2013 has certainly been the year of the flu. Everyone I know has been touched by it including some members of my own family. Our community has been hit very hard with multiple flu strains this year effecting lots of people, many who got the flu shot. Our family opted not to get the shot to avoid the side effects of some of the ingredients (formaldehyde, mercury and aluminum) and the risk of acquiring GUILLAIN-BARRE syndrome. Many of our friends who got the shot still had serious bouts of the flu.
Last week I had the unfortunate experience of succumbing to the flu myself. After two nights of very little sleep and elevated stress during which time I was exposed to the flu virus via my husband, I became very ill. It started on Saturday evening with a sore throat, headache and ear ache. By midnight I had severe chills and a fever of 102. My entire body, every muscle and joint ached and my head throbbed. I felt as if both of my ears and my throat were infected. I was so weak I could barely walk to the bathroom and when I did, the chills would come over me until I was shaking. After that I would break out in a sweat. I stayed in bed for 30 hours straight, sleeping off and on and drinking every waking moment.
My family rallied around me and took wonderful care of me. They helped me stay on my protocol by bringing me hot green tea or yerba mate, apple cider vinegar and refilling my water bottle. I drank 90 ounces of water during that time. I diligently followed what I could of my own protocol (see below).
On Monday morning at 3:20 AM I woke up fever free. Other than a mild sore throat I felt fine all day. I took it easy doing light work around the house and reading. I did one round of light therapy on Wednesday at Dr. Smother’s office. I woke up Thursday morning feeling amazing and right back at 100%! I was even able to work out (low intensity) on Thursday and I got a good hour long work out in on Friday.
The flu usually lasts from 3 days to 2 weeks. I believe the protocol below shortened the duration of my flu symptoms to just one and a quarter days and that’s without a shot or Tamiflu.
Prevention is always the best medicine! Here are a few things I do to keep my immune system strong in hopes of preventing the flu or limiting the severity and duration of it should I be exposed.
Preventative Steps:
- Take 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 every day during the winter
- Take a high quality, refrigerated probiotic, with multiple strains (at night on an empty stomach). Eat fermented foods such as raw kefir, kimchee, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, etc., which are rich in probiotics (good bacteria). Scientific research shows that 80 percent of your immune system resides inside your digestive tract, so eating probiotic-rich foods, or taking a high-quality probiotic, will help support your immune health.
- Get at least 8 hours of sleep
- Supplement with Gingko
- Light daily exercise (walking, lifting weights or yoga)
- Avoid processed food and fructose/sugar. (Eating or drinking 8 tbs. of sugar, the equivalent of about two cans of soda, can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by forty percent. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours)
- Eat or supplement with garlic every day
- Daily Vitamin C supplement
- Eat Coconut oil daily
- Daily Magnesium supplement
When I started having flu or cold symptoms, I continue with the above while adding a few more ingredients. I don’t necessarily use all of these ingredients at once. I’ve starred the top 6.
Dealing with Symptoms:
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (2x day)
- Green tea sweetened with raw, local honey
- Stop eating any dairy, sugar or wheat products
- 5000 mg of Vitamin C (3 times a day)
- * Syinfect (2 tablets 3 times a day)
- LOTS of fresh Garlic or freeze dried garlic (4 tablets 3x a day)
- Boiron Oscillococcinum Natural Flu Relief
- Sambucus (Elderberry Syrup) 3x a day
- * Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (2 tablespoons mixed with water 2x a day, good for sore throats)
- * Goldenseal (natural antibiotic/antiviral) or my natural doctor’s herbal flu tincture: Dr. John’s Bac Viral
- * Bovine colostrum – ImmunoGPRP powder or spray
- Iodoral Iodine supplement (1/2 capsule a day while having symptoms)
- Gargle with warm salt water (wonderful sore throat treatment)
- * Zinc – When taken within a day of the first cold symptoms, zinc can reduce the duration of a cold by about 24 hours and reduce the severity of symptoms, according to a Cochrane Review of 15 clinical trials.
- * Chicken Soup from bone broth (or just drink the broth). Yes, it does work! Chicken contains a natural amino acid called cysteine, which can thin the mucus in your lungs and make it less sticky so you can expel it more easily. Processed, canned soups won’t work well. For best results, make up a fresh batch yourself using the broth from bones cooked overnight. Make the soup hot and spicy with plenty of pepper. The spices will trigger a sudden release of watery fluids in your mouth, throat, and lungs, which will help thin down the respiratory mucus so it’s easier to cough up and expel.