The keys to not catching colds and flu.
Hundreds of millions of people around the world have been
alerted to the alarming specter of avian influenza - although
fewer than 200 people, at the time this article is being
written, have actually contracted the disease. But this year
between 250,000,000 and 500,000,000 people around the world will
catch and between 250,000 and 500,000 people around the world
will die of other strains of influenza, and no one is sounding
any alarms.
Don't let the better known forms of the flu catch you
unprepared. The keys to not catching the flu are common sense
measures to prevent infection and vitamin antioxidant boosters
for your immune system.
The commonsense measures for avoiding colds and flu are
blissfully simple:
Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands.
If you simply wash your hands before you touch your mouth, face,
or nose, and afterwards, the journal Applied Environmental
Microbiology tells us, you kill up to 99.7 percent of the
viruses you contact.
Warm water and ordinary soap are sufficient. It's only necessary
to use them consistently.
And for your vitamin anti-infective antioxidants, the liquid
vitamins you are already taking may be enough. The prescription
your doctor is likely to give you is not likely to be any better
than the vitamins you are already taking.
An article found in a 1933 edition of the Journal of the
American Medical Association stated cynically that "it is
possible to convince the public that practically any preparation
is of value for the prevention or treatment of colds" and flu.
Indeed, if you live in the United States, there's a good chance
that what your doctor will give you won't help the flu. An
astonishing 60 percent of American physicians prescribe
antibiotics for colds and flu, even though viruses cause colds
and flu and antibiotics only treat bacterial infections.
Over-the-counter remedies only offer hit or miss relief. The
older antihistamines, like diphenhydramine (Benadryl), relieve
sneezing and snot but they cause drowsiness and scratchy throat.
The new non-sedating antihistamines don't relieve colds and flu
at all.
Nose sprays relieve laryngitis and coughing along with clearing
up nasal drainage, but they do this by stopping a signal from
the brain to produce mucus. Without ongoing production of mucus,
you are at constant risk of reinfection. There is nothing to
carry away the viruses your immune system misses.
And there are prescription medications that help some people,
like Tamiflu and Relenza, but you'll have trouble getting them
during this year's flu season. So what do you do?
For starters, try zinc. Zinc is almost a miracle drug for colds
and flu.
A 2002 medical study involving 218 volunteers found that using a
nasal spray with zinc gluconate reduced the duration of a cold
by 7 days.
Colds lasted an average of 9 days without zinc, and just 2 days
among volunteers who took zinc the first day they had symptoms.
And you don't have to take zinc in a nasal spray as long as you
are getting the right kind of zinc. That is, you need to be
getting zinc gluconate, not zinc acetate or zinc sulfate.
The reason for this is that zinc stops viral infections by
literally repelling them. Zinc carries a positive charge, as
does the virus.
When zinc is absorbed into the lining of cells, its positive
charge repels the positive charge on the virus and the virus is
not able to cause infection.
If you are taking zinc lozenges, they have to taste bad to be
good. Flavoring agents such as citric and tartaric acids stop
zinc's actions against colds and flu viruses (although
sweeteners such as mannitol or sorbitol or any other kind of
sugar ending in -ol are OK).
The bitter taste of zinc is your body's signal that it needs
more - when you stop tasting zinc, your body doesn't need it.
But if you get your zinc from liquid vitamins, you may not need
either nose sprays or lozenges.
You'll get a steady stream of just enough zinc to keep your
cells resistant to all but the biggest doses of infectious
agents. You won't get so much zinc that cells begin to repel
immune system agents the same way they repel viruses.
What about vitamin C?
The first thing you need to know about vitamin C for colds and
flu is that a little vitamin C helps. Even 50 milligrams a day
will help you get over a cold about 2 days faster than no
vitamin C at all.
The second thing you need to know is that more than 2,000
milligrams a day doesn't do any additional good. And if you can
give your liver so vitamin C to process that it can't detoxify
calcium channel blockers for high blood pressure (for example
nifedipine, marketed as Procardia), or cyclosporine for
preventing transplant rejection.
What you need to know to get a lot of protection from a little
vitamin C is to disregard the old adage "Stave a fever, feed a
cold."
Refined sugars and carbohydrates in the diet produce acidity.
Acidity (1) increases respiration, so breathe deeper and longer
and suck down viruses further in your immune system and (2)
keeps cells from responding to vitamin C. Eliminate the sugars
from your diet and you will get the same results from 50
milligrams of vitamin C that you would otherwise get from 5,000!
A balanced formulation of vitamins in a liquid base can help you
avoid the need for buying additional vitamin supplements during
colds and flu season. You'll get enough of the vitamins you need
in the form you need to go all year without an upper respiratory
infection.
For purposes of preventing colds and flu, liquid vitamins
sweetened with propylene glycol or sorbitol are OK, but
sweeteners made from natural fruit extracts or stevia are even
better. And you need to keep the bottle closed between uses. You
don't want your vitamin antioxidants "anti-oxidating" the
atmosphere. You want the benefits in your body. Just avoid
getting too much sugar, keep the product tightly closed between
uses, and wash you hands often to avoid picking up infection.