If you eat well, get lots of rest you should get sick less

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Natural health
Deborah Ferguson

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Now that cold and flu season is upon us, let’s do a quick inventory of how you are doing. The constant alarmist newscasts regarding pandemics and the controversy (especially amongst health-care professionals) regarding whether one should be required to receive the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccination is enough to suppress anybody’s immune system!

Whether you choose to have any of the offered vaccinations or not, you must be proactive in your own health care. A strong healthy immune system is your first line of defense against what have been called “super bugs of the 21st century.” The field of immunology, the study of the immune system, is one of the fastest growing fields in medicine today, and the reasons are obvious.

Your immune system (made up of organs including the thymus, spleen, bone marrow and lymph glands and a variety of special cells) is like the commanding general that stands guard over your body, preparing to send its troops (your fighter cells and antibodies) to battle at the first sign of a problem. It is the immune system that fights off disease-causing micro-organisms and that engineers the healing process.

When your body’s immune system is working in balance, it is a powerful force to be reckoned with and very few bacteria or viruses gain any ground. The problem exists when your immune system is under-active or compromised.

Common signs of a suppressed immune system include fatigue and low energy, repeated infections, allergies, candida, yeast infections and thrush, herpes (cold sores) outbreaks, frequent colds and flu (more than one or two a year) and inflammation and wounds that heal slowly.

It is estimated that a healthy adult has an average of two colds a year. An individual who has significantly more colds or infections may have a problem with their immune system.

The two most common immune suppressants are stress and poor diet, especially a diet high in processed, refined “denatured” foods and high in “bad” fats. Have you ever noticed you are more apt to get sick if you are overtired, stressed and generally run down? You become a welcome target to a virus searching for a home.

Try to incorporate the following to reduce your chances of getting sick:

• You have probably heard this numerous times but – wash your hands well and often! Health experts call hand washing the single most effective way to stop germs in their tracks. Use warm water and soap and scrub for at least 20 seconds. When soap and water isn’t available, such as in the car, I keep a package of alcohol-based wipes. These can kill off many germs fast. Wipes are also a quick and effective disinfectant for door knobs, taps, phones, etc. for both home and office.

• Get sufficient sleep. Growth and repair of the human body takes place while we sleep.

• Exercise. This helps to reduce stress and elevate your mood, which has a positive effect on the immune system.

• Supplement with Vitamin C, the single most important vitamin for the immune system. Vitamin C performs the “absorbic acid flush” which helps flush the virus from your body.

• Echinacea boosts the immune system and is particularly effective at the first sign of a cold. Do not take it longer than two weeks at a time without at least a one-week break.

Of course, sometimes getting a cold or flu is unavoidable, but if you incorporate the above measures, your chances of getting sick will be greatly reduced and you will find that you experience a cold or flu much less frequently.

Good health!

Deborah Ferguson is a Registered Nutritional Consultant practicing in Rothesay. If you have any questions, please call 847-7049. Her website address is www.deborahferguson.ca.