I have never had a flu shot, I think about getting one every year but never seem to get around to it. I do HATE being sick, though. Now that the kids are older, they don’t bring home as much crappity crap as they used to in terms of colds and flu. Since the average adult gets 3 colds per year, I try to stick to healthy preventative guidelines to reduce my chances.
Here’s a few basics to hopefully keep you cold and flu free this season:
- Reduce stress. Your state of mind can insulate you from sickness by up to 40-50%. Meditate, breathe, and eliminate things/people/events in your life that cause more stress than they are worth–they will literally make you sick.
- Probiotics are the new antibiotic. Try taking probiotics to keep inflammation in your body at bay. Healthy innards means your immune system is ready to go to war on any bugs that might threaten to make you sick.
- Eat garlic. Yes, please! Garlic has been shown to fight viruses. At the onset of a cold, eat a clove or two of garlic a day. Garlic contains allicin which revs up your immune system.
- Exercise. Regular exercise is an awesome defense mechanism for sickness. Keeps the ol’ body in tiptop shape.
- Sleep. Sleep is your bodies chance at rejuvenation. Lack of sleep literally snowballs into weight gain and poor health. Make it a priority.
- Wash AND dry hands. Rinsing the germs off with soap and water isn’t enough. Some germs still cling to hands, drying ensures that you wipe away those stubborn clinging germs. On the same note, keep your hands away from your face {attention nail biters!}.
- Reduce your sugar intake. Sugar reduces your white blood cells ability to fight infection. Go easy on the sweet stuff.
- Keep toothbrushes separate. If someone in the family gets sick, make sure that your toothbrushes don’t share the same cup. Put the sick persons toothbrush in mandatory isolation. 🙂
- Get plenty of vitamin C. Yep, your mom was right. Studies show that vitamin C can reduce the length of a virus by 1-2 days.
- Drink plenty of clear liquids. This is for prevention and to reduce duration should you get sick. Dehydration occurs fast when you get sick and slows down your bodies ability to fight off basic infections. Make sure to drink up.
Do you get your flu shot every year? Has it helped you ward off getting sick?
~Mavis
The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You: A Guide to Self-Diagnosis for Hypochondriacs
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Bible Babe says
I won’t get flu shots, and I let my ex husband know that our son is not to get them either. He actually honors my wishes, which is funny, since he’s a pharmacist, and he is a believer in traditional medicine.
A flu shot is basically this–scientists look at all the flus that can potentially hit during the year. hey take a sampling of all of them and mix them together in an attempt to prevent the illness. It’s a crap shoot, folks, and many times it not only doesn’t work–it can actually make you sick. Not only that, I believe that the shots destroy your immune system over time.
JayJay says
I read anyone that has taken a flu vaccine can give the flu to surrounding folks for 21 days.
I have never had a flu and never had a flu vaccine.
Mari says
Yes garlic is excellent for winter ailments. A great way to take it or have kids take it is to really mash a couple of cloves of garlic to a pulp (fresh is by far the best rather than bottled) and mix it into some honey…..maybe 1/4 cup or so. Store this in a tightly sealed glass jar in your fridge and take a spoonful when you need it. Because it is in honey, it will keep indefinitely, so make it up before you need it. This is excellent stuff. Take it when u have the sniffles to the full blown flu.
For a sore throat…. add several crushed sage leaves or just use honey and sage. You don’t have to eat the sage, just leave it in the jar for the goodness. I swear by sage for a sore throat. Sage tea actually helps numbs your throat when sipped warm/very warm. It’s ideal before a meal if you are having trouble swallowing. I find this will knock back a sore throat if taken at the first sign of irritation. It helps with sinus catarrh too.
Jenifer says
Hello Mari!
For the sage tea, are you just using dried sage and hot water? If so, tablespoon, teaspoon or smidge for a mug?
Thanks!
Jenifer
Mari says
I use fresh if I have it and make a jug of it as I know I will use if over a few days… Maybe 2-3 cups worth. Rule of thumb for herbal tees is….. 1 tsp dry or 1 Tbsp fresh torn (cut is ok but I usually just tear) herbs per cup of water. Set it to steep for about 15 – 20 minutes, completely covered with a saucer or lid to keep the steam in, and allow to cool a little before drinking. If just done in a cup or jug, strain out the herbs first. You can make it a little stronger and gargle this too and makes a wonderful mouthwash.
This can be drunk as an ordinary tea anytime too, nice with a bit of sweetener (honey) and some lemon.
Jenifer says
Thank you!
We have chronic sore throats during the winter and spring, I am looking forward to trying this.
Kathy Barlean says
I’m am dead set against flu vaccines for many reasons, but against my better judgement, got one last year so that I could be around my preemie twin grandsons. Within one week, I came down with the flu and ended up in the ER struggling to breathe. It took me weeks to get back to normal and finally be able to be around my grandsons. Coincidence? I don’t believe so.
Stacey says
I know people that get flu shots every year, but I never have. For ten years I was without health insurance, and we simply could not afford the $20 to get one. Even though I work in the school system, which is a high-risk place to get the flu, I still don’t. I usually get a few colds per year, and maybe a stomach bug, but I rarely miss any work time. My feeling is that if it’s not broken, why fix it? My immune system might be very strong because I wasn’t able to rely on medicines for so long. I guess if I were to experience getting the full-fledged flu I might change my mind.
ChrisM says
I always get flu shots and so does my family. The one year we did not (2009), my daughter got H1N1 and was VERY ill. We will always get flu shots here from now on. The flu can be deadly. I’ve never had a problem getting ill after my flu shot. I do have a sore arm for a few days though.
Cecily says
Yes I get the flu shot every year and have never gotten sick from the vaccine. For those who have gotten sick right after they got the flu shot, don’t blame the vaccine. Flu vaccine takes two weeks to take affect so you likely contracted the flu around the time you got the vaccine. As far as it being a crap shoot with scientists making an educated guess as to what flu types may be most dangerous that year I say better safe than sorry.
Kaia says
No flu shot here! I’ve been a nanny for the past 5.5 years and the 3 families I’ve worked throughout that time that get the shots have been sick probably once a month with the flu or a cold. I sometimes did and sometimes didn’t get it, but the last 2 years when I’ve been eating mostly real foods (very little refined or processed), I noticed that even when their entire families (I say this because I realize sometimes kids get somethings that adults don’t, if adults have already built up resistance to a certain virus) would get something bad, I did NOT get it. And they were the ones with the shots. If something’s going around that I’m concerned about getting, I start daily doses of homemade elderberry syrup.
Cheryl says
I have never gotten the flu shot, nor do I ever want to get one, by God’d grace. I had a bad experience with medicine as a child and that drove me to holistic health and divine healing which has blessed me for over 40 years now. If you understand the principles of holistic health, and if you are studying from good teachers, they will all basically teach the same thing, since the principles are the same, it will be about detoxifying the body and nourishing the body with organic, non GMO foods. Personally, since to eat totally organic is not always possible, plus it takes a large quantity of many different things to cover “all the bases”, I take good supplements as well and I rarely have any physical issues and if I do, then are generally cleared up quickly. You become sensitive once you detox and eat correctly and usually if something happens, I think, “What did I eat yesterday?” or “What is the cause?” because you learn that there are causes. Nothing “just happens”. There is always a reason, if not natural, then spiritual.