The influenza season in America can be a scary time for some, especially parents. The entire season you are awaiting the dreaded email or note from the teacher, “ we have several reported cases of the flu in your child’s class…” If you are like me and have a baby at home, this threat if even more real. Because of this, I am writing a two part series for revealing the most naturopathic approach to preventing and treating the flu. This approach has been proven to be affective in my family and my patients alike. You can totally own this flu season as well, it just takes a tad bit of knowledge to begin.
Here is a golden nugget of information that will blow your mind. The root cause of becoming ill after exposure to the influenza virus is not the actual virus itself. Wait… What?!?! Yes, you read that right. We shouldn’t fear the actual virus, because it goes much deeper than that. Let me explain.
We all have something called the vital force that helps keep us in a healthy and vibrant state. It resides in all of us. It is the body’s innate ability to protect and heal itself. It is a force, a flow, an energy that travels through our bodies ensuring homeostasis. A great vital force is very evident in a healthy person. Their skin glows, their digestion is on point, they have stable energy throughout the day, and are in a happy mood most of the time. It’s also pretty evident when someone’s vital force is low because they tend to be fatigued, constipated, have indigestion, in chronic pain, maybe feel depressed.
As for the vital force helping us overcome an illness like the flu, think of it this way:
If someone has a great vital force and becomes infected, they may have very mild symptoms such as a runny nose and fever that will resolve in two days. Or they may not ever become ill after coming into contact with an infected person... they just walk around all peppy the whole season without even the first little sniffle! These are those people who rarely get sick, and when they do it is so mild that they are up and at it in just a few short days.
If someone has a low vital force and becomes infected with the flu, they may experience a range of intense symptoms that last 7-14 days. These are those people who are sick multiple times a year, for extended periods of time. *Or they may not ever have symptoms except fatigue and malaise after being infected with the flu (or any pathogen) because their immune system is not functioning well enough to produce a fever, runny nose, or cough. these are the people who haven’t been “sick” in 10 years but are pretty fatigued and run down on a daily basis.
Therefor, it is not the actual virus that makes us sick.
It is our body’s vital force that determines whether or not we will produce an effective immune response.
Okay, so now that you understand your vital force, let’s look at how you can boost it up this season to ensure a better immune response.
Your vital force is most influenced by a healthy diet full of a variety of colored fruits and vegetables, an active lifestyle, sunlight, good sleep, and a good attitude. This is otherwise known as the foundations of health. Some tips on how to achieve this:
Include 3 servings of vegetables or fruits at every meal and snack throughout the day… with a variety of colors. More variety of fruits and vegetables creates a healthier microbiome. This is more effective than taking your daily probiotic!!!
Limit or eliminate all sugar other than fruit, honey or maple syrup
Intermittent fasting between 7pm and 10 am
Wake up early and enjoy the sunrise
Be outside at least 2 hours of the day
Exercise early in the morning. If you can’t make time to exercise at least 30 minutes a day, then make sure to move around at your desk at work. Bring in an exercise ball to sit on or take 5 minute moving breaks every 30 minutes, park your car further from the entrance, and take the stairs!
Go to sleep before 9pm
Turn off all electronics by 8pm and never bring them to bed with you
Reduce EMF exposure by turning phone to airplane mode and unplugging all electronics in your bedroom
Look in the mirror every morning and tell yourself how amazing you are and how much you appreciate all the hard work you put into taking care of yourself
You can also use these same approaches for the children in your home. All of these things promote a healthy lifestyle to prevent acute illnesses such as the flu and also chronic conditions such as autoimmunity.
In addition to the foundations of health creating a vibrant vital force, there are some other natural ways of preventing the flu this season, and every season to come!
Essential oil “Thieves” Hand Sanitizer: Of course washing your hands is a given, but carrying around an essential oil blend for natural sanitation is a sure way of killing off some germs that land on the hands of your little ones. Add the essential oil to your diffuser at home or apply it as a hand sanitizer to hands as needed during the active season. The oil combination of clove, cinnamon, rosemary, and lemon is very helpful. You can make your own by diluting in water and spraying on furniture or a few drops in oil and applying to hands, or purchase a premed hand sanitizer through a company such as Young Living. Pranarom also offers a thieves essential oil blend. Purchase these products directly through the companies or professional practitioners who carry the product in office.
Nasal lavage: This is an ancient Ayurvedic technique of clearing out the nostrils from daily pathogens that threaten our immune system. It is easy and effective. Use 1 cup warm water (distilled water or boiled, filtered water- never use straight from the tap) with ¼ tsp natural sea salt or the salt provided in the neti pot package.
Sambuccus Nigra (Elderberry)- This herb is known for its Anti-catarrhal, Diaphoretic, Anti-oxidant, Anti-Viral, Mast cell stabilization, and Anti-histamine effects. Mainly known for the extensive research conducted in the area of the flu. It can reduce the length of the illness by 3-4 days and significantly reduce symptoms. If taken as preventative, it can help you avoid it all together!!! Such an amazing herb. Make sure to buy your syrup from al local vendor that uses a clean, local honey source for added benefit. Avoid syrups in the market that use sugar, as it is counterproductive! This is safe in pregnancy and breast-feeding, however babies under 12 months should avoid honey products. In this case, you can look for a glyceride.
I love my local Elderberry syrup source @heatherjadeapothecary. Because I know it is clean, made with love, and made with organic ingredients by a knowledgable herbalist. Try your hardest to find that in your local area, instead of buying off the shelves.
When using a syrup, for prevention your dosing is 1 tsp (5 ml) 3 x day. For treatment it is 1 tbsp (15 ml) 4 x day or 1 tsp (5 ml) every 2 hours.
Vitamin C- This vitamin does all the things. it is an antioxidant, lowers histamine, helps with glucose handling, an enzyme cofactor for collagen building, hormones, neurotransmitters, carnitine, and is a binder for toxins and heavy metals. Include food sources and an additional supplementation during the flu season.
Significant food sources of Vitamin C: kiwi, citrus, strawberries, red pepper, kale, broccoli, parsley.
Liposomal Vitamin C is a great version to use to avoid loose stools.
My family uses Innate’s C Complete powder which tastes great in the powder form.
Revitalize Wellness makes a liposomal liquid option, which is great for young children as well.
RDA for Vitamin C is 75 mg/d – 90 mg/d, which is the bare minimum to prevent Scurvy. Come on now… we can do better than that. For an adult, around 800-1000mg and a child 500 mg is a good starting point. In pregnancy, make sure not to exceed 5000 mg/d and if you are on blood thinning medications do not exceed 1000 mg/d.
B Vitamins- B vitamins are crucial for many processes in the body including methylation, detoxification, and immune support. They are essential as cofactors to many life-depending processes in the body. B6 has been extensively studied for its effects on our T cells, which is one part of our immune system which eliminates viral threats. Make sure your B complex is methylated and free of folic acid.
Zinc- Has been widely studied for its positive affect on the immune system. Take it in a bioavailable form such as Zinc Picolinate, at night to reduce nausea. Adult dosing for prevention is around 15 mg, but 30 mg for treatment. Children dosing over 3 years old is about half of that dose. Zinc is never intended to be used long term as it can disrupt the zinc and copper balance.
Vitamin D- Low Vitamin D levels have been associated with autoimmunity and low immunity. 57% of adults and 36% of adolescents in America have low blood levels of this amazing vitamin. You can supplement with Vitamin D3, and easily take it in liquid form.
Natural Sources of Vitamin D:
Direct Sun exposure
Salmon
Fish liver oil
Organ meat
Egg yolks
A sufficient dose depends on your current vitamin D levels. However, if you do not know yours, a good maintenance dose for adults in 2000 IU/ day and 1000 IU/day for children. Babies are recommended by the AAP to take 400 IU/day from 2 weeks of age onward.
Homeopathy, Influenzinum is a homeopathic nosode of the years previous flu strand. It is essentially a natural version of the flu vaccine. They simply take the flu virus and dilute it down so much that it is not detectable any more. You can been taking this at the first mention of the flu in your area.
The dose you would use is 30c or 200c. Take 3 pellets (1 dose) under tongue at beginning of season, then 1 week later 3 doses in one day, then 1 dose every month until season is over. A mild fever after dose is a good sign.
Stay warm and healthy the rest of the cold and flu season! Stay tuned to learn more about how to treat the flu naturally with botanicals, vitamins, minerals and hydrotherapy!
Here are some of the supplements we use in my home, as I promote brands that are clean, third party tested and organic when possible. You can create an account under me to get professional grade supplements and have easy access with home delivery. After you register, you then can place an order of any of the supplements I list here, under the category “flu treatments”.
As this is only a health blog, I cannot perform any assessments on you specifically, which means I cannot officially give you medical advice. This means, any recommendations on this page are prevention techniques made from general knowledge. Please consult your doctor before attempting any new supplements or lifestyle modifications.