Guess what, the exciting holiday season is approaching! But, at the same time, the season of being ill and unwell is also knocking on our doors! However, nobody wants to be sick during the festive period! We all dream of the great company of healthy loved ones, of having lots of fun and experiencing lots of joy! So, I want to share my personal experience to help you to stay festive and healthy during Christmas time and likewise any other time.
To my surprise, last week I got the flu. It was very unexpected as I had almost forgotten what it means to be ill! Really! Last year, all I had was a mild cold for a couples of days, but this year I experienced the proper flu! While I was in bed (always the best place to think) I remembered how I used to be ill regularly, 3-4 times a year for 3 or more weeks each time. I used to have asthma which would always be initiated by any bacterial or viral infection and normally took a long time to clear out from my body. I suddenly remembered the horrible feeling of being completely incapable of doing anything and of wasting many ineffective hours in bed. Do you not think life is too short to be ill and that we cannot afford to spend this precious time fighting the flu as opposed to doing something great and useful? Nowadays, too many people, especially children, are unwell over long periods of time and, as a result, develop lots of chronic conditions.
Interestingly, when people never get ill, that too is not very good for the body. You may be surprised, but, this is the truth. Let me explain. The prime aim of our immune system is to protect us from pathogenic bacteria, viruses and other invaders. Our immune system is always working by checking, identifying, removing and destroying “trespassers” in our body. Once “unwelcome guests” are identified, a whole series of chemical mediators are released and a whole cascade of reactions are activated. The inflammation reaction occurs in certain local areas of our body, causing symptoms like a sore throat or a runny nose. From the immune system’s point of view, this is a call for action that mobilises the body’s internal recourses to fight the infection. However, from our point of view, this is a complete inconvenience and we try to remove these symptoms with medications and thus interfere in the normal process of the body healing. To do its job properly, our immune system needs to know its “enemies” and, therefore, needs to be exposed to these bacteria and viruses periodically. But of course, if your immune system is healthy, then your illness will be very short and painless like mine was this time. Over 3 to 5 days, with as much of extra rest and sleep as possible, your body will be able to clear the symptoms without any further chronic consequences, such as e a cough or ear infection. This way the cold or flu allow the body to cleanse itself and boost its immune system. Therefore, never getting sick is a sign of a weak immune system rather than the other way around. Ideally, one or two colds per year is a good amount of exercise for our immune system to be in a good shape.
But of course, we need to be aware of a hypersensitive immune system when we experience different allergies and an overly reactive immune system which increases the chances of developing an auto-immune disease. Any unbalance of the immune system is not good for our health! Our body is very cleverly designed and our task is to listen to its signals and respond to them correctly. So, how does your body show that your immune system is out of balance?
Let’s see just a few symptoms that you really need to be aware of:
- Regular colds and flu
- Lasting chronic conditions after having colds and flu like cough or ear infection
- Chronic tiredness and lack of energy
- Allergies to food or environmental factors like ‘hay fever’
- Skin problems like eczema, acne ect.
- Inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease ect.
- Digestive disorder like IBS, celiac disease ect.
These are the main issues but naturally this list can be continued. And, of course, you noticed digestive conditions on the list. This is because our digestive tract and immune system are closely connected and up to 80% of the immune system is located in our gut. 70% of our immunity is established during early childhood and closely depends on our microbiome development and diversity.
Therefore, the best thing to survive the flu season is NOT to do a flu jab and NOT to stack your cupboard with concentrated vitamin C or nasal sprays and other medications, but rather to invest your effort in the prevention of getting ill and supporting of your immune system through the year! And you can start anytime! Please, remember that flu vaccinations are not helpful to you or your children and can cause many different problems and side effects. First of all, they add to your toxic load as they contain Mercury and this can be extremely problematic for some children causing some neurotoxic effects and leading to neurological disorders. Furthermore, lots of different scientific reports describe a connection between flu vaccinations and conditions like narcolepsy in children, foetal deaths and of course, more flu. You can read more about it here: https://vactruth.com/2013/02/01/8-damn-good-reasons/
I am so glad that I have spent some time improving my immune system naturally! It caused huge changes in my life and everyone in my family’s life. I am not afraid of traveling and getting sick any more and I look forward to the holiday period with the confidence of knowing that I will have lots of fun rather than spend it ill like I used to.
So, how exactly can this be done? How did I do it and what worked for me? I keep repeating that we are all very different and any recommendations should be followed with great care and you should always check your individual reaction to the changes that you are introducing. We need to learn to understand our own body’s language! In my situation, several life style changes were very effective. After moving to Switzerland, I started to spend much more time outside. We have a dog, Bella, and she needs to walked every day, 3 times a day in any weather. So, we just do it! To be in nature and in fresh air regularly helps to release stress and activate many vital body functions, including thinking, digestion, cardiovascular health and so on. Then, I started taking Juice Plus (whole food based supplement) that suddenly boosted my metabolism and I also lost about 10 kg of weight. By normalising my portion size, switching to organic products, reducing amount of gluten and grains in general, by diversifying my diet through eating more vegetables, introducing home-made fermented foods and many other different superfoods, I have manged to completely take control of my immune system and energy level I have forgotten when last time I bought any medications was. I prefer natural remedies and I am a big fun of essential oils!
Therefore, my advice to you is to not waste your precious time, invest in your health by making life style changes and restoring your connection to real food! Start this holiday season, do it step by step and celebrate every small achievement! I find Christmas is the best time of the year to cook together with your children, experiment with new foods, practice mindful eating and, of course, ask Santa Clause for a new exciting kitchen gadgets with which you enjoy many hours in your lovely kitchen! I have already made my Santa list! What about you?
As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu
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