Trick or Flu? Is the Sugar Worth it?

[Holly Noonan]

The time is here when we give ourselves permission to go to town with those mini candy bars "just for a few days." It just happens to be coinciding H1N1 hitting our state.

Yet we know that sugar is one of the triggers for lowering our immune system, along with alcohol, stress and lack of sleep.

While this "swine flu" doesn't seem to be more severe than a regular, seasonal flu (with some unpredictable exceptions) it is way, way more contagious than a regular flu.

Watch this 60 Minutes video about how it's spreading and why young people are more at risk than those who were born in the 30s and 40s.

Notice how the young man who was featured in this story got sicker after taking a shower? Take a bath if you have a flu. Here's why;

A study was published in the September 2009 online journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluding that showerheads can harbor dangerous chlorine-resistant bacteria for showers that are fed by municipal water supplies (not wells.)

Two types of dangerous bacteria can become aerosolized by the showerhead and cause severe pulmonary disease in immunocompromised people.

So avoiding the candy dish is one way you can optimize your immunity. So is getting enough sleep, taking it easy on the alcohol and reducing your stress naturally (without alcohol) by walking, meditating, talking with friends, taking baths, taking magnesium and sleeping in.

Here are some other common sense suggestions for natural flu prevention from Dr.Vinay Goyal;

1. "Frequent hand-washing (of course.)

2. 'Hands-off-the-face' approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of the face (unless you are to eating or bathing.)

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water with a Neti Pot but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C
tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, water, etc) as you can. Drinking
warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse
direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the
stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm."

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