Cold and flu season is here, but do not fear, my friends. I’m going to share with you tips on how to stay healthy or what to do if you do wind up getting sick.
Rest
If you do start to feel rundown and you feel that you might be getting sick, now is a good time to take a day off, maybe take two days off. A lot of us wind up trying to push through it and just keep going to work. All that does is actually prolong the period that you’re going to feel sick. Normally our bodies have the capacity to take care of whatever infections come our way, but it usually takes time. It takes about seven to ten days, sometimes even two weeks if we don’t do anything about it. But a lot of times people will just push through it and will not do the things they should be doing, and that will prolong any illness that happens. So take some time to rest, get some extra sleep. Your body will thank you dearly.
Hydration
Make sure you’re getting enough water in general, but you want to drink even more water when you’re not feeling well. Make sure you’re getting some electrolytes also. If you’re already drinking mineral water, great, but if you’re not and there’s no minerals in your water, you might want to consider adding some electrolytes like sea salt to your water. That will help keep you balanced and keep your hydration levels better.
Avoid the Bad Stuff
Sugar is the main thing that really suppresses your immune system. I know around the holidays it’s really hard to avoid sugar, but sugar is one of the main things that is going to suppress your immune system and make you more prone to getting sick. If you are already sick, you definitely want to avoid sugar like the plague in addition to things like alcohol. Alcohol is also going to suppress your immune system and keep your sickness going longer.
Sweat it Out
If possible, you want to try to sweat it out. If you’re already feeling bad, make sure you keep a lot of layers of clothes on, keep your body very, very warm so it can sweat out some of the toxins. If you have access to an infrared sauna or steam room, or even just a hot bath, that will make you sweat as well. That’s a really great way to sweat out some toxins.
Avoid Antibiotics
Another thing you want to consider is most of these types of infections, not all, are viral. The common cold, flu and things like that are viral. You don’t want to take antibiotics during this time, because antibiotics are for bacteria. Unless you have a confirmed bacteria, which I still don’t recommend antibiotics for, you want to avoid antibiotics for viruses because they’re only going to make it worse in the long run. They’re going to really hurt the good bacteria in your gut, and that’s just going to make your immune system weaker overall. If you do wind up taking them for whatever reason, you do want to make sure that you’re following that up with a really good probiotic for at least three to four weeks, if not longer, to reestablish some good bacteria back into your gut that the antibiotics sort of got rid of.
Whole Foods and Whole Food Supplements
Last is whole foods in general, especially whole food supplements. They are really, really excellent at helping your body deal with infections and boosting your immune system. In our clinic, we have two protocols that we use for these types of illnesses. If someone has an acute infection and they just got sick, we recommend that they take a Standard Process product called Congaplex. They will take two every two hours until everything is gone, and they’re also going to take MediHerb’s product called Andrographis Complex, which is an herbal formula that’s also great for acute immune infections.
Prevention
We recommend another Standard Process product called Immuplex, and then the MediHerb product called Echinacea Premium. Echinacea Premium is one of the best Echinacea products out there on the market. It is great at prevention and overall immune function.
Now you have my tips for staying healthy and what to do if you do get sick. If you haven’t already subscribed to our YouTube Channel, please consider doing so and I will keep you updated on the latest in natural health. If you need our help, we’re here. We do offer a free 15 minute, one on one consultation.