It’s cold outside and there’s not as much sun light. Do you know what time of the year it is other than the obvious? It is the dreaded flu season. For those that don’t like the pharmacological approach, they are always looking for a natural treatment for the flu. Personally, I do not blame them. Both protecting from and treating the flu via pharmaceuticals is like playing Russian roulette.

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT BOTHER GETTING THE FLU VACCINE

The flu vaccine does not give you 100% protection from the flu. At most it could provide you some protection for 3 to 4 out of the 150+ strains and subsets of the influenza virus. Have you ever gone to Las Vegas or Atlantic City or any other casino and placed a bet with odds like those? – I’m going to bet all my money on a 4 to a 150 chance that I will win. – Guess what? You have a great chance of losing. So if you wouldn’t gamble your money with those awful odds, why would you gamble your health with them?

But my doctor said… Yeah, Yeah! I’ve heard that before. Just because your doctor said to get the flu shot or nasal mist doesn’t mean you cannot choose a safer and more effective approach. The flu virus has been around for at least a 1000 years longer than the flu vaccine and people survived just fine using the abundance of natural medicines that are all around us.

You need to take a more active role in protecting your health and stop relying solely on what your doctor is telling you. Your doctor is going to tell you what the drug companies want them to tell you. Modern day western medical schools are funded mostly on pharmaceutical money and so are the policy makers. So if you are harmed by their recommendation guess what, the doctor is not liable. You get sick or worse and the doctor keeps on keeping on.

YOU MEAN I HAVE TO BE MY OWN DOCTOR?

When it comes to something as simple, easy to avoid and treat, yes you do! Now I know what you are thinking and no, you do not need to go to medical school to learn how to protect yourself from and treat yourself of the flu. Unless you you have been living in a bubble, you should already know that eating healthy with lots of fruits and vegetables can enhance one’s health and overall wellbeing.

Well that is the simple solution to not just avoiding the flu but also to help your body get rid of it once you get it, if you should get it. Do you like having all of those aches and pains, the weakness, the chills one minute and then the sweats the next? Do you like having a fever, the stuffy or runny nose, the sneezing, the coughing, and the mucus? Did you know that by trying to stop and/or reduce some of these, it will prolong your recovery?

The only way your body can naturally kill the virus within you is to raise the body temperature. When the immune system doesn’t have any natural outside help to fight the virus infection, it will raise your body temperature because high heat will kill the virus. The sneezing, coughing and runny nose is the body’s way of getting the mucus out of you since that mucus contains some of the germs that are making you sick in the first place.

3 TIPS TO STAY HEALTHY DURING THE FLU SEASON

Tip #1: First off you should be taking at the very least 2,000 IU and at the most 5,000 IU of vitamin D3 every day during the Fall and Winter months. Doing this alone increases your chance of not getting the flu in the first place. Why do you need to take vitamin D3 only during the Fall and Winter months? Because your body cannot produce adequate amounts like it does in the Spring and Summer months. A month’s supply of vitamin D3 will run you about $3-$5.00 depending on where you buy it and at what dosage. Make sure that it is NOT in a tablet form. Only use capsules or gel caps.

Tip #2: Secondly you also want to take at least 200mg of Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) every day. If you are diabetic then you will want to take at least 800mg a day, see my blog post on ALA. Alpha Lipoic Acid is a Super Antioxidant because unlike most nutrients that are either water soluble or fat soluble, ALA is both. Alpha Lipoic Acid can also recharge other key antioxidants that are also good for fighting the flu as well as fighting cancer, heart disease, and the aging process. Like vitamin D3, ALA is produced in the body from food without supplementation but at too low a quantity to have any therapeutic power. A month’s supply of Alpha Lipoic Acid will run you about $4-$8.00 depending on where you buy it and at what dosage. Make sure that it is NOT in a tablet form. Only use capsules or gel caps.

Tip #3: And finally the last tip is the most, tastiest tip of them all. That’s why I left it for the last tip, to get your mouth watering for it so to speak. For this tip you will have to spend the most money for it but it is oh, so worth it! You will need to go out and purchase an electric juicer and one that is powerful enough to juice the rind or skin of a pineapple or cantaloupe melon. Yes, you heard that right.

THE JUICEMAN JUICER

The best brand for this task, and there may be a couple others but this is the brand I have always used with great success, is the Juiceman brand. I have been juicing for 20 years and after the first 15 or 16 years it was time for a new one. I think that amount of time for one juicer being used every day and most times twice a day, is pretty darn good! So I again went out and bought another Juiceman because I loved the power and quality of the first one.

Because the style had changed a bit in 15-16 years I settled on the Juiceman JM400 electric juicer, which is also known as the Juiceman Jr. Don’t let the name junior fool you. It is quite powerful at handling every type of fruit and vegetable including the skin and rind.

THE SKIN & RIND HAVE NUTRIENTS TOO

There I go again! Talking about juicing the skin and rind of fruits and vegetables. Well I have a good reason for juicing that which we mostly avoid when eating them. You see there are many different micro nutrients within the skin and rind that are sometimes not present in the meat of the fruit or vegetable. So in order to get them into you in a way that your body can digest them you must pulverize it by juicing it.

Here’s an easy way to remember why getting all of the nutrients from fruits and vegetables are best when you can juice them instead of eating them. When you eat them you can’t always eat all of it. Can you see yourself enjoying a slice of juicy and sweet pineapple and then munching down on the prickly rind? I know I can’t. But by juicing it you can get the benefits of the whole fruit. Let’s look at carrots. Carrots are extremely beneficial for your skin, eyes and heart, among other things. But in order to be beneficial you would need to eat a pound of carrots. Can you see yourself sitting down to eat an entire pound of carrots, which is about 6 big ones? I don’t know of anyone who could or would. Even Bugs Bunny never ate that many carrots.

By juicing your fruits and especially the more dense vegetables you give your body and yourself a break. Your body’s digestive system doesn’t have to work overtime to digest the nutrients out of the solid food in your stomach. Plus you do not have to spend so much time to eat it all. You can drink it all in a matter of one minute or less. Plus when you can drink your nutrients they can get into your system way quicker than they can by you eating them. This is why many people experience a quick burst of energy shortly after consuming freshly juiced fruits and vegetables.

WHAT FRUITS & VEGETABLES ARE GOOD FOR THE FLU?

This is the easiest answer and the shortest paragraph on this blog post. What’s the answer? They ALL are good for the flu! For some great recipes check out bottom of my Food Choices page and you can always come up with your own juice recipes.

If you have any comments or questions please leave them below. I would also like for you to share any juice recipes that you may personally like that you may feel would be beneficial to other readers. You can leave them below as well. Thank you!