The Cold Facts

Every year when the weather gets colder, I see people become afraid of getting sick. Some will hurry and get a flu shot, start taking mega doses of vitamin C or try to isolate themselves in fear of someone sneezing or coughing in their direction. Manufacturers of cold and flu remedies prepare to reap big profits as they warn you about your future illness in their convincing advertisements. There are many misconceptions about infectious diseases and having some knowledge about these myths may empower you more than any medication could.

We all grew up thinking cold germs started lurking around with cold weather and tetanus germs lived on the end of a rusty nail. How many times have you heard someone say they "caught a cold" or "hey there is a flu bug going around." This kind of thinking implies an adversarial relationship between you, the host, and the invading organism. This sets you up to be the victim and the germ to be the evil abuser. The next logical step is for you to have to be saved by some external agent like an antibiotic. The truth is these germs are everywhere; you have streptococci crawling in your throat right now but a healthy body will allow for their peaceful co-existence. Pathogens do not attack you and most are virtually harmless with no ability to damage, eat or poison body tissue. Microbes do not have malicious intent. They would rather live in your body peacefully and unobtrusively. In fact this is what normally happens unless your resistance gets too low from a combination of mental, emotional and physical stress. As the temperature gets colder, the thermal stress lowers your resistance to a point where the cold and flu viruses get an opportunity to thrive. In order to offset this external stress your body will respond by going into a detox reaction to reduce its internal stress. This detox reaction is your body discharging accumulated toxins into the lymphatic system. The expression of this reaction will look like a cold or flu. This is a normal healthy response but your mind and most anyone you talk to will say "you are sick" and "isn't it awful". This attitude toward illness sends you on a search to be rescued by some powerful medicine, pill, potion, or liquid. Let's take a closer look at these marvels of medical science.

Antibiotics were a great discovery for medical science but due to the irresponsible way they have been used it has become one of the leading causes of disease in modern society. For pneumonia, bacterial endocarditis, or meningitis, antibiotics should definitely be considered, but not for a head cold or a scratchy throat. Antibiotics kill bacteria and that's all. They always also destroy the normal intestinal flora that leads to some degree of intestinal over-growth of yeast, fungus and mold. This very often results in secondary yeast infections of the throat, sinuses, ears, skin, or urinary tract. Several decades ago one shot of penicillin was all it took to wipe out every bacterium in your body, but the continued overuse has caused the germs to adapt and develop more virulent and resistant strains. As the germs got stronger we, as a species, became weaker and dependent on external agents. Your immune system never learns how to fight for itself. For colds, flu and any other type of viral infection antibiotics have no beneficial effect. The next time a doctor tries to prescribe an antibiotic for your child's 'flu' ask the doctor, " why do you want to give a drug to kill a bacteria when this is a viral infection?" The typical answer is that many viruses turn into bacterial infections. When you consider all the harmful things people do to suppress their symptoms and the detoxification process like antihistamines, Tylenol Cold, Nyquil, etc., the likelihood of secondary infections like bacterial ones is increased. But taking antibiotics, which are designed for a bacterial infection, as a preventative measure for a viral infection, may create the secondary infections you are trying to avoid. This line of reasoning is like exposing yourself to ionizing radiation and chemotherapy for the prevention of cancer.

So let's say you are going to try to overcome this flu on your own without the use of prescription medicine. You go to Walgreen's and buy some aspirin, Tylenol, antihistamine and vitamin C. Taking aspirin or Tylenol to control the fever is a bad idea. Fever is not a sign of infection harming your body; it is a sign of your body fighting the infection. Fever is a powerful thermal destructive force to the invaders. Antihistamines lower white blood count and the activity of the adrenal glands. The natural healing response is for your body to discharge toxins. Antihistamines have just the opposite effect and thereby extend the length of the illness. This next statement is sure to push your buttons: Taking mega doses of vitamin C is not a good thing to do. One common myth that needs to be busted is that if you take too much vitamin C it will be harmlessly eliminated in your urine. This is not true. In fact, your kidneys have no ability to excrete vitamin C. Every molecule of vitamin C that needs to be eliminated must be combined with a mineral or trace mineral to pass through your kidneys. So by dumping thousands of milligrams or vitamin C into your urine it automatically depletes you of thousands of milligrams of calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, etc. Also, another name for vitamin C is ascorbic acid, and too much of it places stress on your acid/alkaline balance that effects the respiratory center, the kidneys, the oxygen- carrying capacity of the blood and the intestinal function. This additional stress is not good for someone who is fighting an infection.

Now that you know what not to do, here are some things you can do that help. Begin drinking buckets of natural water the instant you feel like you are "catching" something. Water substitutes like tea, cola, etc will not work. Do not eat foods that contain hydrogenated oils like many breads, pastries, margarine, and fried foods. These foods have had their oil structure chemically altered with heat and eating them will disrupt your body's ability to control inflammation. If your temperature goes above 99 degrees, do not eat. With fever, the G.I. tract shuts down and any food taken in will putrefy. Also when there is a fever there must be no physical exertion, in other words, rest.

And of course, I have to say it, get your spine adjusted by a chiropractor and your metabolism balanced to increase your resistance and ensure an optimum healing response. The best offense is a good defense.

To find out more information please call for a Network Spinal Analysis, Metabolic Analysis, class schedule, and attend some of our workshops.