Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Swine Flu Scare: Natural Healing and Prevention

With the recent Swine Flu Scare and titles such as the following sweeping the news:










...I found it to be a great lead in to the reason epidemics such as this are so detrimental and wide spread to our seemingly "health progressive" country in the first place. With all our technological and pharmaceutical advancements why do we still remain so fearful of disease and epidemics?


I don't mean to simplify this problem by insenuating that there is only one solution or one aspect to solve, but I do want to address a major cause of our decreasing health in the face of such rapid pharmaceutical advancement...Declining Health Standards.

The CDC is recommending general steps to be taken for preventing the spread of swine flu:



  • Cover your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing.

  • Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and use hand sanitizers when you don't have access to soap and water.

  • Avoid spreading germs from your hands to orfices by touching the eyes, nose and mouth.

What about using this as a greenlight to REALLY make a difference in our health...from the CORE of the problem? Shouldn't we be trying to increase our natural immunity to disease through proper nutrition, healthy activity, detoxification, and dedication to mental health and well being? OF COURSE! Below i've begun the discussion on some tools we can use to really increase our NATURAL and INNATE defenses. Afterall, while pharmaceuticals have their place, they obviously are being relied on too much these days, and the state of our national health is a direct reflection of that...


Natural and Holistic prevention tools



MIND-BODY CONNECTION: to releasing any fears you may have about the swine flu, or disease in general. Fear and stress can be a direct detriment to your emotional and physical status, so don't let yourself get swept up in the panic. Some good tools to overcome stress and anxiety include:



  • Yoga and Stretching

  • Deep Breathing

  • Neuro-Emotional Technique

  • Light Exercise (brisk walk is great, especially with the great Spring Weather!)

Herbal and Whole Food Support: There are many great resources to bolster the immune system and serve as preventative sources for your health. Immune support herbs such as echinacea and goldenseal are popular to ward of the common flu and support the immune system naturally. Just be cautious that echinacea is not recommended for people suffering from seasonal allergies as it can act as an allergen. It is important to work directly with your holistic health care provider directly to make sure that the supplements and herbs you are taking are right for your body. Everyone is deficient in different things and taking 10000's of mg's of Vitamin C is not going to make you immune to everything. You are an individual, both in personality and in physical makeup so treat yourself with respect and get a consultation to decide what supplements will benefit YOU specifically. Make sure that your supplements are whole food or herbal and NOT synthetic, as your body will not process them correctly if they are not natural.



Nutrition: continue working on the basics of organic and seasonal nutrition and detoxification to reduce the toxin load of the body so it can be prepared to fight off any illness, including the swine flu.
You can find some excellent recipes both on my healthy recipes blog and on the detoxification blog under "detoxification recipes." Email me for questions on the Standard Process Purification Program.


Other medical modalities used to encourage the body's natural healing mechanisms include:
Acupuncture
Massage
Chiropractic


Please leave your comments on how you are keeping the swine flu and other diseases at bay below with natural remedies and nutrition. As always, I love to hear your feedback.





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2 comments:

  1. Swine flu has grabbed national and international headlines over the past few days. Today marked the first death in the recent surge of cases. While I believe the national media is using scare tactics rather than providing useful information, it is important to take this potential threat seriously.

    I think it’s important to question why we are susceptible to these flu viruses. One major reason is nutritional deficiencies. Wholesome and health promoting foods are not staples of most Americans’ diet. Americans are a nation of overfed and undernourished people. This coupled with the chemical burden our bodies face each day from air/water pollution, pesticides, plastics, and medications has dramatically comprised the health of our country. Refined (packaged) foods lack the vitamin A, C, E complexes, B6, folic acid, zinc selenium, iron, copper, probiotics, and enzymes necessary to support a healthy immune system.

    The human body is designed to be well. The immune system’s job it to protect the body from bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. When the body is nutritionally strong, the immune system works as it should. However, stress, lack of sleep, and a poor diet all affect the body’s ability to ward off potential illness.

    I regularly work with patients to build their immune systems in a natural way. As one is learning to eat nutritionally dense food, I suggest using whole food concentrate supplements to support the healing and protective processes in the body. I specifically use Standard Process nutritional supplements. I have found no other nutritional support help restore health and vitality to the body as I have with Standard Process. You can learn more about Standard Process at www.standardprocess.com.

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  2. I'm a little late reading this, but great article!

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