The common cold and influenza are both viral illnesses and both can linger if not dealt with promptly!  Swipe through the slides for what to do at the first signs of trouble: tiredness, aching joints, thick or sore throat, sneezing, coughing, runny nose....

Your Body’s Defence Mechanism

The key to fighting infections is to understand what the virus or bacteria want from your body – basically to multiply and spread through your own body and to other people!

Your body has various defence mechanisms to stop infections from first getting into the body and then spreading through the body:

• Skin
• nasal mucosa and hairs 
• saliva
• tonsils
• white blood cells
• antibodies

Infections have ways of moving from person to person and they are clever – if you have a cold the rhinovirus (common cold virus) is careful not to make you so ill that you can’t go out and about to sneeze and spread the virus to other people!

In this way that particular rhinovirus gets stronger (more virulent). 

Of course the human body is clever too – its immune system is constantly developing and so eventually fights off the virus.  Some people will be able to fight the virus without it ever managing to develop at all and in time that particular strain of rhinovirus dies out.



The influenza (flu) virus is more powerful than the rhinovirus so although droplets also spread it, it is not necessary to sneeze – just normal breathing can spread the virus. 

Flu can be a really nasty illness and it is important that you allow your body to fight it effectively. 

First and foremost try to stay at home:

• Stops the spread and so weakens the virus
• By keeping warm you help kill the infection (it is no coincidence that colds are more common in the winter – they love cold noses!)
• By resting you allow your body to focus on fighting the infection
• Sniff Tea Tree Oil and eucalyptus oil
• Eat healthily
• Take Goldenseal root (ask me for the best source in your region)

Allow your body to fight the infection

When your body notices it is infected, it sends signals to your body to:

Raise your body temperature and create a fever (infections hate heat) so embrace and nurture a fever by keeping warm.  Much of the muscle aches associated with flu are as a result of the body shivering to try to keep the fever going.  Monitor with a thermometer, particularly in children (always seek medical advice for fever in young children), and only use cold flannels and paracetamol if the temperature goes above 102F.

Remove iron and sugar from your blood (infections need to eat too), which is why you feel weak when ill, so do not eat rich meaty or sugary foods.

Sends white blood cells to trap and eat the infection.

Stimulates little hairs (cillae) in the lungs and nose to sweep the infection up and out of the body so do not use cough suppressants.

Prevention

Use hand steriliser gel frequently. Particularly if you commute by public transport or work in an office or similar. They really do help to protect you from the spread of infections.

If someone has sneezed near you or at the first sign of your own sneezing, start sniffing Tea Tree oil - literally sniff straight from the bottle!

Help your body to fight the infection

Avoid taking painkillers if at all possible. They slow down your body’s immune response and prolong the infection. 

Keep warm and try a hot bath with a couple of handfuls of Epsom salts or magnesium chloride salts with maybe a few drops of eucalyptus or Olbas oils

Eat (if you have an appetite) plenty of cooked vegetables with small amounts of meat, fish or tofu - preferably cooked together as a stew or soup to retain the nutrients.

Eat small amounts of fruit: apples, berries or pineapple. Avoid very sweet fruit like grapes or mango.

Avoid sugar and starchy carbohydrates (sweets, biscuits, cakes, rice, pasta) like the plague - they are easy food for your invaders and disturb your body’s defence systems.

Use steam inhalations with few drops of eucalyptus or Olbas oils to loosen sinuses and tight chests. Or simply sniff the bottles! 

Blow your nose as necessary and dispose of the tissues in a closed bin or flush in toilet. Then wash your hands and use hand steriliser.

Take Goldenseal root - it is the best herb for fighting viruses and secondary bacterial infections (post coming soon with more info). Ask me for the best product available in your region.

Carrots are very high in carotenes, potassium and zinc, which are extremely effective immune system boosters as well as protecting mucus membranes of the nose, sinuses, throat and lungs. Hit a bug early by drinking the juice of 1kg of organic carrots twice a day for two days. (Juices aren’t normally on my recommended eating list, but this is a very particular exception)

Potassium broth – chop organic carrots, onions, cabbage, any other greens, celery, parsley, garlic, pinch of salt. Simmer in plenty of water for 30 minutes. You can drink whole or strain and just drink the broth.

Tight chests from coughing - try a chest pack. Look out for a post coming soon...