It’s Flu Season! Natural Remedies to Fight It

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Before the onset of the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, influenza was not generally known as life-threatening. It’s often offhandedly dismissed as the flu & everyone gets on with their lives. However, with plenty of serious complications, even death, that flu has on children, sick individuals & older people, our perceptions have slowly but surely changed.

The statistics of flu deaths in the United States alone – 30,000 to 40,000 a year – is a sufficient reason to adopt natural remedies against the influenza virus. Did I mention that we also have the swine flu pandemic to contend with, thus, doubly emphasizing the need for preventive measures against it?

Flu is fatal for people who have weakened immune systems, be it man or woman, kid or older person. As such, it is absolutely necessary to strengthen your immune process during winter, which is also FLU SEASON!

Adopt a Healthier Lifestyle

• Get plenty of rest & relaxation as well as sleep. A lot of stress & too little sleep on a sustained basis weakens the immune process making it harder for your body to fight the flu.

General lifestyle recommendations include the following:

• Wash your hands frequently & vigorously in hot water for 20-30 seconds at a time. Flu can be inactivated by disinfectants & detergents, thus, diminishing the risk of infection.

• Expose yourself to the sun in warm weather before 9 in the morning for at least 30 minutes each day. Flu can also be inactivated by sunlight although it must be emphasized that after 9 AM, the sun’s rays can lead to skin cancer.

• Keep your head, neck & feet as warm as possible in the cold weather.

• Avoid close contact with anyone suffering from the flu. If it can’t be helped, then protect yourself against contracting flu by being healthy & covering your mouth & nose.

Adopt a Healthy Diet

Obviously, a healthy diet is essential to strengthen your immune process, of which the most notable recommendations are:

• Eat more fresh fruits & vegetables as well as whole grains, which has immune system-boosting antioxidants.  Also, increase your consumption of garlic, which has known antiviral properties.

• Drink plenty of warm fluids &  soups, the chicken-and-herb variety.

• Avoid dairy products except for yogurt, which strengthens the immune process through a stronger digestive process. Other dairy products lead to increased mucus production, thus, to increased risks for flu infection.

Take a Multivitamin Supplement

Along with a healthy diet, you can also take multivitamin supplements like vitamin C, A, E & B-complex. These can diminish the severity & length of the flu as well as in decreasing inflammation.

Use Herbal Treatments

There are plenty of herbs that have been proven to help fight off infection, which can also be categorized under the advice for drinking warm fluids. These herbal remedies include:

• Drinking ginger tea infused with your favorite spices.

• Using Ayurvedic herbs like guduchi, chyavanprash, ashwaganda, amlaki & tulsi. Visit any Indian Ayurvedic center for these ancient herbal flu treatments.

• Take the Chinese herb yin chiao, which is more effective when taken as soon as symptoms appear.

With all these natural treatments to help fight off the flu, you & your relatives can be protected during flu season as well as during pandemics.

Hopefully you can avoid all of this though by getting your flu shot every year.  Of course, there’s no guarantee you won’t still get the flu but the odds of you not getting it are pretty good.  We know, as well, there’s an H1N1 vaccine. Will this vaccine help if there’s a resurgence? Any thoughts on this vaccine?

Photo by maniacworld.com

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