The swine flu (H1N1) is a topic we’ve been asked to discuss a lot in the last few days and we’d like to take a moment to address some of the issues around it that might be of concern to you...

First, we would like to discuss immunity.  If I had the flu and spent an entire day in an enclosed room with 30 people in close proximity, would everyone in the room get the flu?  Most would agree ‘no’, ‘some’ maybe but not ‘all’. Most people would agree on the reasoning behind why not everyone contracted the flu in this case.  It is the state of each individual person’s immune system that determines whether or not they contract it.  I like the analogy of what came first, the rats or the garbage? 

This leads us to the second point which is,how strong is your immune system right now and what are you doing to boost it?  This is where we focus a lot of attention in our clinic because it can have a huge impact on whether or not someone will stay healthy and thrive throughout the cold months or merely survive.  This year, just like every other year, there is a flu vaccine that always seems to make the headlines.  A lot of fear is instilled in us by the media to run in and get it and make sure our kids get it too.  It seems good in theory, if we could have a magical vaccine that would prevent everyone who got it from getting sick and had no side effects, including long term, it would be ideal.  That’s where we begin to have questions.  There are 2 types of immunity: natural immunity which occurs when youare exposed to some type of foreign virus (like in the past when most of us had the chicken pox) and your body has the chance to filter it through the skin,your nose hairs, all the way down into the respiratory tract alerting your immune system to send out the armies to fight the invader.  You may or may not get ill from this but because it is natural immunity, your body remembers this invader forever and you will have lifetime immunity to it. The second type is artificial immunity which happens when you get a vaccine.  A strain of the invader is mixed into a formula with other ingredients (some which are disclosed and others which are not).  This is injected directly into the bloodstream and because of it, your body will produce an artificial response but it is likely that you would need booster shots in the future to keep your immunity to this particular strain.

One of our major concerns about the vaccine is just that, it is injected directly into the bloodstream.  I have yet to see a list of ingredients to this vaccine.  It is very difficult to deem anything safe especially when it is being injected directly into the bloodstream unless the exact ingredients are known. 

That being said, we have chosen not to vaccinate our family and just like every other year, we feel very comfortable with this decision.  A friend of mine said it well when he explained that it is a gamble either way. If we have to choose whether we’re going to gamble on science or nature,we’ll always choose nature.  We are taking proactive measures to build our immunity to ensure we have a great winter.  This does not necessarily mean that we do not get sick once in a while. In general, it is more uncommon for us to get sick than most other households.  Our kids however are one and two years old.  Their immune systems are in their early development and for the most part encountering new things every day so it becomes even more important to ensure we are taking proactive measures.  They too seem to be sick far less often than other kids their age.

These are the basics in our household:

Probiotics- it is estimated that approximately 70% of our immune system is found in the digestive tract.  It is therefore essential to ensure good bacterial flora.  Children need billions of bacteria while adults need trillions.  We carry a product at the clinic with a high bacterial count in powder form so we put them in the kids' smoothies.  We also have capsules as well.  If you need some, make sure they have a high bacterial count so purchase them either from a health food store or come in and get some at the clinic.  Make sure to keep them refrigerated.  The highest bacterial counts we've found have about 50 billion per dose but on average you should get a brand that has at least 15 billion per dose.

Vitamin D- Jason and I are taking about 4000 IU’s in the winter.  David our oldest boy likes to chew on the Carlson's gel capsules.  We squeeze this gel capsule into Alex’s mouth.  I would recommend at least 1,000 IU’s for children per day and at least 2,000 IU’s for adults (doses are age and weight dependent ). You can also take more when you are sick (your body produces 10,000 IU’sin 30 minutes of sunlight so there have been tests done to show this is a safe amount to take).

 Finally, oil of oregano is a natural antibiotic,anti-viral, and anti-fungal.  It's a must around this household in the winter. If you're ever feeling a sore throat or sniffles coming along, just take a few drops (very strong taste but it works).If not, just repeat every few hours until it's gone. Only do it at the onset of symptoms. It can deplete your good bacteria if you take it for prolonged periods.  For kids, because it tastes so awful, you can put it on their chest or on their feet (while they sleep)because it has a strong smell.  This product is also available at the clinic and at health food stores.  We bring it with us on trips in our travel kit, it works well.

We also take multivitamins, greens and make sure we stay away from sugar especially when we feel our immunity is low.  One teaspoon of sugar can suppress your immune system for hours.

Jason and I feel very confident with our decision and the stepswe are taking toward optimizing our family’s health this season.  Make sure you feel good about your decisionsince how you feel affects your thoughts which affect your overallhealth...more on that at our Law of Attraction seminars. 

Stay tuned for more!

Doctor Cindy