A Healthy Strategy to Avoid the Flu

There’s no doubt about it, the flu season is upon us. And the million dollar question is are you ready for it?

The weather is cooler and some areas of the country are severely cold. I personally live in sunny Florida, where we are still currently at 90 degrees, but I do have family to the north who have by now winterized their cars to prepare them for the harsh conditions.

Well now is the time to winterize your immune system!

Your immune system also sees harsher conditions during this time of year. We spend more time indoors, causing us to get less sunlight and fresh air. And our bodies produce less vitamin D, a nutrient that is essential to the immune system.

And then there’s those lovely holiday dinners and parties with lots of people in confined spaces. We eat too much, especially those wonderful holiday sweets! We find it difficult to do get everything done amidst the holiday chaos, which causes us to add more stress to our bodies, causing our immune system to weaken.

And its the strength of your immune system that will determine whether or not you will catch a cold or flu this season. So here are some tips I personally use for myself and my family on how to keep your immune system rock strong and get you through the flu season like a super hero!

A Healthy Well Balanced Diet

It sounds obvious, but a healthy, well-balanced diet is the most crucial component of health. Scientific models tell us that the people who maintain moderate eating habits with a healthy balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrate are the ones who will go through the cold and flu season without getting sick.

Be careful not to fall into the carbo-phobic trap. A healthy diet should have carbohydrates, the fuel of choice of the brain. Most of the carbohydrates should come from complex sources such as whole grains and legumes.

And most important, a healthy diet must consist of vegetables and a variety of fruits. Keep fried foods, sweets and products made with white flour to a minimum. 

And do your immune system a favor and say no to fast foods! A healthy diet is a diet that contains NO trans fats, and fast foods are loaded with them.

Make an effort to read your labels at the grocery store. Food manufacturers are required to list the amount of trans fats right on the label. Check the ingredients. If it contains partially hydrogenated vegetable oils”¦..it contains trans fats.

Move Your Body

I’ll admit, I’m not one of those individuals that hits the gym 7 days a week, rain or shine. But with that being said, we all know the benefits of exercise and it truly is a fundamental component of a healthy lifestyle and immune system.

You shouldn’t feel like you need to hit the gym and “pump iron” to obtain the health benefits of exercise. Even a brisk 15 minute walk around the neighborhood twice a day will increase blood flow to every organ including your brain, a crucial component of maintaining cognitive function.  

Or maybe there’s a yoga class that you’ve been considering.  This would be the perfect time to try it, so give it a try, your body will thank you!

Get A Good Night’s Sleep

Regular sleep is as crucial to the immune system as is proper nutrition. Without enough sleep, your immune system cannot function optimally, which leaves you vulnerable to catching the flu. There is significant research proving your immune system will launch a stronger response if you are well-rested than if you are sleep deprived. 

Set and maintain a regular bedtime and avoid all stimulants in the evening, including chocolate, caffeinated sodas, coffee and caffeinated teas as they will delay sleep. Your bed should be for sleeping, so avoid watching TV or using laptop computers or smart phones.

Consider Taking a Multi Vitamin

A head of broccoli arrives at your supermarket with less of a nutrient content than it had immediately following picking. Nutrients are also lost during cooking. By the time that broccoli gets to your plate it will have a fraction of the nutrients it should have, and a sub-clinical deficiency in any one of a number of nutrients can have a damaging effect on the immune system.

For this reason, it is essential that you supplement your diet with a high-quality multivitamin. Long gone are the days when doctors thought you could get all your nutrient needs in your diet. Doctors now routinely recommend that their patients take a multivitamin and mineral supplement.

If you are going to take a multivitamin, you should be taking the best, and I believe that Daily Essential with Lycopene and the Daily Liquid Nutrition are the best multivitamin and mineral formula available today. These comprehensive multivitamin formulas are recently re-formulated based on the latest nutritional research, and contains a balance of nutrients that will support proper immune system function.

Supplement Your Diet with Super Foods

An excellent way to add Super Foods to your diet is by adding a scoop of ProGreens powder to your smoothie in the morning. ProGreens powder is a combination of organic grasses like Wheat, Barley and Alfalfa.  And as an added bonus, it also contains pro-biotics, which will improve gastrointestinal health and boost immune system function.

My wife Toni start her day with a drink she created called the “Green Mimosa”.  Just mix a scoop of ProGreens, a teaspoon of our Arctic D Cod Liver Oil, 4 ounces of organic apple juice, 4 ounces of water and a handful of organic frozen berries. Blend it all up and you have a great-tasting (I’m not kidding!) Flu fighting energy drink!

Stock Up On Natural Therapies 

It’s essential to have your natural remedies on hand before the onset of symptoms.  Colostrum is a powerful immune system modulator, and part of my normal daily supplements.

Along with the colostrum, we always keep on hand the homeopathic flu remedy Oscillococcinum (o-sill-o-cox-see-num).  If I recognize symptoms of the flu, I immediately start taking the homeopathic flu remedy Oscillo.  My daughter Danielle swears by this product and has successfully stopped the Flu in its tracks numerous times.  It’s safe and effective, and has been used by millions of people world wide. It is, without question, the world’s most natural flu remedy.

If I feel the onset of cold or flu symptoms, I would increase my vitamin D intake to 20,000 IU daily. There is significant evidence that vitamin D promotes a strong immune system. In one 2005 study, vitamin D practically eradicated the flu at a clinical facility. In this study, only 7% of the patients supplementing with vitamin D contracted the flu. The placebo group reported four times the amount of colds and flu.

An excellent way to get the immune boosting benefits of both Aloe vera and vitamin C is the supplement Aloe C Defense. Aloe C Defense is a tablet that when dissolved in water makes a great-tasting effervescent drink. If you put an Aloe C Defense tablet in your water bottle, you can sip it throughout the day. Each dose contains 1000mg of vitamin C and 50mg of betamanin Aloe vera extract. It is a fast and convenient way to get the benefits of two strong immune system stimulators.

Do not forget chicken soup. It does work. Chicken soup contains the amino acid cysteine, which can thin the mucus in the lungs and reduce respiratory congestion. Only the homemade style work, canned soup is useless, and do not forget to add lots of carrots, celery and onions.