Prevention

 

Actions you can do daily:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water or use hand sanitizer: Colds and flu are mainly passed from person-to-person contact. Make sure to clean your hands after you touch your face, cough or sneeze. However, be sure to keep hands moisturized with lotion to avoid dryness and skin cracking.
• Avoid touching your face, especially your nose, mouth and eyes: These are the entry portals into the body and the main areas that can become infected.
• Stress reduction: When you are more stressed you are more likely to get sick. Take that break from work when you need it, maybe even going for a walk outside. Leaving the office building may also help prevent colds and flu since the air in office buildings re-circulates the same air everyone is breathing. Do things on a daily basis that relax you: read, connect with friends and family, watch a funny movie, take a bath, do yoga, exercise, sleep (see below), etc.
• Diet: Boost your immunity with autumn foods that provide nutrients and antioxidants to help you stay healthy. When I think of fall foods I think of fruits and vegetables such as pumpkin, squash, potatoes (be sure to eat the skin—that’s where the vitamins are), carrots, apples, pears, kale, broccoli, etc. I also think of whole grains like corn and brown rice, and legumes for soups such as lentils.
• Exercise: Exercise helps circulation which supports the immune system and helps relieve stress. Even just going for a short walk every day can help.
• Sleep & Rest: Fall is a time where the days are shorter and we are wanting to turn inwards and rest more. Listen to your body and take the extra time you may need to sleep and rest.
• Breathing: The lungs have immune system cells just under its surface. Also, when we are stressed we tend to take in shorter breaths, thereby causing more stress on the body and making us more susceptible to colds and flu. A daily deep breathing exercise can reduce stress as well as stimulate the immune system that lines the lungs. The easiest exercise to do is deep abdominal breathing: put a hand on your lower abdomen, breathe in through your nose and try to push out the hand you have on your abdomen. Hold the breath for a beat, then exhale through your nose. Do this for five minutes daily.
• Skin rub, dry or wet: The skin also has immune system cells just beneath the surface. Using a loofah and always rubbing towards the heart can help stimulate the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is how most of the immune systems cells travel throughout the body.

 

Immune Support Supplementation

• Multivitamin and multimineral: A good quality multivitamin and multi-mineral will provide the body with the nutrients the body needs for optimal functioning, including optimal immune function.
• Echinacea angustifolia and purpurea: Echinacea is an herb that stimulates the immune system. If you want to use Echinacea throughout the cold and flu season, be sure only to take it five days a week because it can stop working if taken continuously.
• Vitamin C: Can be taken daily and is better taken in multiple doses throughout the day because it is a water-soluble vitamin (meaning your body urinates out any extra vitamin C). A tasty way to get your vitamin C is with EmergeC®, a flavored powder you can add to water.
• All Flu (available at Transformational Health): A homeopathic combination that helps stimulate the immune system and fight off flu. One capful taken once a month can help prevent flu.
• Cytozyme-THY, Cytozyme-SP, Cytozyme-Parotid/TS (available at Transformational Health): These are supplements that can be taken daily to stimulate your immune system.
• VeryBerry and Winterberry (available at Transformational Health): A concentrated berry extract high in antioxidants formulated especially to support the immune system of the nose, mouth and throat.

 

Natural Treatments for Colds and Flu

• All treatments listed above can be used as colds and flu treatments as well, and can be taken up to six times a day.
• Zinc: Zinc lozenges are probably the easiest way to take this immune-supporting mineral. There is also a zinc nasal spray but it can cause permanent loss of smell in some people, so I generally tell people to avoid the spray.
• Phytogen (available at Transformational Health): An herbal formulation that has both an immune-stimulating effect as well as being antiviral and antibacterial.
• Apo-Infekt and Grip-Heel (available at Transformational Health): Homeopathic formulations that help stimulate the immune system as well as reduce cold and flu symptoms without the use of over-the-counter medications.

 

These as well as other natural treatments specific for your cold or flu, including treatments that are safe for children, are available at Transformational Health.

 

Test Spotlight: Adrenal Stress Index (©Diagnogtechs-Inc.)

By Aurora Sedmak, ND

Have you ever wondered what all the stress in your life does to your body? You may already experience symptoms of chronic stress such as fatigue, trouble sleeping, frequent colds and flu, digestive problems and weight gain especially around the abdomen and hips. I also find that people that are hypothyroid, diabetic and/or have other hormonal imbalances such as menopausal symptoms tend to have cortisol imbalances (see below). If you have any of these conditions you are a candidate for taking the Adrenal Stress Index test.

 

Stress comes in many forms and includes: 1) Physical stress such as trauma (accident or injury), poor diet, lack of exercise/sedentary lifestyle and environmental toxins, and 2) Mental/emotional stress such as work stress, family stress, driving in traffic and having too much to do and too little time to do it. When the body is exposed to stress long-term, chronic conditions and diseases can occur or current chronic conditions can worsen. Doing the Adrenal Stress Index measures the body’s hormonal reaction and gives me as a doctor a place to start treatment.

 

The adrenal glands, which are on top of your kidneys, are the main organs that produce cortisol; therefore the adrenals are the main organs that respond to stress. The adrenal glands are designed to help the body cope with stress for a short amount of time but when the stress continues long-term they can get fatigued. Fatigued adrenals is what leads to chronic stress symptoms such as those listed above (e.g. fatigue, trouble sleeping, etc.).

 

The test is simple and involves you taking a salivary sample four times throughout the day and mailing in the results directly to the laboratory. I receive the results and then go over them with you, including treatment ideas for the adrenals.

 

What the Test Measures

• Cortisol, four times throughout the day: Cortisol is the main stress hormone produced by the adrenals. Cortisol helps the body get ready for “fight or flight” by doing actions such as increasing blood flow to muscles and away from the digestive system, increasing blood pressure and heart rate, increasing blood sugar for muscles and suppressing the immune system. Cortisol is a necessary hormone that should be a little higher in the morning so that the body is ready to start the day and should become less as the day goes on to prepare the body for sleep at night.
• Progesterone and DHEA: Progesterone and DHEA are precursors for cortisol (i.e. needed for the body to make cortisol). Low levels of progesterone and DHEA means that the body is running out of the ability to make cortisol (as well as other hormones such as estrogen and testosterone).
• Insulin, Fasting & Post-Prandial: Insulin is produced in larger amounts after meals to signal to the cells that there are large amounts of blood sugar for the cells to take up. Excessive cortisol blocks the actions of insulin and can lead to blood sugar dysregulation.
• Total Salivary SIgA: There are different parts to the immune system, the first being on mucus membrane surfaces such as in the nose, mouth and ears. Since cortisol opposes the body’s immunity, this test measures how well the surface immune system is operating.
• Anti-gliadin Antibody: Gliadin is the protein in most grains including wheat. Chronic stress in some people can cause food sensitivities. This test measures one possible common food sensitivity.

 

I have found the Adrenal Stress Index test to be one of the most useful tests in my practice. Since I specialize in chronic conditions and disease and since we live in such a stressful world, utilizing a test for chronic stress in my practice makes sense. It is often one of the first tests I do for many chronic conditions. When the adrenals are successfully treated often chronic problems improve. Also, the specific treatments for chronic conditions work more effectively when the adrenals are treated.