Flu Season - How To Protect Yourself

This is the time of the year where you read and hear about the flu everywhere you go.  This is the time of the year where every health blog and article discusses the flu and every grocery store and corner store waves their "Flu Shots Available Here" banner.  The flu can occur anytime of the year, but becomes most frequent during the late fall and early winter time - enough so to be called "Flu Season".  According to the CDC, about 200,000 people each year are hospitalized due to flu related complications.  Why is this? Is it because the Influenza virus loves the winter months?  No, the risks of the flu can occur any time of the year, but the reason from the flu being so rampant at this time of the year comes down to one word - STRESS.

Generally, any sickness and illness is due to stress of any sort.  But at this particular time we create more stress on ourselves than any other time.  We are already previously stressed due to poor spine health, poor diet, and emotional health that we carry with us like a pack of rocks.  Now we add on the holidays with not only dealing with family and social stresses of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years - but we continue to fill ourselves with high carb, high sugar, high fat foods. We eat like crap. The change in weather also creates stress, as well as in the winter months we aren't as active as we had been in the summer time.  Often due dates and demands are made at the end of the year, as well as tests for students.  Financial stress often builds.  It builds and it builds and it builds - and we wreak havoc on our health - Stress takes over and our immune system is weak.  We just simply open the door and let the flu stroll on in.

So the problem is not the virus - it never is.  The virus can have some complications if we let it linger but only if we don't correct the problems - The STRESS and our IMMUNE SYSTEM.  And what are the options out there to protect us?  90% of the medical field and media provide only one option - Flu Shots!  And they push the vaccine very hard - too hard.  Is this correcting the problem?  Is this preventing the problem?  The answer is emphatically NO!  The vaccines DO NOT prevent nor treat against the influenza virus. How can it?  The virus has an antigenic drift - meaning it continuously changes slightly but enough to be a completely different strain.  There are hundreds of flu strains and the vaccine only protects you against a handful of them.  That's like a hundred baseballs coming at you and all you have is a fly swatter.  The strains used in these shots are to protect against the most common, but it cannot protect against them all, and mostly it will not protect against the most recent strain because it just barely shifted.  And not only did you protect yourself very little with a shot - now you just filled your body with dangerous and harmful chemicals and agents that suppress your immune system even more - perpetuating the issue.  Even more - the more recent flu shots are inadequately tested and rushed through the process to become available becoming more of a danger than a protection.  What's more is that vaccines have never been tested for anyone younger than 5 years old and yet health personals push continually for young children to get vaccinated with an untested procedure. An article just came out talking about a Flu Vaccine Mandate for Children.  They are pushing vaccines on children where there is no study or research.  The push for vaccines is scary.  And what is their treatment option if you do get the flu - an antiviral medication.  Again, there's no correction for the problem - just the symptom.  And these medications are following suit with antibiotics - creating greater resistance within the influenza making it more and more difficult to treat.  Hopefully that's enough to make anyone wonder - what's going on here?

But hopefully even more so wonder - What can we do?  Let's stop hitting the panic button and actually take care of our body for once.  This shouldn't be just a seasonal living - but we must protect ourselves all year round with proper nutrition and exercise.  These are the key ingredients to a healthy life as well as a stronger immune system.  Will you never get the flu? There are no guarantees in life - But the likelihood of getting sick is less and the symptoms becomes significantly lessened as well as any risk of complications.

Like I said - we should protect ourselves more than just during the winter flu season.  We just need to be smart.  The key is to understand what is going on and making those little changes.  We need to decrease our stress - this is not a suggestion, this is a plea. WE MUST DECREASE OUR STRESS.  Maybe take some time off work with sick days we never take, maybe avoid social gatherings that create more stress, maybe decrease the amount of chocolate covered pretzels, pumpkin pie and other treats we eat during the holidays, maybe take a thirty minute break in our day to exercise or relax instead of working all day and through the night running ourselves down until we have no more energy.  We NEED to do something.  -  This needs to be a year round thing.

I HIGHLY recommend that everyone should be taking VITAMIN D.  It is huge and highly essential to our health with prevention as well as treating colds, flues and other illnesses.  Everyone talks about taking this and that type of supplement because it boosts your immune system.  That's all good - but Vitamin D plays a much bigger role.  It activates and supports the primary T cells which fight infections that the body has not yet encountered.  This is huge in the role of the immune system against a changing virus like the Influenza.

Here are my suggestions in preventing a fighting the flu and other illnesses

1. Vitamin D - obviously! We need to take it - 1,000 IU's per 40 lbs should be taken daily - this is an average of about 5,000 IU's a day.  At times of illness and infection, the amount should be doubled.

2. Echinacea - this supplement is key in prevention and fighting illnesses as it helps support our immune system  This needs to be taken on a regular basis, taken as directed.

3. Getting adjusted - this is not a supplement or vitamin but crucial in whole health and well being.  Everything is effected and regulated by the nervous system and it is important we are aligned and interference free to allow our immune system through the regulation of the nervous system to be functioning properly.

Here are a few more suggestions I highly agree with from a great article discussing Natural Flu Protection.

4. Astragalus: Astragalus is known to protect the body against immune stressors. It is also thought to help boost the immune system and prevent the flu and upper respiratory infections. It has a particularly potent anti-viral effect, therefore it is recommended to protect against the flu. Taking 200mg up to twice a day can help you avoid cold and flu symptoms. Check with your physician before taking this supplement, because it can affect the metabolism of certain other medications.

5. Vitamin C: During periods of stress and infection, vitamin C stores are depleted throughout the body. Vitamin C has been shown to shorten the duration of respiratory infections and cold symptoms, and also supports the immune system. Adding oranges, kiwi fruit, and bell peppers to your diet can give you a little extra vitamin C, and taking a supplement at the first sign of a cold can keep you from being stuck in bed for several days.

6. Zinc: This mineral is essential for cells in the body to fight off infection. When Zinc is taken within the first 24 hours of cold symptoms it can shorten the duration by several days.  Foods such as oysters, spinach, chicken, nuts, and beans are good sources of zinc. Beware that too much zinc is also harmful and can have the opposite effect.

It may be "Flu Season" but we don't need to panic - we just need to protect ourselves and give ourselves a better chance to get through the winter healthy and well.  Take care of your body and it will take care of you.