Thursday, November 13, 2008

Prevent Colds, Flu, & Pneumonia....

Today's post: Thursday, 11-13-2008


Unfortunately this is the season for catching these and bronchitis besides.

The good news is that you can make catching any of them MUCH less likely.

Today we list many ways to prevent these. Do as many as you can that you aren’t already doing.

Paradoxically, three of the ones that work best cost very little. One of those three has truly astounding other health benefits besides. And another that costs very little also may help prevent you from getting colds if you overdo your exercise or do competitive athletics of some kind.

So let’s start with those.

1. Since it’s been found that your body will use about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day if it’s available, recently there have been a lot of studies done on giving people 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day. (Since people get little sun in the winter and most people who don’t work outside today get very little sun most of the time, these studies were important to do.)

(Taking 5,000 iu or more a day of vitamin D may not be a good idea without actually getting your blood levels measured. But getting close to the 3,000 your body actually uses looks to be quite safe.)

It seems that taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day boosts your immune system well enough it looks to help prevent all cancers. (A recent study using the 400 iu of vitamin D3 daily that used to be the recommended amount, by contrast, did not show cancer protection. The amount was simply too small.)

This immune boosting has been found to help prevent tuberculosis. (The old idea of getting TB patients extra sun may have actually helped some people because of this effect.)

Even more important, I read recently that in people with low vitamin D levels, the pneumonia vaccine tended not to work. But in people with high levels of vitamin D, the pneumonia vaccine was quite effective. Because of the many reports of this strong immune system building effect, I suspect that taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day also very likely makes flu shots much more likely to be protective.

So, since flu shots are free from many HMO’s or about $25; and pneumonia vaccine only needs to be gotten about every 10 years and is free from many HMO’s or about $25. And, taking that much D3 only costs about $6 a month. Getting both shots and taking the vitamin D3 costs at most $50 to start and $6 a month or so after that.

But not only will doing these three things slash your risk of getting flu and pneumonia (and TB), it will also very likely make you less likely to get colds.

And, there’s even more benefits to taking that much vitamin D3 each day. I discovered recently it protects your DNA enough that it will slow aging by 5 years if you do it long enough. Taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day also looks to prevent many autoimmune diseases. (Not only does taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day help your immune system kill the invaders it should kill, it apparently also helps it avoid harming parts of YOU that it should leave alone.)

Do you get SAD during the darker days of winter and get the “wintertime blues”? In many people, taking 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day turns that off.

So by getting both shots and taking the 2,000 to about 3,000 iu of vitamin D3 a day you get a massive amount of health benefits in addition to not getting colds, flu, pneumonia etc.

And, over a 10 year period the cost of doing all three is about $10 a month. Plus you’ll save MORE than that in antibiotics, cold medicines, doctor visits, and time off work.

2. Here’s the other inexpensive way to prevent colds. (I’ve also heard it helps prevent allergies.)

This is also the one that may help prevent you from getting colds if you overdo your exercise or do competitive athletics of some kind.

I found this article in Early to Rise yesterday on their website at www.earlytorise.com :

“This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.”

Fight the Flu... With Onions!

By Kelley Herring


Flu season is upon us. And if you're like me and want to stay healthy the natural way (no flu shots here!), do this: Eat onions.

Red onions (as well as apples and broccoli and tea) are rich in a nutrient called quercetin that may help to ward off the influenza virus.

In a recent study, published in the American Journal of Physiology, quercetin was found to negate the dip in immunity that comes with physical fatigue. And that "dip" is the window of opportunity for viruses and bacteria to take root and hold you hostage until they run their course.

What's the best way to get this natural flu fighter?

First, because quercetin is highly concentrated in the skins of fruits and veggies, make sure yours are organic (and unpeeled, for maximum potency).

And since quercetin isn't destroyed by heat, a bowl of French onion soup, a warming cup of green tea, or a fragrant serving of cinnamon baked apples should do the trick. Much more enjoyable than a flu shot... and the only side effect is YUM!”

X* X* X* X* X*

In addition to this, eating onions and either eating raw, crushed garlic or taking deodorized garlic supplements has several heart protective effects. And garlic is also known to have immune system boosting and direct antimicrobial effects.

Last, but far from least, you have to eat and drink something. And all these foods are only moderate in cost, so by eating them (or drinking green tea) instead of less healthful alternatives that cost the same or more, has no net cost! And, each of these foods has other health benefits.

3. Similarly old fashioned oatmeal, oat bran, and mushrooms are high in beta glucans which have very powerful immune system boosting effects. (The oats help to lower LDL cholesterol directly and the mushrooms can replace some meat or cheese that would otherwise increase your LDL. So eating these foods can protect your heart as well as helping to prevent colds, etc and possibly cancer according to some studies.)

The next method is NOT in the low cost category but may be worth trying if you can afford it.

4. But there’s more. If you can spend about $35 a month and either now get lots of colds every year and often get secondary upper respiratory infections too OR you hate colds OR cannot afford to take time off for them this year, you may be interested in a product I found on this website that may solve those problems.

Check out: http://www.econugenics.com/offer/page/mycophyto/ .

In the email I got that gave me the heads up on this, the woman who wrote it did have lots of colds every year and often got secondary upper respiratory infections too. She says that not only did taking this special super beta glucan supplement completely make that stop, she found it increased her perceived energy level significantly.

(The product contains cordyceps which has energy boosting effects for most people who take it. And it contains several other “medicinal” mushrooms that are known for immune system boosting and which may also help people who take them live longer.)

Disclosure: I’ve no financial tie or sales deal with these people. And, though I found their information persuasive myself, I’ve not tried their product myself as yet.


5. Wash your hands when you get home and before you eat. And, if you touch the corner of your eyes or the inside of your nose, use a clean bit of toilet paper or Kleenex instead of your finger.

This one is VERY cheap. But it can cut out more than half of the colds and flu you might otherwise get! The viruses tend to get on your fingers and then into you by touching these parts of you. So wash the viruses off your hands; & don’t touch these parts of you directly.

Doing this prevents the viruses from getting access to you. So they cannot make you sick!

6. Be nice to people and stay in touch regularly with friends and family. People who have strong social networks have better health in every way and much stronger immune systems.

David Schwartz, one of the best self-help writers of all time, suggested practicing, for everyone you meet, noticing something about each person something you like or think well of; and then focus on those things when you think of or spend time with them. He called it “Practice liking people.”

This will also improve your sex life if you practice it with your “significant other.” And, having sex also boosts your immune system.

7. Take a probiotic supplement. I'm not sure whether this works by keeping your immune system in daily practice checking out new bacteria or if the probiotic bacteria kill off or eat bad bacteria and viruses. But taking a probiotic does seem to cut the incidence of colds and flu.

8. For other methods see our post Slash your pneumonia risk 6 ways….
Thursday, 12-20-2007.
This post lists some other methods as well.

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