Flu Immune» alternative-medicine

The Apple Cider Vinegar Flu Remedy: Bitter, Then Better

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 08:55:50 +0000

Apple cider vinegar has been used to treat various illnesses for centuries. If one can get past its bitter taste, one can find relief in its healing attributes. It has been known to aid in the treatment of arthritis, gout, acne, high cholesterol, chronic fatigue, and acid reflux.

One of its more common purposes is to stave off a cold or flu. It is said to help cure a sore throat, soothe a stubborn cough, and treat a sinus infection, the usual symptoms that accompany a cold or flu. Using an apple cider vinegar flu remedy is easy, natural, and safe for most individuals.

How it works

When you contract a cold, your body’s pH factor becomes slightly more alkaline. Apple cider vinegar, which is acidic, helps to rebalance the body’s acid level.

Sinus Infection

In the case of a sinus infection, the apple cider vinegar remedy slows down mucus production and most often eliminates watery eyes because it contains high amounts of potassium. It will rapidly thin the mucous, turning it from thick green or white to clear and runny. Apple cider vinegar contains many vitamins, nutrients and trace elements of copper, iron, silicon, magnesium, phosphorous, and calcium.

How to take it

There are several ways to integrate apple cider vinegar into your diet in order to benefit from its remedial effects. The degree of effectiveness of an apple cider vinegar flu remedy is not solely based on how you take it, but also on when you take it. Some use it as a daily tonic, while others ingest it at the very first sign of a cold or sinus infection.

Since the taste is bitter, it is often mixed with other liquids. You can dilute 1/8 to 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar into 16 ounces of water or juice, and sip the drink throughout the day.
If you are the brave type, dilute 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into 8 ounces of water or juice and drink it all at once, 3 times per day.
When added to apple juice, it tastes like cider and is much more pleasant to drink.
It can also be stirred into a cup of tea.
If drinking apple cider vinegar is out of the question, add it to various sauces, marinades, and/or dressings.

The recommended dosage for apple cider vinegar is up to 3 tablespoons daily. It is also available in capsule form at many health food and vitamin stores. Taking a capsule every day keeps your body’s pH level stable, rendering your immune system strong to fight off a cold or flu.

Other Remedial Uses for Apple Cider Vinegar Flu

To help relieve chest congestion due to a cold or flu, soak a piece of brown paper in apple cider vinegar and cover one side with black pepper. Strap the paper (pepper-side down) to the chest area and leave on for approximately 30 minutes.
To calm a stubborn cough due to a cold or flu, sprinkle some apple cider vinegar onto the pillow before you sleep.
To soothe a sore throat due to a cold or flu, mix equal parts of apple cider vinegar and water and gargle every hour, making sure to rinse your mouth thoroughly afterwards in order to prevent the acid from eroding the enamel on your teeth.
To relieve a sinus headache and stuffy nose, add 1/8 of a cup of apple cider vinegar to the water solution in the vaporizer.
Disclaimer: The use of an apple cider vinegar flu remedy is known to be quite effective and safe; however, it is imperative to consult a doctor regarding any medical issues you may have. Although the use of natural flu remedies and other alternative medicines is becoming increasingly popular, they are meant to complement traditional medicines; they are not a replacement for prescription drugs.

Cold and Flu -causes, Symptoms, Treatment

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:03:45 +0000

What is Cold and Flu

Is it a cold or the flu? While a common cold, including chest cold and head cold, can be caused by more than 200 viruses, seasonal flu is caused by either influenza A or B viruses. Cold and flu remedies can usually ease symptoms. Antiviral medications like Relenza or Tamiflu are helpful if prescribed soon after flu symptoms start.Influenza (commonly known as the flu) and colds are among the most common infections of the respiratory system. People often confuse the two, calling a bad cold the “flu,” or vice versa.

Typically, the flu (also known as influenza) has symptoms that make a child feel worse than symptoms associated with a common cold, but it’s not always that easy to tell the difference between the two.

What are the causes of the flu?
Influenza viruses are divided into three types, designated A, B, and C. Influenza types A and B are responsible for epidemics of respiratory illness that occur almost every winter and are often associated with increased rates of hospitalization and death. Influenza type C differs from types A and B in some important ways.

The truth is, the flu and the common cold are caused by viruses. People get sick more often in the winter because they are exposed to each other more in the winter than in the summer. When it is cold outside, people tend to stay inside and are more likely to spread germs to one another.

The flu is caused by three types (strains) of viruses â€” influenza A, B and C. Type A is responsible for the deadly influenza pandemics (worldwide epidemics) that strike every 10 to 40 years. Type B can lead to smaller, more localized outbreaks. And either types A or B can cause the flu that circulates almost every winter. Type C has never been connected with a large epidemic.

Symptoms of Cold and Flu
Viral pharyngitis may develop gradually. It is often accompanied by the flu or a cold, and body aches. If a fever is present, it will generally be in the range of 101 degrees F or below.With cold symptoms, your nose teems with watery nasal secretions for the first few days. Later, these become thicker and darker. Dark mucus is natural and does not usually mean you have developed a bacterial infection, such as a sinus infection.

Recognizing the symptoms of the common cold is important for a few reasons. If you realize what symptoms are bothering you the most, you will know which medications will help relieve them.

Introduction to cold, flu, and allergy treatments
Every year, millions of people use over-the-counter (OTC) products to relieve nasal stuffiness and congestion, sneezing, runny noses, sore throat, and cough. The common causes of these symptoms include the viruses that cause the common cold, influenza virus, allergic rhinitis (hay fever), and sinus infections (sinusitis).

ince it is caused by a virus, antibiotics do not work against the common cold. These types of upper respiratory infections go away on their own and taking antibiotics will not help your child get better any faster and will likely not prevent secondary bacterial infections, such as an ear infection or sinus infection.

For thick phlegm, patients may try cough medications that contain guaifenesin (Robitussin, Scot-Tussin Expectorant), which loosens mucus. Patients should not suppress coughs that produce mucus and phlegm; it is important to expel this substance. To loosen phlegm, patients should drink plenty of fluids and use a humidifier or steamer.Take paracetamol to control fever, aches and pains (adults can use aspirin). Early use of antiviral medication may shorten the length and severity of illness. Consult a doctor to discuss treatment.

Flu Vaccines Are Not A Reliable Answer For Prevention

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:03:04 +0000

How would you like to hear some objective, and less commercialized, information on whether, or not, you should get a flu shot? How will getting a flu shot help keep you protected, or not protected, from getting the flu in the next upcoming flu season?

Getting a flu shot in the U.S. Has never been easier. More than 130 million injectable doses, and 4.5 million nasal mist doses are available for this years upcoming flu season. In fact, the number of available doses seems to be growing each consecutive year, encouraging even relatively healthy individuals to take advantage of flu virus protection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims, by certain reports, that an estimated 36,000 deaths a year are contributed by the flu. Although this yearly estimate figure seems rather high, consider that this figure covers mostly complications due to having the flu, like pneumonia. In all actuality, only around 1250 deaths a year, or less, is actually caused from the flu.

There are many reasons a person can get pneumonia, the flu is only one of several ways of developing it. So the scare tactics that are used to encourage flu vaccinations is way over hyped. You can learn more by going to the ‘Health Ranger’, Mike Adam’s newstarget web site.

Despite the scare strategies that are being used to get people to get a flu shot, only 1 in 4 babies actually get them, and many adults do not buy into the flu shot hype either. Why, then, don’t more adults take advantage of an easy opportunity to get a flu virus protection for themselves, or their children, if the vaccine supposedly boasts of an effective success rate as high as 70 to 80 percent?

It seems the number one reason, why many people do not get a flu shot, is really rather simple. Most Americans do not trust the flu vaccine. They believe it does not really work, and they also believe it can cause one to get the flu.

The flu is something you should take rather seriously, though, as it is very contagious, and easily spread by touching objects and breathing in of moist microscopic droplets. The flu, and complications from having the flu, can most definitely be a killer to those with weakened immune systems.

But, does that imply that you should let scare tactics that the CDC and other health care organizations use to influence you, in seeing only one option as the only answer to this problem?

Absolutely not!

The flu vaccine in any form, whether it be nasal mist or injectable, can be considered basically worthless and should, in my opinion and that of many others, be avoided. I have never taken a flu shot personally, and I made that decision based on the knowledge that I did not like what can be in the vaccine itself. The flu vaccine, along with other immunization vaccinations can be loaded with toxic metals such as mercury and aluminum that are used as preservatives. These neurotoxic heavy metals are also known to be dangerous central nervous system poisons.

Many individuals with impaired immune systems do come down with the flu shortly after getting a flu injection. That is because a live virus is used in the vaccine. This live virus can weaken an individual’s, already, compromised immune system resistance even further. Does it make good sense to you that a person with a current health challenge, or even a healthy adult or child, should have their immune system resistance purposely lowered, or lowered even further if they are already health challenged?

I think I would rather take my chances on getting the flu, and allow myself sufficient rest and recovery time, than risk my central nervous system to being permanently damaged by toxic metal preservatives.

So, what can a person do to build up their immune system resistance, naturally, to avoid getting the flu and protect yourself? Taking a natural approach is not that hard to do if you know a few things.

Here are six different ways, and there are many more than these, that you can use to help protect yourself this flu season, and in all future flu epidemics.

1.Avoid processed sugar. Refined sugar will weaken your immune system almost immediately after you eat it.
2.Allow yourself plenty of rest , whether it is flu season or not.
3.Get extra vitamin D (sun exposure is best) or use sun lamps, or vitamin D supplements. Cod liver oil capsules can be used in winter months and you will be getting your vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids at the same time.
4.Manage your stress levels with exercise, meditation, and spiritual pursuits.
5.Regularly consume good bacteria nutrition (probiotics) in fermented foods and beverages.
6.Make a conscious effort to increase your daily fluid intake with more pure water.

Remember this important fact, there is only circumstantial evidence, at best, that supports the notion that getting a flu shot will help prevent you from getting the flu. God has really given us such wonderful bodies. If we make an honest attempt to eat less junk foods, replacing junk foods with more natural, whole, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, juicing, and using the six helpful tips mentioned above, you really will boost your immune system resistance to the flu, or any other contagious bacterial illness.

You really can, easily, make a difference in protecting yourself against getting a contagious illness this natural approach way. Once you have proven it to yourself, that it can be done this way, you will have more confidence to live this way on a more consistent basis. This approach also strengthens and boosts your overall good health status, naturally.

Buy less into the hype that big modern day medicine tells you, and question their empty solutions more often. Trust your inborn common sense more, in asking yourself, which of these two models really makes more sense in the long term, without unnatural interventions?

Bird Flu – Causes and Symptoms

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 10:58:27 +0000

The bird flu virus is dangerous because it is so ever changing in its nature – often mutating within a very short period of time. Originating in Asia, the bird flu virus has spread throughout the world but still remains confined to areas other than the United States. But, it is only a matter of time. Whether you are watching the latest story on Oprah or MSNBC regarding bird flu it will scare you – guaranteed!

So what are you to do? How are you going to prepare you and your family for the bird flu virus pandemic? Americans, including the president are worried about the possibility that we could not be prepared for a stronger, ever changing bird flu virus. It is estimated that anywhere from 2 million to over 50 million could perish if this virus becomes a reality. The only thing you can do now is prepare.

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is a contagious disease that affects chickens, ducks, turkeys, and other birds. Bird flu was first detected over 100 years ago and nowadays comes in a variety of about 20 strains. Most recently, outbreaks of the viral disease have been caused by the H5N1 strain, which is a particularly deadly strain of the virus.

Causes

The virus that causes bird flu appears to be versatile and resilient. Scientists are working on a new vaccine that would be effective against the new strain of the virus that causes Bird flu. There are different subtypes and strains of the virus that causes bird flu, and some cause more severe disease than others. Results of the examinations for the H5N1 virus that causes bird flu are be announced later on Sunday, officials said.

Bird flu (or Avian flu) is currently being used to describe the influenza virus, H5N1, which is producing a highly contagious and rapidly fatal disease, leading to severe epidemics in birds. Bird flu is caused by different subtypes of influenza A virus affecting chickens, ducks and other birds Viruses which cause mild disease can mutate into viruses that can cause serious disease (highly pathogenic).

Symptoms

Doctorâ€™s offices are flooded with visitors all over the world these days from people wondering if they have a bird flu symptom. We are all so terrified of any kind of bird flu symptom that some people have even stopped going out where there might be other people. This is a little extreme since the bird flu symptom has not yet had many cases of moving from one person to another and most of the world is not even affected with bird flu yet but it is still a good idea to have a good grasp about each bird flu symptom and what you can expect from them.

Each flu will have symptoms and a bird flu symptom is not really any different, they can just get worse. If you have the bird flu you will be looking at the same types of symptoms, there will be the sore throat, a cough, perhaps some sneezing, a fever but you may also suffer from a more serious bird flu symptom like respiratory distress or even failure. This type of bird flu symptom could cause death.