Tuesday, October 27, 2009

31 for 21: Day 27 {Preventing Swine Flu}

The swine flu is all over the place right now ... and all over the media. In my opinion, they are hyping it up in a ridiculous way ... in the end, it makes the pharmaceutical companies more money by scaring more people into vaccinating.

Anyway. Not to get sidetracked in any way.

Tips for preventing the swine flu ...

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications). I am making my kids also wash their hands when they come home from school, which we do not normally do. Also carrying anti-bacterial hand wash in my purse, which I do not normally do.

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe). No fingers in the mouth!

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. Blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population. Sinus rinse kits are available at the drug store and relatively inexpensive ... we use the NeilMed kits on the kids twice a day.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (citrus fruits). If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

7. Take your Vitamin D3! A good reference for dosing information is 2000 IU for kids per day and 5000 IU for adults per day.
Get It Down; 31 for 21

1 comment:

  1. We are trying to do everything we can to prevent H1N1..Thanks for your tips..

    ReplyDelete