yogi-health:

I’ve noticed that a lot of people are starting to get sick later and I decided to gather a few links and posted some of the information up. My post about herbal tea’s tells you what kind of tea to drink for such things as a cough, cold, fevers, sore throats, etc. 

Tips to Naturally get over a cold: (I only posted 5/10 of them).

1. Wash your hands: Most colds and the flu are delivered via hand to hand contact or via airbone particles spread through coughing or sneezing. Hand washing is a simple, effective tool to wash away microbes. Hand washing is more effective than hand sanitizing gels or wipes. The Center for Disease Control states, “Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.” 
2. Sleep: Sleep deprivation wrecks havoc on your body. Lack of sleep causes chemical stress hormones to be released. Cortisol is immune suppressing. Lack of sleep also robs you of needed growth factors (growth hormone) and other chemicals (melatonin, seratonin and dopamine). This chemical cascade weakens your body’s infection fighting reserve.
3. Nutrition: Our favorite recommendations include Vit C, Vit D, Zinc, Lysine, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Ginger, Cayenne Pepper, Rosemary Extract, Interferon, Chamomile, Cinnamon, Oregano, Quercetin, Bromelain, Probiotics, Thyme, Turmeric and Ginseng. Vitamins, minerals and spices are natural ways to boost the immune system. The above products can be categorized as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, or immune boosting. The net result of nutritionals is to assist your immune system in prevention first and expulsion of the pathogen second. 
4. Exercise: Exercise provides a protective effect against colds and flu’s.  Regular moderate exercise has been shown to boost immune response limiting the chances of contracting colds/flu’s.
5. Get Fresh Air: Going outside during the winter without a coat doesn’t get you sick, despite what our mothers and grandmothers have been telling us for years. Research actually supports the opposite, that staying indoors in the winter has a higher chance of getting you sick. Airborne infection harbors in closed environments (houses, schools, malls, etc.)  If the weather permits, get outside during the winter. If the weather doesn’t permit, air purification can help limit pollutants (dust, dander, etc.) that contribute to illness.  

How to Prevent Colds and Flu Naturally:

Catching and suffering from cold and flu viruses and bugs is not inevitable, even in winter. It is so common in modern urban environments because most of us have very weak immune systems due to lifestyles that are based around low nutrient food, toxic overload, lack of rest and high stress. If your immune system is strong then it naturally fights off most infections and even if those around you fall ill you can remain unaffected. Here are some tips on how to prevent colds and flu naturally.

Why Go Natural?

Some of the chemicals in pharmaceutical medicines are potentially damaging and best avoided. Most pharmaceutical drugs for colds and flu work by suppressing symptoms rather than treating the cause, and foster the ‘soldier on’ mentality. This combination often causes the true underlying health issue to become worse in the long run. Flu vaccines contain some concerning ingredients as well and they are only good for helping to prevent certain virus strains. They are not 100% effective and if your immune system is already weak when you have a flu vaccination then the vaccine will force your tired immune system to fight hard against the injected virus and become even more depleted. Pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines provide an easy, quick-fix option, but we need to ask ourselves what the long-term impact is on our health of exposing ourselves to these chemicals and are there other options which are just as effective and simultaneously strengthen our bodies. The answer to the latter question is a definite yes.

How to Prevent Colds and Flu Naturally:

 You can strengthen your immune system by:

1. Keeping your stress levels low
2. Getting a good night’s sleep most nights
3. Making sure you maintain good levels of probiotic (good) bacteria in your digestive system which is the core of your immune system
4. Ensuring your levels of vitamin D are optimum
5. Eating a high nutrient diet
6. Drinking plenty of quality water
7. Eating plenty of anti-bacterial/anti-viral herbs such as garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage and oregano
8. Getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine as often as possible
9. Washing your hands regularly – normal soap and water is fine
10. Avoiding sugar and fructose (sugar weakens your immune system and creates damaging inflammation in your body)

• 2. Treat the Cause

The most important treatment for any illness is rest. Give your body the down-time it needs to fight off infection. It is most effective if you rest as soon as you feel symptoms start. If you do this you can usually either fight off the infection before it takes hold or at least significantly reduce the severity of it. Give yourself permission to take the rest you need. Who is telling you that you have to ‘soldier on?’.

Treating the cause of colds and flu can mean that symptoms seem to take longer to clear, but they are cleared and not just masked to re-appear later. You also often need to be more intensive when using natural treatments i.e. use significant doses quite frequently.

Andddd I’ll just post a link up to the next one.

Tips to Treat Colds and Flu the “Natural” Way:

(via perfectionproject)