How to Survive the Flu & Cold Season Without a Flu Shot © Dr. Eileen Silva

For a number of years now, many people have rushed down to the doctor’s office or a clinic, and gotten a flu shot annually to prevent the onset of the flu. While that tactic was not without some risk of exposure to illness or contamination, most people felt that the positive outweighed the negative when getting the immunization.

But if getting a flu shot is not an option, are there effective ways to prevent common virally transmitted illnesses . . . and if so, what are they?

Here are 11 excellent tips for staying healthy this winter:

· Drink 8 or more glasses of pure water per day to detoxify your system and help maintain good oxygenation.
· Eat a healthy diet, which includes at least 8 servings of colorful vegetables and fruits.
· Take a good natural vitamin/mineral support system product, as recommended by the American Medical Association for “chronic disease prevention.”
· Keep your system in an alkaline range. When you spit into a paper cup and dip a test strip of pH paper into your saliva first thing in the morning, before you have had anything to eat or drink, you should be 7.0 on the color chart. This will not only help you avoid flu and colds, but it will also be a good anti-cancer regimen, as cancer always strikes those with an over-acid pH system.
· Exercise regularly, which helps oxygenate the body, improving your energy levels and helping over-all body systems (like elimination) function better.
· Get plenty of sleep and make sure your children do as well.
· Wash your hands thoroughly with each bathroom use, as well as any time you have touched germ-laden objects (like doorknobs or telephones). It is a great idea to carry sanitized wipes so that before or after you handle anything which is likely to be contaminated, you can be safe rather than sorry.
· Avoid the use of unnecessary prescription and over-the-counter drugs to help maintain a more alkaline system.
· Manage stress.
· Use a maintenance parasite-controlling protocol in a sensible way to help the system maintain a good flora balance.
· Lose unnecessary weight. Remember, the same healthy choices that help you keep your weight under control, also help you feel better, and help you become a disease fighter instead of a disease magnet.

Finally, your grandmother was onto something with that chicken soup theory: non-substantiated research does show that chicken soup seems to help with weakened immunity. Chicken soup is particularly helpful if you have it in place of heavy foods that bog your system down. If getting a flu shot is not an option for you, follow the above wellness regimen and snuggle in for a healthy winter with a big pot of Grandma’s chicken soup.

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Please feel free to contact Dr. Silva’s office here at The Hegan Center through her email link or website link listed under her profile on the Baby Boomer’s Blog if you have suggestions or requests for topics you would like to see covered in future blogs on this site. Dr. Silva would be glad to address your questions.