Showing posts with label cold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cold. Show all posts

Monday, February 4, 2013

How to fight colds and flus


So as we're dealing with the stressors of life, not getting enough sleep, and not getting enough good eats, you know you're at risk of the cold and flu. Easy ways to support a healthy immune system is to integrate the healthy stuff into your cooking or teas. For example, get your garlic in your veggie sautees or even as a pesto. Fresh ginger with lemon and raw honey has helped singers and performers keep their throat in good health. 
However you might be drinking good herbal teas and eating great healthy food, it's just not easy to get enough B-complex vitamins in your body for optimizing your immune system. I like to take a holistic approach -- with my herbal teas and foods in addition to a happy biochemistry of vitamins and minerals. 
Especially for vegans and vegetarians, to get a steady amount of B-complex vitamins every day is not easy. Some people stop by healthy food stores or doctors offices to get a B-12 shot to get an energy boost, but I recommend something that is more sustainable and supported by the body on a daily basis. This Activated B-complex has impressed many people, including athletes improving their speed or focus. Athletes use up a lot of energy and need to replenish their energy. Anyone who is working around sick people will definitely want to tank up on this B-complex which has the whole family of B-vitamins instead of just B-12, and better for long-term optimal health goals.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

How to fight the colds and flus

Great article by Dr. Mercola

===EXCERPT OF THE ARTICLE===
THE Number One Way to Conquer a Cold or Flu: Vitamin D

Vitamin D is an amazingly effective antimicrobial agent, producing 200 to 300 different antimicrobial peptides in your body that kill bacteria, viruses and fungi.

In the United States, the late winter average vitamin D level is only about 15-18 ng/ml, which is considered a very serious deficiency state. It’s estimated that over 95 percent of U.S. senior citizens may be deficient, along with 85 percent of the American public.
...

The best source for vitamin D is direct sun exposure. But for many of us, this just isn’t practical during the winter. The next best thing to sunlight is the use of a safe indoor tanning device. If neither natural nor artificial sunlight is an option, then using oral supplements is your best bet.

Remarkably, researchers have found that 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day abolished seasonal influenza. This is somewhat surprising, as it is half the dose of what most adults need to achieve ideal levels of vitamin D

Please note that this is far greater than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) advised by public health agencies like the American Academy of Pediatrics, which recently doubled the RDA of vitamin D for children to 400 IU. This new guidance still falls absurdly short of what’s needed to keep kids healthy, especially during flu season.

In order to prevent the flu, children and adults need 35 IU of vitamin D per pound of body weight. So, for example, a child weighing 57 pounds would need 2,000 IU a day of vitamin D.

Adults typically need an average of 5,000 IU per day—but some adults have to take 20,000 to 30,000 IU daily to get their vitamin D level up to optimal levels. Exactly how adults absorb and process vitamin D so differently is still somewhat of a mystery, so the only way to know if your vitamin D level is therapeutic and nontoxic is by having your blood tested.

Not all vitamin D testing is accurate, so make sure your health care provider is ordering the correct test.
===END OF EXCERPT===

Look at your multivitamin--it is likely to have some Vitamin D, but not enough. Here's where you can get the supplement with the recommended 5,000 IU. Get started now, BEFORE you get sick this winter!