Hi Friend,
In my first email of this two-part series on
preventing the flu, I explained why getting the flu vaccine isn’t such a good
idea. In this second email message I will cover other methods of preventing and
remedying flus and colds that are safer and more effective than the flu
vaccine. (If you’d like to re-read my first email message in which I debunked
the flu vaccine, you can click here to read that message in full.)
STRESS:
First, let’s address the issue of stress. Acute
stress (such as being scared by and jumping out of the way of an automobile
that was heading towards you) does no significant harm to your immune system.
But chronic stress (such as overworking yourself, worrying, taking on too many
tasks and burdens over a period of days or weeks) really hampers the
performance of your immune system. It leaves you much more vulnerable to
infections like colds and flus. If you stress yourself over a prolonged period
of time, no other measures I suggest can keep you from falling ill.
So to keep yourself immune to such illnesses,
you must keep yourself calm and content. Feeling stressed over a prolonged
period of time sets the stage for a cold or flu to take hold. Though I won’t go
into an in-depth discussion of stress reduction here, I’ll provide some
pointers. You must either:
·
Remove or change the circumstance stressing you,
or
·
Change your response to that situation so that
you no longer feel stressed in reaction to it.
If you’ve already fallen ill with a cold or flu
due to chronic stress, to recover from it you must immediately reduce your
stress level. This is one of the keys to my ability to recover faster than most
people from such infections. When I notice such an infection beginning, I focus
on taking care of myself that day. Eliminate mental and physical exertion. No
rushing around or pressuring yourself. Give yourself permission to rest and
relax, free from worry.
You can certainly use your own specific stress
reduction methods. But if you’d like to learn more about reducing your stress,
an excellent, practical book on that subject I recommend is The Relaxation And
Stress Reduction Workbook. You can get it via many public libraries and also
purchase it via Amazon using this link. It does a great
job of guiding you to select and learn stress reduction methods that are best
suited to you. Don’t bother with its chapter on nutrition, though—its advice is
poor there.
NUTRITION:
All sorts of illnesses set in when you haven’t
been nourishing yourself well, including colds and flus. Though I have a lot I
could say on this subject, for the sake of brevity I’ll keep my advice short
and simple here.
To prevent colds and flus, eat regularly. Don’t
skip meals. Eat a good balance of protein, fats, and carbohydrates. Avoid foods
and beverages with added sugar or other sweeteners—sugar suppresses your immune
system and invites infections! Emphasize natural, unprocessed, nutritious,
fresh, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, animal flesh, and nuts. Minimize or
avoid processed foods like pasta and white rice and foods with long shelf
lives.
If you’ve already contracted a cold or flu, I
generally suggest restricting your diet while you recover. Absolutely avoid
foods and beverages with added sugar. And avoid juices (their high sugar
content and lack of fiber suppresses your immune system). Keep your diet light
but do keep eating regularly. Emphasize fruits and vegetables and some
sugar-free dairy products (ones made from whole milk, not low fat ones).
Minimize foods like animal flesh, grains, and nuts that acidify your body.
Drink lots of plain water. Other beverages don’t
hydrate your body as well as water does.
Certain nutritional supplements (which I’ll
cover next) can also be helpful.
SUPPLEMENTS:
Though there are quite a number of nutritional
supplements that I generally suggest for good health, there are two in
particular that are especially important for preventing and remedying colds and
flus:
1.
Vitamin C
2.
Vitamin D
Think you don’t need those supplements because
you eat a good diet? Think again. Most people (including health buffs like
myself who eat balanced, highly nutritious diets of mostly organic foods)
cannot get optimal amounts of vitamins C or D from our diets and environments.
There are a number of reasons for this and there is substantial research
supporting these supplements’ use in preventing and remedying these ailments. So
don’t dismiss the importance or benefit of these nutritional supplements.
I won’t further lengthen this message with a
long discussion of those vitamin supplements. So you can click on these links
to go read my:
Hints: My article on vitamin D explains why a
lot of people are more prone to such infections during the colder months of the
year. And when you read my message on vitamin C supplementation, bear in mind
that your body’s tolerance for and use of vitamin C supplements rises
considerably when you have an infection. (Your body needs a lot more vitamin C
when you have an infection.)
SLEEP:
Get enough sleep so that you’re fully rested.
Your immune system suffers when you’re sleep-deprived. And you feel more stressed when you’re sleep-deprived!
CONCLUSION:
Though there are other measures you can use to
prevent and remedy colds and flus, in this message I’ve endeavored to cover
some fundamental ones that don’t often get the attention they deserve. I hope
this has provided some insight or benefit to you. If it has, I invite you to
reply to let me know!
Wishing you great health,
Health Guru Mike |
