Articles - Healthy Living
Natural Drug-free Remedies for prevention and speeding recovery
by Brian Copeland
There are some great natural remedies for preventing a cold, the flu or a sinus infection before you get them and also to help recover faster and feel more relief if you do get them.
We have all heard about bundling up to stay warm or you may get sick... well yes and no. It depends on the current state of your immune system. Cold weather takes energy from your body to stay warm, good for burning calories actually but it does take away from energy that could be used by your immune system to defend against viruses.
Having said that, a strong immune system will not be bothered by the cold. In fact an esoteric practice from Russia is to cut a hole in a frozen pond and dip into ice cold water for about 20 seconds or so daily to boost the immune system over time... it actually works! I don't think I'll be doing that any time soon personally.
What can influence your immune system you ask...?
- 1 night of bad sleep can lower your immune system by a HUGE factor
- Poor diet
- Lack of exercise
- Poor mood / attitude (if you don't believe in psycho-physiological interconnection then please explain why getting excited raises your blood pressure and why meditation lowers it)
- Stress
Big shocker that sleep, nutrition, exercise, attitude towards life and stress keep you healthy, I know you've never heard that before right?
Another thing you should be concerned with is Vitamin D3. People with low levels of D3 get sick more often and people with normal or higher levels rarely ever get sick. Sunlight or D3 supplements will build your body's D3 levels over time. The current recommendations as of (2/2/11) from Dr. Cannell of the Vitamin D Council is that adult men and women who do not routinely sunbath should take 5,000iu per day and occasionally have their blood checked for low levels in case they need to take more. Learn more about Vitamin D3 here.
Here are some tips from the Doctors about what to do if you were around someone who was sick or feeling down like you might get sick:
- Drink hot tea ASAP
- Hot liquids can push any virus from your throat down to your stomach where stomach acids will kill it
- Add some lemon juice and raw organic local honey to your tea as the acids in the lemon will help plus the Vitamin C will boost your immune system
- Plus you need the hydration, so the more liquids the better
- Use a Sinus Drainage (or Neti) Pot
- Bacteria, viruses and pathogens can get up into your sinus passages where the hot tea will not reach. Rinsing with a neti pot will clear that gunk out.
- Make sure your neti pot comes with a salt solution that is part sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and sodium chloride.
- The baking soda is a natural anti-bacterial/viral agent and is totally safe.
- Decrease Stress
- Get a GREAT Night's Sleep
- Let your immune system build back up
- Take the supplements: Zinc, Magnesium & Vitamin C
- Zinc is one of the main ingredients in those over-the-counter anti-cold drinks like Emergen-C, it is an immune system booster
- If you have read my article on supplements then you should be taking zinc and magnesium already along with a high quality multivitamin that has high levels of vitamin C
- Eat Chicken Soup
- Ok ok, I'm not really sure that it matters if it is traditional chicken soup or not. But here is the deal, hot liquid pushes viruses down the throat, relieves sinus pressure and makes you feel better. Chicken gives you protein and minerals to boost your immune system.
- What is even better? I love Thai chicken coconut soup (Tom Kha Gai) or Thai lemon grass soup with shrimp (Tom Yum Goong). They have the hot liquid part, the protein part AND if you can tolerate spicy foods then you also get capsaicin (the chemical that causes you to feel the spicy-heat). Capsaicin is an anti-inflammatory and the spiciness will drain your sinuses to boot. I rarely ever get sick but when I do this is my go-to soup, Tom Kha Gai!!!
- P. S. pass on the noodles in your chicken soup. Grains essentially convert to sugar in the digestive system and sugar dramatically decreases the immune system
If you haven't heard about the scandal between big pharmaceutical companies, mainstream medicine and emerging research about vaccinations then I encourage you to do some Google searches on the subject.
In a nutshell here is the scoop.
There is emerging research that shows that the flu vaccine does not work, often causes someone to catch the flu and can lead to a number of health issues from mild to life debilitating and in some cases death!
Many people who were in a scare from the swine or bird flu took vaccination shots and got very sick, some died and many others developed Guillain-Barré syndrome, a neurological syndrome that causes permanent paralysis!
Dr. Oz was being interviewed about the latest H1N1 vaccine when everyone was scared of the flu... they asked him if people should take the H1N1 vaccine, even though many people were having side effects, most notably women were passing out cold and falling. He said, "yes" you should take it. Then they asked him if he and his family were going to take the H1N1 vaccine and he said, "NO!" ... what's good for the goose is not good for the gander apparently...
Many of you may not realize that in the 1970s, the last time the swine flu scare was blown out of proportion, many people died from the flu vaccine which was the same vaccine that the H1N1 was made from. Many other people developed Guillain-Barré syndrome and became permanently paralyzed.
Congress, bless their hearts, passed a law that prohibits a US citizen or anyone from suing a pharmaceutical company if you get sick or die from a vaccination!!!!!!!!!!!
Read that again...
If your spouse or child takes a vaccine that was pushed through too quickly and not adequately tested, and they die as a result... there is no recourse for you... none, zippo, zip, end of story! No one will be held accountable for it, by law!
Tell me big pharma and our nation's law makers aren't bed buddies!
Don't trust the government or anyone, including me, to look out for your health. Do your research and make an informed decision.
Suffice to say, I never take vaccine shot and never will; I boost my immune system the natural way.
For Prevention regularly do the following:
- Take Vitamin D3 or get adequate sunlight (especially UVB which seems to be more related to Vitamin D3 production in the skin)
- Take a zinc and magnesium supplement
- Take a high quality multivitamin/phytonutrient from real vegetable/fruit sources
- Exercise for 3 - 5 hours per week or as close as possible
- Eat clean unprocessed foods high in protein, fiber and green vegetables
- Keep stress under control
- Get 7-9 hours of sleep in a pitch-black room (blackout curtains don't cost that much and look good)
If you think you are getting sick do the following:
- Use a sinus drainage pot
- Drink hot tea with lemon
- Take some zinc, magnesium and Vitamin C supplements if you aren't already
- Sleep
- Relax
- Eat and drink liquids
- Hot soup with chicken (or other meat), vegetable and ideally spicy if you can tolerate spicy food
 
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