How Do You Protect Yourself During Cold and Flu Season?

I don't know about you, but I prefer to avoid vaccines, particularly the flu shot.  If you have read my "Living in our Toxic World" book, you already know that vaccines have toxic ingredients in them.  And often are not that effective.  You may have read recently that women who get the flu shot (as recommended) during pregnancy have a much higher risk of miscarriage.  I'm sure you know people who got the flu shot and then got the flu anyway.  For me, there is too much risk and not enough benefit.

So, what can you do instead?  One of the reasons people get the flu is because their immune system is not able to fight it off so you want to help your immune system as much as possible.  Ways to do this include eating a healthy diet (lots of veggies and whole fruit), getting enough sleep, and getting regular exercise.  Avoid cigarette smoke.  You also want to maintain a normal Vitamin D level.  Many people are deficient in this important vitamin and need to take supplements to get enough of it.  If you haven't had your level checked, ask your healthcare provider about this next time you are due for lab work.  A level below 30 indicates a deficiency but I suggest keeping it in the 50-70 range.  Besides helping with immunity, it also helps with depression, keeps your bones strong and may even help prevent cancer.  If your level is low, you may need 2,000 to 5,000 units of Vitamin D3 (the active form) to get it into a normal range.

I also take a multivitamin mineral supplement with additional vitamin C along with other health-promoting supplements and, despite exposure to the flu, I haven't had it since I was in my 20's.  I may get an occasional mild cold but those aren't common for me either.  What I don't do is to go crazy with antiseptic wipes or other germ-killing products.  Your body has more microbes on your skin, your mouth, your intestines, etc. than you have cells in your body.  You need them.  The idea is to keep a healthy balance of "good" germs to keep the ones that can produce disease in check.