Posts Tagged ‘Fruit And Vegetables’

Author: Caroline Osborne

It’s in the news every day – swine flu is spreading, more cases confirmed, more countries affected, schools closed…

Will it be a flu pandemic like 1918, which lasted over a year and killed 50 million people worldwide, or will it fizzle out like in 1976, when more people died from the vaccine than from the flu? (25 from the vaccine, 1 from the flu.)

I wasn’t around in 1918, so I can’t say what it was like, but this latest strain appears to be milder than the usual flu’s. When you have flu, you might feel like death warmed up, but flu is normally only life threatening to the very old, the very young and those who already have serious health problems.

This latest flu is no different – most of the deaths (and there haven’t been many) have been people in these vulnerable groups.

For healthy adults and older children, you’re not likely to die of flu, swine flu or any other. If you want to avoid it, concentrate on staying well, not on worrying about getting ill (worrying lowers your immune function).

• Take lots of vitamin C, which helps your immune system.

• Avoid sugary, fatty and processed foods and artificial additives. These sap your body’s energy as it works hard to digest them and clear them out.

• Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables for their vitamins and minerals, and to keep your blood pH alkaline. Germs of any sort can’t survive well in an alkaline environment.

• Get plenty of exercise. Exercise encourages deep breathing and stimulates your blood flow, getting more oxygen to every cell of your body. Bacteria and viruses don’t like too much oxygen, but your cells like plenty.

The best protection for small babies is their mother’s milk. For weaned babies and toddlers, and the elderly, the tips above will help – lots of vitamin C, lots of good food, stay off the junk food, moderate exercise and lots of fresh air.

If you don’t want to rely only on your immune system, you can use the added protection of plant power. The Four Thieves’ Vinegar was proved to be potent against the most contagious and deadly of diseases.

The Four Thieves used common herbs to protect themselves from infection while robbing from houses whose owners had died of plague. They themselves never got ill.

The herbs they used were ones that you might well have in your garden – rosemary, thyme, sage and lavender. Not only do these herbs smell wonderful; they are powerful disinfectants. The original four thieves sprinkled themselves with a vinegar infusion of these herbs before entering the streets and houses where plague was rife.

You can use these herbs in lots of ways: carry sprigs of them around with you, place them in vases round the house, or make an infusion (i.e. pour boiling water over the fresh or dried herbs, like making tea) and add it to your bath, rinse your clothes with it, use it around the house as a disinfectant.

If you are planning further ahead, you can make the vinegar infusion. Place a handful of each herb in a jar of cider vinegar. (Cider vinegar is another natural antiseptic.) Leave it to infuse for six weeks then strain off the herbs. You can keep the liquid in a spray bottle for convenience. Spray it round the house or on yourself – the smell of vinegar will soon go, leaving a subtle smell of the herbs.

If you prefer, you can use essential oils instead. They have the same antiviral and antibacterial properties as the whole plant, in a more concentrated form. (Never use them undiluted on your skin.) I often use thyme oil as a disinfectant. Tea tree, from Australia, is even stronger. Tea tree and lavender are two oils that are safe to use undiluted.

Herbs and their essential oils are made of many different molecules, so that viruses and bacteria can never develop resistance to them in the way that they do to chemical drugs. Also, they don’t have harmful side effects. Have you read the list of side effects of the common flu drugs?

About the Author:

Caroline Osborne from www.natural-health-for-you.com says: I love to communicate with people especially about health. I am more and more convinced that nutrition is the key to health and to understanding ill health. I hope I can convince you of the importance of paying attention to good nutrition.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Swine Flu – Should You Panic? (or How To Avoid Swine Flu.)

Author: AnnA

Although Gordon Brown assures us Britain is well prepared to deal with an outbreak of Swine Flu, I am always happier to take proactive action myself and there are some simple measures we can all take. They are not guaranteed to prevent you getting it, but they will certainly help.

The symptoms are of course very similar to any other flu you might experience: fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, chills and fatigue so report to your doctor if you have these. However, what you also need to do is focus on strengthening your own immune response to prevent infection getting a hold and developing.

1 This time of year I usually have stopped taking Echinacea, but it is my first port of call to build up my defences and if you can get Echinacea tincture that is the most effective in my opinion. Boots produce their own and there is an excellent one made by Bioforce from helath stores. Take it daily for three weeks then a week off.

2 Next increase the amount of vitamin C you are taking, at least 1 gram a day in two 500mg doses is the most effective. Have as natural and unprocessed diet as you can, and juicing your fruit and vegetables gets you the maximum vitamins from them.

3 Your body requires oxygen for every cell to function properly because viruses can neither survive nor thrive in it. Therefore, the best defence against microbes, germs, harmful bacteria and viruses, such as the swine influenza virus, is to keep the body oxygenated. Add in eggs to your diet as they are excellent for improving your oxygen absorption. See the healthy bites item on eggs below.

4 Are you breathing deeply enough? Shallow breathing will not bring enough oxygen into so your system, and being out in the fresh air every day is a must. Walking at a moderate pace while breathing in for a count of six, and out for a count of six, is one of the simplest ways to do this. If you find a count of six difficult, reduce it to four, or if it becomes easy increase to six or eight.

5 Limit foods and substances that stress the body such as sugar, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, too much red meat and processed foods high in saturated and hydrogenated fats.

6 Increase your intake of green tea, and reduce coffee and tea. Green tea will really help as its antixodants will boost your immune system. Add some lemon to it and you get extra vitamin C as well.

7 Finally, go back to basic hygiene and wash your hands in hot soapy water frequently and carry hand gel when you are out and use it after contact with others such as a handshake – and contact in public places with stair rails, lift buttons and so on.

It may all seem like a nonsense, but people have died from not taking this seriously. The good habits outlined here will help protect you, and if you maintain them you will have a solid barrier to prevent future infection.

About the Author:

AnnA is an inspirational author and speaker on health, personal development and creativity whose aim is to ‘catalyse’ you into action through her books,free email newsletters and creativity coaching. http://www.catalystonline.co.uk

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Swine Flu – 7 Natural Ways To Help Yourself