What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Colds and Flus
Posted By Dr. Ben Kim
The next time you experience a cold or the flu, remember this: rather than take conventional drugs to suppress uncomfortable symptoms, it's better for your health to allow the cold or flu to run its course while you get plenty of physical and emotional rest.
Conventional medicine and the pharmaceutical industry would have you believe that there is no "cure" for the common cold, that you should protect yourself against the flu with a vaccine that is laden with toxic chemicals, and that during the midst of a cold or flu, it is favorable to ease your discomfort with a variety of medications that can suppress your symptoms.
Unfortunately, all three of these positions indicate a lack of understanding of what colds and flus really are, and what they do for your body.
Colds and flus are caused by viruses. So to understand what colds and flus do at a cellular level, you have to understand what viruses do at a cellular level.
Do you remember learning about cellular division in grade seven science class? Each of your cells are called parent cells, and through processes of genetic duplication (mitosis) and cellular division (cytokinesis), each of your parent cells divides into two daughter cells. Each daughter cell is then considered a parent cell that will divide into two more daughter cells, and so on.
Viruses are different from your cells in that they cannot duplicate themselves through mitosis and cytokinesis. Viruses are nothing but microscopic particles of genetic material, each coated by a thin layer of protein.
Due to their design, viruses are not able to reproduce on their own. The only way that viruses can flourish in your body is by using the machinery and metabolism of your cells to produce multiple copies of themselves.
Once a virus has gained access into one of your cells, depending on the type of virus involved, one of two things can happen:
-
The virus uses your cell's resources to replicate itself many times over and then breaks open (lyses) the cell so that the newly replicated viruses can leave in search of new cells to infect. Lysis effectively kills your cell.
-
The virus incorporates itself into the DNA of your cell, which allows the virus to be passed on to each daughter cell that stems from this cell. Later on, the virus in each daughter cell can begin replicating itself as described above. Once multiple copies of the virus have been produced, the cell is lysed.
Both possibilities lead to the same result: eventually, the infected cell can die due to lysis.
Here is the key to understanding why colds and flus, when allowed to run their course while you rest, can be good for you:
By and large, the viruses that cause the common cold and the flu infect mainly your weakest cells; cells that are already burdened with excessive waste products and toxins are most likely to allow viruses to infect them. These are cells that you want to get rid of anyway, to be replaced by new, healthy cells.
So in the big scheme of things, a cold or flu is a natural event that can allow your body to purge itself of old and damaged cells that, in the absence of viral infection, would normally take much longer to identify, destroy, and eliminate.
Have you ever been amazed by how much "stuff" you could blow out of your nose while you had a cold or the flu? Embedded within all of that mucous are countless dead cells that your body is saying good bye to, largely due to the lytic effect of viruses.
So you see, there never needs to be a cure for the common cold, since the common cold is nature's way of keeping you healthy over the long term. And so long as you get plenty of rest and strive to stay hydrated and properly nourished during a cold or flu, there is no need to get vaccinated or to take medications that suppress congested sinuses, a fever, or coughing. All of these uncomfortable symptoms are actually ways in which your body works to eliminate waste products and/or help your body get through a cold or flu. It's fine to use over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen if your discomfort becomes intolerable or if such meds can help you get a good night's rest. But it's best to avoid medications that aim to suppress helpful processes such as fever, coughing, and a runny nose.
It's important to note that just because colds and flus can be helpful to your body doesn't mean that you need to experience them to be at your best. If you take good care of your health and immune system by getting plenty of rest and consistently making health-promoting dietary and lifestyle choices, your cells may stay strong enough to avoid getting infected by viruses that come knocking on their membranes. In this scenario, you won't have enough weak and extraneous cells to require a cold or the flu to work its way through your body to identify and lyse them.
Curious about how to differentiate the common cold and the flu? Here is an excellent summary of the differences from cbc.ca:
A cold usually comes on gradually — over the course of a day or two. Generally, it leaves you feeling tired, sneezing, coughing and plagued by a running nose. You often don't have a fever, but when you do, it's only slightly higher than normal. Colds usually last three to four days, but can hang around for 10 days to two weeks.
Flu, on the other hand, comes on suddenly and hits hard. You will feel weak and tired and you could run a fever as high as 40 C. Your muscles and joints will probably ache, you will feel chilled and could have a severe headache and sore throat. Getting off the couch or out of bed will be a chore. The fever may last three to five days, but you could feel weak and tired for two to three weeks.
One final note on this topic: because the common cold and the flu are both caused by viruses, antibiotics are not necessary. People who take antibiotics while suffering with a cold or flu often feel slightly better because antibiotics have a mild anti-inflammatory effect. But this benefit is far outweighed by the negative impact that antibiotics have on friendly bacteria that live throughout your digestive tract. In this light, if you really need help with pain management during a cold or flu, it is usually better to take a small dose of acetaminophen than it is to take antibiotics.
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colds and flu
Did anyone notice that colds and flues are most of the time in a fall, winter and spring time?
Why?
I will use simple logic instead “professional” explanation. It is colder then compare to summer…right? Well the friendly bacteria on fruits and vegetables that can survived in temperature around 20 degree Celsius is in a very limited supply and without steady supply of the friendly bacteria the immune system gets weak and that’s why old people die and younger get cold and flu.
Drinking HOMEMADE kefir and yogurt is the simplest thing to make doctors unemployed and pharmaceutical industry bankrupt…Will you let this information get out? I doubt.
cold
hi, in Newar community in Nepal we drink soup of cumin,garlic and ginger when we getdown with cold. no other medicine
cold and flu
Cumin (turmeric) is one of the best nutrients you can take. It's an anti-inflammatory also. Garlic and ginger as well. I think that's a great recipe for dealing with the cold.
I also step up the vitamin C, since it's an anti-oxidant in high doses. I've gotten rid of full blown sinus infections in 3 days with 10K Mgs of C per day (but that's caused by a fungus). Since using 3K mg's of C per day, I no longer have allergies I've had since 18 years of age (I'm 63)....
I agree with Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, who maintains that we get colds and flu in the winter because we are not in the sun, from which we can obtain vitamin D3 (which is actually a hormone, not a vitamin). It makes perfect sense to me.
Cumin and turmeric are different
Cumin is a seed-derived spice from the parsley family, usually used whole or ground in cooking, or taken powdered in a capsule. Its properties benefit digestion and increase the flow of saliva. It is also renowned for its antibacterial effects.
Turmeric is a root-derived spice from the ginger family; in the US it is generally sold as a powder and frequently used as a dye. (So long, Tupperware! You will now be yellow forever ...) The main phytochemical in turmeric is curcumin, so you can see why the two are often confused: cumin, curcumin. Turmeric itself does have antibiotic and antifungal properties, although not from curcumin; primarily an antinflammatory, curcumin possesses similar anticoagulant effects comparative to pharmaceutical drugs such as ibuprofen.
Seasonality of colds and influenza.
Dr. John Cannell, of http://vitaminDcouncil.org has hypothesised that as people's vitamin D levels reduce during autumn, winter, and early spring, their immune system is affected adversely, making them more likely to contract viral infections. Since optimising my vitamin D levels, I have not had one cold, or 'flu in the last 5 years, and it is without vaccinations, (which Dr. Joseph Mercola, at www.mercola.com advises actually impair the immune system) or using products like Tamiflu or Relenza.
In general, during the warmer
In general, during the warmer months of the year, we get much more direct sunlight in the form of UV-B radiation which converts much of our cholestrol in our skin to vitamin D3. Vit D3 is known to protect us in general from infections and flu. So it's a good idea I think to either supplement with vit D3 at about 2000 IU to 8000 IU per day or use an approved tanning bed at no more than 30 minutes per day to generate your own natural vit D3.
Hi there, The reason isn't to
Hi there,
The reason isn't to do with the the virus and temperature but how we as humans act in Winter and colder times. We all stay in more, rather than be outside we stay inside where we have more contact with other humans and the virus, cold etc has a much higher chance to spread. Again common sense here.
Old wives tales tell you its because of the cold weather making you get a cold but that is scientifically impossible.
Well to me we will never
Well to me we will never really understand the interalated systems of the human body well enough and why should we need to when common sense has the answers
Just live your life the way we evolved to do for 1000s of years(exercise and no processed foods, chemicals etc).
What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Colds and Flu
This is so very interesting! I had a very bad infection in January,(either bronchitis or walking pneumonia--which I was told that it was). I would not go to a doctor, as I knew I would be given antibiotics, which I feel do more harm than good. I did receive three treatments with Rife lights. What amazed me most was the amount of mucus that came out of my head and chest (which is explained in this article). When my husband was alive he always took the flu shot (which I refused to do) and he had the flu seven years in a row and I only got it once, while taking care of him each time. I will be 70 this year and I seem to be in comparatively good health. I do not take prescriptions, as I think that they do more harm than good. It is my opinion that chemicals are a detriment to our health. I really enjoy your articles and always get information that is helpful.
pharmaceuticals
It was good to read Patty Smith's note. I like to hear from 'kindred spirits' who won't take pharmaceuticals because they know they are poison to our bodies. The most far-reaching problem is that they are "poison" to the health care in this country. Their existance and the politics involved make maintaining health an uphill battle, because the truth of what is truly "health care" and finding it is so obscured. What can we do about their effect on our health care, our insurance and our bodies? If only health care would go back to the Natural Hygiene of before the 20th century.
Well done on recognizing drug company scams
Hi Patty,
Well done on recognizing the drug company scams. I just wish that we could keep them away from children. Something needs to be done to reign in these corporations. And it's time to do the same to companies that hurt our health like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc. selling nutrient-free sugar water.
re: no antibiotics
Some people get sicker than others because they have different immune systems. You can have two people who each take antibiotics or flu shots and both get sick different numbers of times.
Antibiotics work. How many people would have died if they didn't have access to antibiotics? Also, why suffer for weeks when you can stop it dead in its tracks in 2 days after taking an antibiotic.
Really, just fighting it yourself is plain stupid. Measles, mumps, polio, small pox. All diseases gone because of vaccinations. It's mind boggling to think you would try to fight these things naturally.
If it is for religious reasons that you don't take these preventions and cures, let me give you an analogy: Jesus went to the dessert and was tempted by the devil. The devil said to Jesus "throw yourself from this mountain and angels will save you." Jesus said "It is written,'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
So if you know something works to "protect" you and you don't take it you are throwing yourself off the mountain to let the angels save you.
What Doctors Don't tell you about Colds and Flu
The missing piece in this article is that most if not all colds and especially the Flu occur mainly in the Winter Months and NOT during the Summer months. Reason: lack of sunlight on the skin and therefore lack of production of Vitamin D3 within the body. You will find that supplemental use of Vitamin D3 during the winter months ( at an adequate dosage) will prevent or curtail these diseases completely.
Supplements
Thx Chris B. for Vit. D comment. Living in the NW, winters can be short on sun. We supplement with Vit. D, probiotics/L. acidophilus, Omega-3's + multi vits, healthy diet. We stay healthy. Prior to our supplements routines, the last flu shot I had, within days I came down with a winter cold which took 3 mos. to shake. With Vit. D,et al., health is good!
reply to Chris Beckett's post of 19/3/07
In reply to the comment that lack of sunlight and vitamin D3, is the cause for colds and flu may not be quite correct. I live in South Africa, we have 360 days of glorious sunlight a year, even in winter days...and we still get colds and flu 'epidemics' during our cold (0 to 15 degrees) winter months...so causes must be something else !
Perhpas a high dosage of vitamin D3 helps, but this high dosage can never be derived from sunlight anyway.
The body cannot make high doses of VitD from Sunlight . . .
I'd like to add to the VitD information: Researchers have found that the body is very capable of making WHAT RESEARCHERS consider to be "high doses" of VitD from sunlight. In 20 minutes the body is capable of making 40,000IU from sunlight and much more in a longer period of time. Researchers are all in a tizzy about whether upping the RDA of VitD to 1,000IU is safe or not. Obviously, if our body will make its own 40K amount, recommending 1K is not worrisome. VitD toxicity doesn't begin to occur in the body until the level is around 100,000IU. There is a lot we do not know yet about VitD except that it does seem to be correlated with numerous illnesses when insufficient amounts are present and has a hormonal protective effect. (A hormone is made in one part of the body and acts on another part of the body.)
Colder weather means the sun
Colder weather means the sun is further away, which means it would take longer for your body to make vit D from the sun, hence lowered levels in the body. Also, if it's cold people are going to be spending time indoors.
Actually we are closer to the
Actually we are closer to the sun during the northern hemispheres winter.
It's the tilting of the earth that causes the cooler temps. Isn't God
amazing!
Another reason flus and colds
Another reason flus and colds happen more in the winter is that viruses multiply faster in temperatures slightly cooler than body temperature - which often occurs in your nose/neck etc during winter. This is also another reason your body creates a fever.... to slow down the replication of viruses - they replicate more slowly at higher body temperatures - and give your immune system a better chance of fighting it. So a fever is a good thing to help your body fight viruses, so long as it doesn't get too too high. Old Grandma's advice about keeping wrapped up warmly when you go outside is not so silly after all ... if you have a virus lurking in you it will have a better chance if you get chilled.
This is what I was taught in cell biology 101 years ago.
I went skiing once with my
I went skiing once with my father and uncle when I had the flu. The sweating part I think helped me get over the flu. I felt awful but by end of the day I felt pretty and 2 days afterwards the flu was gone.
Who says we need flu shots? I haven't had the flu in a long time, I can't even remember the last time I had one. I did have a cold in 2002 or 2003 but that's even a long time. No need for flu shots at all.
Not to say, what you say is
Not to say, what you say is untrue, but I suspect there is more to it than just that. I live in the Mohave Desert. Here, it is the summers that you stay in (because of the intense heat), and the winters that you go out. Regardless, people here get sick with colds and flues at the same time of year as the rest of the country.
Cold and flu article
Excellent article, Dr. Kim. I'd never known how that works before. Recently after most of our town came down with the flu, I succumbed to it much to my surprise, as I never seem to catch it when it's going around. After a few days of heavy nose blowing, I recovered without taking any drugs, except for my favorite raw vinegar and garlic. My daughter, on the other hand was sick for about 3 weeks. She ached in every bone. She did not take antibiotics which everyone else seemed to be on but instead took the vinegar and garlic also.We used a couple of drops of 3% peroxide in her ears a couple of times a day and that really helped. She had not been well for some time so I think as you explained, she had weak cells that were able to be overcome and that's why she got so much sicker.I shall pass this article on as I think the info contained in it is great.God bless,Carol
colds and flu
Hello Carol, like you I was most impressed with Dr Kim's article on colds and flu, particularly as I am struggling at the moment with the first ever attack of flu, I really have been feeling so ill and have refrained from all medication apart from a paracetamol when the headache or limb ache gets to be unbearable. I was most interested to read your comment about " raw vinegar and garlic" and would be most grateful if you could tell me more about this remedy. eg. quantities, is it cider vinegar or pure white etc. The combination sounds very healthy and I would also like to know if it is for a particular symptom of flu or just an all over remedy to help combat his debilitating infection.
Thanks in anticipaton and look forward to hearing from you really soon.
Kind regards
Mandy
Vinegar and Honey
Mandy and everyone else.
I want to share our families cold and flu fighter. Apple Cider Vinegar and raw honey. Although this is not a silver bullet, it seems to have drastically reduced the number of colds in our family.
We mix a teaspoon of raw (uncooked/heated- so as not to destroy enzymes) honey with a very small amount of water, to get it to dissolve. When it is all liquid, we add about two teaspoons of organic apple cider vinegar. We use Braggs, but any will do fine. Make sure that the vinegar has the cloudy substance in it. That is called the "mother."
I don't know exactly how it works, but I have read that it produces H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). I'm sure Doc Kim could go into great detail about this, if he hasn't allready.
Good luck
topic response
Dr. Kim,
Thank you for your educated information on colds and viruses. It is a good analogical reminder of how forest fires - set by nature (lightning, dry brush, etc.) - cleanse the forest floor and "flush out" and expose any inbalances that may exist.
Aside from an extra dose of deliberate rest, I'll think twice now about medicating myself when I feel a cold or virus coming on.
Am obliged -
Leslie O.
colds & flu
Boy, that is a great article, which nicely and perfectly sums up what the flu is really all about, ie, keeping us strong in the long run! (And the same can be said of all "infectious" [actually self-starting] conditions). I will refer people I know to this article.
cold and flu - easing symptoms
Great article. We too do not like taking medications, especially antibiotics. One trick we learned when I had my baby in Switzerland is that a chopped raw onion in your bedroom at night can really ease the blocked nose which is often the cause of an uncomfortabe nights sleep.
Just take an onion and chop it (the more it makes you cry when you chop it the better). When my son was a baby we used to tie it in a cloth and hang it from his crib. Now I put it on a plate under or beside his bed. Works great for adults too. The whole house smells like onions the next day, but you feel much better.
wishing you good health
common cold and flu
I disagree with taking acetaminophen. It is a chemical compound foreign to the body and the body thus handles it like a poison which it really is. You can get white willow bark powder in capsule form (or combination white willow/fever few) which is natural source (much like taking natural source vitamin C sold on this website) and is much more complimentary to your natural chemistry, it does not excite the immune system or lymphnodes or destroy healthy bacteria in the digestive tract like acetaminphen does. Acetaminophen is a hormone disruptor. The only reason I keep it around my home is because it is combined with oxycontin (an even more dangerous drug) for extreme emergency such as the kind of pain one might experience breaking a bone or other trauma. There are many good herbal remedies such as comfrey, nettle, chamomile, devils claw, valerion root that are excellent pain relievers and sleep enhancers and even then as always, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". If you stop poisoning your body, you cut off the main source of most diseases. The virus theory is not proven either. Virus's are genomes, genomes are dead matter from dead cells, when your body does not eliminate them fast enough it becomes overwhelmed with them and you get ill, basically, you have too much death in you so you feel and experience near death symptoms. Solution? Eat more life than death (more raw than cooked) and live.
Live Food
I eat mostly raw, the only cooked food or starch foods I eat are at dinner time 3 days a week. I don't eat fully raw because I was told my a nutritionist that it could be dangerous to jump in head first, because you can bring up all that dead waste matter too fast, then it doesn't have enough time to exit the body and will back up. So I have been taking it step by step.
Recently I have been catching colds and flu's a lot, I don't seem to go an entire week without having one, this has been going on for 2 months. and even when I'm sick i stay focused on making sure I eat properly and at the right times of the day. I will not change the way that I eat, I get the right nutrients for my body from the raw fruits and veggies that I eat everyday, I also eat fish 3 times a week, I drink fresh fruit and veggie juices and I still eat some starches. A large part of my diet is raw but I still manage to get colds and flu's a lot, maybe it's because I'm suppose to, maybe my body is detoxing, I'm not exactly sure why.
Colds
If only I had known. I suppressed a bad cough with aspirin and codeine, and ended up with fluid in the lung, and then spent a week in hospital on oxygen. Thank you for the article.
The bad cough could've been
The bad cough could've been caused by fluid in your lung which exacerbated due to improper treatment. It really has nothing to do with the medications you've taken. You were just taking the wrong approach at treating your condition.
Over-the-counter medications only help if you have a cold or a flu virus. They don't help of you have pulmonary hypertension, pneumonia, fluid accumulation, etc.
What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Colds and Flus
Thank you, again your words are plain and clear. It could be retitled "Cold & Flu for Dummies." I'm kidding about the name. I love your articles because I can understand what you're talking about. Thank you.
As a child I rarely had a
As a child I rarely had a cold or flu when I ate kimchi (spicy fermented cabbage). When I didn't eat kimchi, I would catch a cold or the flu.
Kimchi & Yook-gae-jahng
Whenever we come down with colds in our household, we are usually too worn down to cook, so we find it great to call in an order to our local Korean restaurant, for an order of yook-gae-jahng. It is spicy and clears the head and chest. I alway feel warmed and better after eating it. I've come up with a quick recipe for making at home, but it's not nearly as good as our local Korean Mama.
Scott
Kimchi & Yook-gae-jahng
Hi Scott
Could yo sed me a recipe for both?
Barb
Red and Green Chili
Makes sense. I grew up in New Mexico and whenever we were starting to feel a cold developing, we would eat a bunch of red or green chili with similar effect. Something about natural spicy food seems to be good for clearing out the sinuses.
what most Doctors wont tell /Red and green chili
There is also one helpful traditional practice during cold & flue season:
In a tray of burning charcoal,put some dry red chilies & smoke all rooms.This used to be believed to ward off cold & flue.
My mother in law has an old
My mother in law has an old rememdy.
1/4 c. raw apple cider vinegar
1 Tbl honey
3 tbl orang juice
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper (70,000 BTU+)
Mix well. Take a hot shower and then drink by the tablespoon the above and go to bed.
Should you "sweat a fever
Should you "sweat a fever out" by piling on layers of clothing and blankets to make your body really hot?
It has always worked for me!
It has always worked for me!
Flu Shots
Dear Dr. Kim:
I am so happy that you posted this article today. I am scheduled to get a flu shot on Monday morning. I have been uncertain about receiving it,and now I am assured that my first fears where correct.
I enjoy your articles so much, and find them easy to understand and very imformative.
Thanks again.....
Phyllis G
Colds & Flu stay away supplement
Dr. Kim,
Thanks for informing all of us! I've been particularly vulnerable to colds and flu all my life except in the past 1 1/2 years - during which I (and many friends) have not had a Cold or Flu. Why? We've been taking a nutritional supplement called XPC Green that is the best immune balancer by far that I've ever used. The medical folks call the human form EpiCor but the XPC Green is an organic livestock supplement and the human storiy about its serendipity is quite intriguing. When I feel something "coming on" I just double and triple my 2 tbs per day dosage and within a couple days, whatever it may have been is no longer there. Why is XPC Green (organic) so good? 12 minerals, 12 vitamins, 12 amino acids + an good fats, good carbs, and good energy components (see www.diamondv.com) that eminate from a fermentation process. We ask our feed store here in Asheville to order the 50 lb. bag for us. For the 2 of us using an average of 3 tbs per day each, one bag lasts about a year.....Bon Chance
great article
I really appreciate your approach to taking care of ourselves by natural means. I have said for countless years that our bodies know what to do better than most physicians. Of course there are certain situations needing medical intervention. Everyone is freaked out by this new H1N1 virus. The gov't has got everyone running scared to the nearest health dept for this vaccine, and now schools too. If the gov't is SO CONCERNED about protecting us, why don't they start with our food supply & skin care products. Ban unhealthy additives ( or whatever they are calling them today). If I could work for the FDA, I bet I wouldn't last very long. I don't always buy the "healthy" foods on a consistant basis, but do feel that my choices are way better than most people. I could really go on and on.... The more you mess with mother nature, the more trouble you will find. Your body knows EXACTLY what to do when you get sick, so let the illness run it's course. Myself and my family use high quality nutritional supplements and herbs and cell salts for ailments. I won't say that we never get sick, but we don't usually get it as bad as everyone else. Unfortunately my husband smokes, so I really give hims lots of extra antioxidents and such. Keep up the great work, people are actually starting to realize that they need to be accountable for their choices. Numerous years of an unhealthy lifestyle WILL come back to haunt you. An ounce of prevention IS worth a pound of cure!
HINI
DEAR DR. KIM,
I AM NOT GETTING THE SHOT. I HAVE DIABETES TO, WILL TAKE MY CHANCES. I FEEL GOD MADE ME WITH COMMON SENCE , IF I DON'T USE IT THEN I DESERVE WHAT I GET, GOOD OR BAD, THANK YOU, FOR THE INFORMATION YOU GENEROUSLY PROVIDED. THE PEOPLE WHO CALLED YOU A NAME, POINTING A FINGER THEY HAVE 3 POINTING AT THEMSELVES :) PAT,
flu
I am sorry, but I do not agree that one should just let a cold or flu run its course.
Personally, I have great success by the immediate use of elderberry and zinc at the first signs of a cold or flu. With 35,000 deaths a year from flu, it seems foolhardy to do nothing to help the body. Furthermore, being weakened by the flu will allow pneumonia an opportunity to attack.
Vitamin C aids in the production of mucous and is itself a detoxifying agent.
When my nose is stuffed, I can not sleep, which damages both my body and my mood. A decongestant is preferable to lack of sleep, at least for me.
It seems to me that the reason colds and flu hit during the transition from summer to winter is partly due to lack of sunlight. This affects our hormonal balance and reduces the amount of Vitamin D in our body.
If it were simply a case of viruses attacking weaker cells, the flu would not be seasonal. This season effect shows up all over the world as the season changes. If it were not affected by seasonality, the flu would hit everywhere at one (more or less) instead of waiting for the season to change south of the equator. As such, taking extra vitamin D3 will have preventative effects (5,000 IU a day), possibly even healing effects.
Simply put, weakened cells did not get that way for no reason. Furthermore, the body is a "system", with considerable repair ability. If you take measures to give your body the material it needs there is no reason for cells to die before their time.
Finally, fever is one way the body fights back. Properly used, hot baths and saunas aid in virus destruction. Heat therapy is even used to help kill cancer cells. In any case, why not aid the body in it's fight, rather than letting things "run it's course"?
Ted
What Most Doctors Won't Tell You About Colds and Flus
Thanks Dr. Kim for sharing yet another wisdom that seems to have been lost in our Pharmaceutical controled world. Even fevers are a positive way our wonderous bodies respond to threats and should be allowed (within reason) to do the "work" our bodies need them to do. We have experienced so much ridicule from our family and friends over our belief in natural healing. To the extent that even our medical doctor has accused me of not thinking about "what's best for my children". Sad that his education has been directed in a manner that makes the use of drugs and supression of symptoms a number one priority.
Thank you so much for your posts, your insight and for sharing.
Great Article
Thank you for the good information. I rarely get sick. I cannot even remember the last time. It has been years. However, I recently did a group guided meditation with a group of mothers and their babies and some of them had colds and the following day, I was sicker then I have ever been in my life which is how I found this article. I was really congested and having a very hard time breathing and coughed so much, my abs hurt now just breathing.
My intuition told me to get Manuka Honey . . which is an antibacterial honey made only in New Zealand. It is a bit expensive, but really worth it. I have added it to Juice as well as to a heated organic vegetable broth with a little cayenne and my lungs felt better within 20 minutes. I am going to try the Apple Cider Vinegar combo next.
I recently found out about this honey a month ago while shopping in Chinatown. I work with spirit guides (we all have them but I am really dialed into them and help others do the same) and I think they knew in advance that I was about to go down for the count.
I am actually breathing normally now after just one tablespoon raw and one cup of broth with cayenne and a teaspoon of honey.
About the first person's
About the first person's question:
Research has shown that the influenza virus actually becomes MORE active and transmits far better in very cold temperatures. So the temperature literally has to do with the flu season.
Other things to keep in mind are that cold weather will make your immune system weaker in general, (being cold isn't good for you lol).
Finally, you are more likely to be huddled up with other people and so there is more contact with other people- but this is really iffy, I get sick in winter seasons and if anything I meet others LESS not more.
Sinus infections and colds lead to bronchitis and pneumonia
The naturopathic explanation of colds and flu is interesting and possibly true. But with me it almost invariably turns into bronchitis, terrible coughing, sleeping in a chair for two weeks, and (if untreated by anti-biotics) pneumonia. I've tried to ride it out several times and never got over it without help from my m.d.
COLLOIDAL SILVER
DONT FORGET THE COLLOIDAL SILVER, antiviral antifungal, antimicrobial, antibacterial.
and OLIVE LEAF EXTRACT antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial
THEY ARE USING SILVER IN BANDAIDS AND THEY USE IT FOR BURNS VICTIMS IN HOSPITAL AS IT KILLS BACTERIA AND PROMOTES HEALING
CURE FOR COLD/FLU/CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
FOR A FLU, 1000mg (or 1g) of COD LIVER OIL EVERY 2 HOURS
FOR A COLD 1000mg (or 1g or a capsule) EVERY 4 HOURS
FOR CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME 1000mg (or 1g or a capsule) EVERY FOUR HOURS FOR SIX WEEKS
FOR ARTHRITIS, 10 cc (or 10,000mg) ON AN EMPTY STOMACH ABOUT 1AM IN THE MORNING, YOU WILL WAKE UP FEELING AS IF SOMEONE HAS PUT A PUMP OF GREASE IN EACH KNEE.
THIS IS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
I kept having a recurrent
I kept having a recurrent cold this past fall/winter season. It would appear to go away then come back a week or two later. Finally, I decided I would not take any drugs, except to sleep at night. But during the day I just suffered through the runny stuffy nose and the cough. Took lots of vitamin C and drank green tea. Lo and behold, it was over in 3 days and didn't come back! I think all the symptom-suppressing drugs I was taking previously were doing just that - suppressing the cold, and not letting my body really get rid of it.
Only weakened cells?
I have heard natural health folks say for years that colds and the flu were nature's way of getting rid of the weakest cells. I admit that it has an appeal to common sense. We know that predators always attack the weakest members of the herd, for example. But is there any scientific evidence whatever that viruses have an easier time getting into weakened cells? My infant grandson (3 weeks old) caught a cold from his toddler little sister and he certainly didn't have a lot of weakened, full of toxins, cells. He was breast-fed in a healthy environment. What actual mechanism would be in effect to allow a healthy cell to refuse a virus entrance, that would be unavailable to a worn-out cell?
This may be helpful to answer
This may be helpful to answer your skepticism re: why your grandson was susceptible to infection in the manner Dr. Kim describes, since you see your grandchild as not having many defective cells yet. In reality, anyone who has lived for any length of time has old cells with toxins in them; remember, cells are in the trillions (c. 50 trillion) and they are constantly aging and dying, otherwise your grandson would not grow and you would not change in appearance. These concepts are among those such as our inability to really conceive of infinity - it is truly amazing that a person grows from a c. 7 lb being to c. 100, up to even some really large persons of 750 lbs or more, and we can't see the process, unless we do time lapse photography!.
Most imp. to the situation with children re: infection, they have an immature immune system, which requires exposure to pathogens to develop. And because of the immaturity, these immune cells are vulnerable (weaker) cells as well. A brief on this: http://www.livestrong.com/article/539397-why-are-children-prone-to-infection/