You have a cold? Congratulations.
By Chiropractor Dr. Annika Jende
This is the time of year for “solider on” ads. Every time I see it, I cringe, and here’s why:
The part of the immune system that deals with viruses and bacteria and fungus also deals with tumours. So every time you have a cold or a flu you’re exercising and boosting that part of the immune system. (In my random sampling of people with cancer, they will often mention they hadn’t had a cold for 10 years or more).
Fevers are incredibly handy, because it doesn’t take much of a rise in temperature for the bugs to die. (A note of caution: if the fever rises very quickly, it needs attention straight away!). By using all those advertised cold and flu preparations, we’re actually working against our bodies in trying to deal with the situation, meaning that the recovery takes longer and also that it is often not complete.
So, allow yourself to be sick! Take time off work! Let your body do a quick detox! Do what your body asks for: rest, sleep, stay warm, have lots of warm fluids (such as hot water with ginger, lemon, lemongrass), casseroles and soups and stews. Go for a gentle walk if you feel like it, but don’t exercise strenuously.
We all like to be sick for a short period of time, I realize, so here are some tried-and-tested remedies:
- Vitamin C and zinc
- Vitamin D
- Iodine (in rosemary and seaweed – helps the immune system kill off bugs)
- Garlic (crush some, put it in rice milk with slippery elm powder to protect your gut)
- Garlic and horseradish tablets
- Bone broth (yeah, the old chicken soup!)
- Colloidal silver
- Triguard (available from the clinic, it has colloidal gold, grapefruit seed extract and tee tree oil)
- Olive leaf extract
- Fusion cold and flu formula (recommended by you!)
Stay off sugar, alcohol, caffeine (and cigarettes, needless to say, and don’t take them up again), as they all enhance the stress “fight-or-flight” response – your body is EITHER in stress OR in healing mode!
Winter is the time for hibernation and rest. We actually have a thyroid hormone, called reverse T3 , that is released at this time of year specifically to slow us down. In Australia, we completely ignore this need for rest (because Christmas is at midsummer, you don’t get that automatic midwinter rest) and keep going as per usual.
So, have a week off in winter if you’re not sick to just sleep in, rest and catch up with yourself! (This is why I’m away the last week of June).
I hope you all get through this winter easily! Annika
This is not intended to be medical advice, but snippets of useful information that I have gleaned over my past 18 years as a chiropractor.
check out these articles
https://spectrumchiropractic.com.au/flu-season-survival-guide/
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