Anyone at increased risk of severe COVID-19 should seek medical advice early because effective treatments are time-sensitive.
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Several of Bill's follow-up posts discuss Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) approaches used in China during the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
Individual Chinese herbal formulas contain multiple biologically active compounds and may interact with medications or be inappropriate for particular medical conditions. Reports that an herbal formula was used during the pandemic should also be distinguished from clinical evidence showing that the formula prevents hospitalization, serious illness, or death.
How to Read the Original Posts Below
The entries below are Bill Thompson's original posts and reader discussions from 2020 and subsequent years. They document how members of the alternative-health community were thinking about COVID-19 during a period when reliable information and effective treatments were extremely limited.
Some statements in these posts—including proposed mechanisms of viral infection, claims about particular supplements preventing COVID-19, and theories about the origin or biology of SARS-CoV-2—reflect the author's interpretation at the time and should not be considered established scientific findings.
The posts also contain specific supplement doses and instructions for inhaled or nebulized substances. Their presence in this historical archive does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Earth Clinic.
Readers interested in complementary approaches to COVID-19 can also explore Earth Clinic's updated COVID-19 and Long COVID resources, where newer research and reader experiences are placed in current context.
