You can’t help but notice, if you have turned on the television or the radio or opened the newspaper over the last couple of days, that we are being wound up into a panic about swine flu. I was listening to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning, and the latest forecast was that swine flu would not reach its full potency in Britain until next winter. Over the coming days and weeks, we are going to receive more information on how to ward off the flu. The government is going to send everybody a leaflet telling us how to wash our hands and not go to public places if we are feeling unwell and suspect that we have caught something.
The reality is however, for all big headlines, and the scare stories, not everyone is going to catch the flu, and the vast majority of those of us who do will only experience mild symptoms and recover from the condition in a few days. So what can you do to increase your chances of being one of those people who do not catch the flu in the first place, or if you do, be in the best possible state of health for the symptoms to be as mild as possible?
To optimise your own state of health and to improve your immune function you should avoid sugar and processed foods. Sugar has a very powerful effect on decreasing the function of your immune system. If you take the time to read the packaging of processed foods. You will find that sugar is present in many products, not just the obvious cakes and chocolate. Also, make sure that you are getting your minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Make sure that you get enough rest, if you body is constantly fatigued you all have less resources to fight any infections that may be . Try to make sure that you get to bed at the same time every night, and aim for 7 to 8 hours .
Take control of stress, if you’re feeling constantly stressed you will be less able to cope with the effects of flu or any other illnesses. Try to do some kind of deep breathing or meditation exercise every day. We have a deep relaxation program that you can download from our website that will help to get your body into a state of relaxation and turn off the stress hormones and chemicals that are so depleting to the immune function.
It’s important to try and exercise on a daily basis, as you exercise you increase circulation throughout the body and you increase the amount of oxygen in the blood stream. This helps to boost the effects of the immune function increases your chances of remaining healthy throughout the flu season.
Increase levels of vitamins D. There’s been a lot of research, recently that shows how people are more prone to infection, colds and flus if their levels of vitamins D are less than optimum. The best source of Vitamin D is from sunlight, but the low cloud layers over the UK as well as our indoor lifestyle, and overuse of sunscreans makes it difficult to maintain optimum levels from sunlight alone. For this reason, I take a daily vitamin D supplement, and I’ve managed to avoid the flu for the last 10 to 12 years, the best quality product I’ve found, and the one I recommend for clients is Metagenics Iso D3.
Lastly, certainly not least, acupuncture has been well tested tried and tested and numerous clinical studies has demonstrated its positive effects on strengthening the immune function and its ability to reduce the incidence of upper a respiratory tract infections. Acupuncture treatment has also been demonstrated to shorten the length of time of dis-ease, if you are unfortunate enough to get ill.
Finally, remember that it wasn’t that long ago we were reading panic headlines about bird flu, and before that, SARS, and we all know the outcome of those scare stories!
Stay Healthy
Keith
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