Health CourageFight Sickness Topics / ♥

Avoiding a cold this spring

K. Paul Mallasch — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:05:56 +0000

As always, it is spring and with the spring, comes the spring cold, year after year. What can we do to avoid the annual cold? There are several basics, which can aid in the prevention of colds, lets look at each one in detail…

Hand washing- the number on thing we can all do. Frequent washings removes germs that we acquire from everything we touch, from door knobs to items in a store, and one of the dirtiest tings we all touch- money. So wash your hands frequently, and when you cant wash with soap and water, use wet wipes or germicide at the least, until you can wash with soap and water.
Get enough sleep. Sleep is critical for your immune system, it is our bodies time to rejuvenate and fight off the germs. Adults should get 8-10 hours of sleep a night, to maintain optimum health.
Drink lots of water, 8-10 glasses a day. Water will re-hydrate your body, rinse the toxins from your body, and give you a much better ability to fight off colds.
Get exercise, which will get more oxygen into your system, again lowering your chance of catching a cold. Just 30 minutes five times a week can increase your immune fighting system.
If you are a smoker, you should stop right away. Smoking reduces your bodies ability to fight of infection, and to remove mucus from your lungs. If you are not a smoker, avoid second hand smoke. Exposure to second hand smoke can lower your immunity, leaving you unable to fight off germs.
Eating a healthy diet, rich in vitamin C, can raise your immunity and prevent colds. 5-6 daily servings of fruits and vegetables such as spinach, brightly colored peppers, oranges and citrus fruits. Garlic and onions are rich in nutrients, which have antibody producing properties.

So while none of these habits alone can prevent a cold, by incorporating these habits into your daily life, your risk of colds has been lowered, and you have taken a big step towards a healthier life style.

Top Tips for Not Getting Sick

K. Paul Mallasch — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 05:09:52 +0000

It is often desired of those who have a fast-paced life, who have many obligations to attend to or those with a family, to not get sick…ever. While it would be great if you could do something that would prevent sickness from ever knocking at your door, this is truly impossible. At some point your body will succumb to the pressures of life and fall victim to some virus or bacteria that has worked its way into your body. While you can never prevent sickness 100%, there are definitely measures that can be taken that can help fight it off as much as possible.

The first place to start is with your diet. A healthy and well-balanced diet will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to get through each day. If your body is energized with the right nutrients then each body system will be able to function properly, that includes your immune system. With the fast-paced life that has come to be synonymous with daily life in American society, many Americans have resorted to eating on the go. This entails more fast-food bad-choice meals which leads to a deficit in the right nutrients your body needs. What results is an individual who is depriving their immune system of what it needs to work. Thus, we end up with taking more “sick days” than what is truly needed.

For more information on how to achieve a well-balanced diet, visit MyPyramid.gov. Some quick items to take note of is that foods with a high Vitamin C content can help reduce the amount of time that you are sick versus actually preventing sickness. This is not meant to completely put down foods with Vitamin C, however, it is important to note that it does not directly prevent illness, rather just lowers the number of days you are sick. A good balance of fruits and veggies, in particular, can help prevent the common flu or cold.

Another way you can combat illness is hitting the problem right at the source, the fast-paced life. Sometimes as Americans, we need to realize that life cannot just be about always being on the run. Part of getting sick is a result of always being stressed and exhausted. Having your body in overdrive for too long will eventually wear your down and cause your immune system to also not function to its maximum capacity. Take time to relax at work, at home, even in the car.

At work you can take a quick 5 minute break to do some breathing exercises that relax the mind and open your blood vessels increasing blood flow throughout the body, or do some yoga exercises. At home, even with the kids always needing you or your partner needing dinner, you can always take a few minutes to yourself. Maybe add a few minutes to your shower and bath and just clear your head, or take a book into your room and close the door to block out the house noise. Anything that will give you time to clear your head and just think of nothing will seriously help loosen the mind, body, and soul. Finally, in the car you can practice breathing exercises, either on your own or on a tape, or can listen to your favorite music that will put you in a good mood for the ride.

The last tidbit of advice that can be offered on the subject of preventing sickness is getting a good night’s rest. During sleep is the only time your body had the chance to recover from the day’s work. As mentioned before, it is no secret that American life tends to be fast-paced. With this, it is common for people to cut down their sleeping hours to get more working hours in each day. This can be extremely detrimental to your health and should never be an option for wanting to accomplish more in your day. It is recommended that adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. This will give your body enough time to recuperate and will help you feel more energized the following day, which can also translate into being able to get more work done.

It might seem like there is not a lot to be done to prevent getting sick. However, by taking care of these few points you can avoid getting extremely sick and possibly missing out on work, school, and other obligations that you have. Taking good care of your body with food, relaxation, and sleep, can help prevent many short and long term illnesses.

Can Vitamin D Make You Flu-Proof?

K. Paul Mallasch — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:26:08 +0000

The “sunshine vitamin”, more commonly known as vitamin D, might be more effective than flu shots at preventing the flu, according to a new study. This month, Japanese doctors and scientists published a double blind study of more than 350 children comparing the two flu precautions, and vitamin D was superior.This is not the first time vitamin D has been studied as a powerful illness fighter. Past research has led scientists to believe it also reduces the risks of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases.

How To Get Vitamin D

Vitamin D

Where can you go to get some? Just walk outside your door. Vitamin D is naturally produced by our bodies when the skin is exposed to sunlight, but due to modern lifestyles, many people are deficient. It is also difficult to get enough sunlight in colder climates, particularly during winter months.

If your situation makes it hard to get enough sunlight, supplements are also a good solution. In the Japanese study, children were given a dose of 1200 I.U. per day, but adults are often advised to take more. Supplements also give you the benefit of vitamin D without the harmful effects of the sun’s UV rays.

Vitamin D has long been seen as a simple way to boost your health, but we are now realizing it might be more powerful than we ever thought before. It might have more effective results than the drug it was compared to in the study, with no toxic side effects. If nothing else, it is a great tool to keep our bodies functioning in top shape.

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