How To Keep You and Your Child From Getting Sick!

It is the time of the season where my patient’s frequently ask: “How do I keep my family well this season?” and “We are sick, how can I get us better without having to go to the doctor?” On my blogs, I typically do not push specific supplements, but this is an exception. I would like to teach you and your family how to prevent these common seasonal illnesses with: Diet, Food, Essential Oils, Supplementation and Lifestyle.  Just remember, colds and the flu naturally last 3-7 days. No matter if you take a Tamiflu or any other prescription: the timeframe is usually the same.  What makes these illnesses last longer, then the typical incubation period, is your health, diet, and lifestyle. I am going to go over the basics of the immune system on what to avoid and what to consume.

DIET

First and for most let’s talk about diet. When someone feels like they are getting sick the first thing they run to is ORANGE JUICE. This is the worst, worst, worst thing you can do. You have been fooled by marketing that orange juice is good because of the vitamin C. Yet, the reason it is so bad, is because of the amount of sugar in the juice. I urge all of you to just squeeze one orange and poor into a glass and see how much juice you get from this one orange. Once you see this you will realize that the typical glass of orange juice you drink is equivalent to a bag.  You might as well drink a 2 liter of coke! 

Sugar feeds these little infections bugs and bacteria’s, causing them to grow and reproduce more. Hence, we place everyone on a no sugar diet during this time of illness. Stay away from all juices, electrolyte drinks such as Gatorade, Propel, Powerade, Vitamin Waters, Energy drinks, etc. Many of these drinks contain high amounts of sugar. Now I know we have a smart mouth out there that says, “What about sugar free, that’s not bad!”

Okay guys, most sugar free drinks on the market is sweetened with Splenda or Sucralose. It has been already proven that Sucralose destroys the gut linings and natural bacteria. Remember, the gut is your first line of defense for the immune system. It starts in the mouth and runs down into the intestines. When you drink these sugar free drinks you are destroying your first line of defense. Your best method to rehydrate and get your electrolytes in is: water with ½ - 1 tsp of Himalayan salt (this pink salt has all the minerals you need to replenish your body). In conclusion: no juice, no sodas, no electrolyte drinks, and no crackers.

I encourage my patients during the season of cold and flu time is to change their diet to more healthy immune boosting foods. Bone broths, onions, garlic, lemon teas, Red meat for those amino acids and iron, green leafy vegetables such as: Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, Cabbage, Bok Choy, Arugula, Cilantro, etc. These vegetables have your B, C, and other essential vitamins that you need. 

Stay away from the starchy foods: potatoes, rice, crackers, pasta, breads.  These foods contain too much sugar which can feed those pesky bugs.

Also stay away from juices and sugary drinks such as soda, sweet tea, lemonades, etc. By the way, SPRITE AND CLEAR SODAS ARE JUST AS BAD IF NOT EVEN WORSE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN. Nothing drives me more insane then parents justifying feeding their kids sprite sodas and Gatorades, thinking it is better for them. Let me give you a clue: WATER. WATER is the only thing your child should be drinking. I don’t even encourage milk (due to the way it is processed and toxic for the body). My child grew up on water, to the point that this is what she craves when she is thirsty, and not a soda or something flavored. It is not natural.  It does not replenish the cells like natural spring water or even mineral water. When your child is sick, water is what they should be consuming, not these marketed drinks on the shelf.

Tidbits about your food:

Cilantro is known for killing parasites.

Honey is high in sugar but does have antiseptic properties, therefore I recommend in hot lemon tea.

Did you know broccoli and red bell peppers have more vitamin C then the orange and actually the most nutritious part of the orange is the white pith?

Conclusions from the Diet Paragraph:

FOOD, HERBS, and LIFESTYLE 

for Cold and Flu

If you want to stop a cold or flu in its tracks, there is a phrase I learned long ago: “Feed a cold and starve a fever” and grandma was right. First of all, fevers and high temperatures are not bad. They are actually good for the body; so, stop taking fever reducing medication. You are prolonging your situation. If it is a virus, only your body can kill these little bugs, and the way it does it is by turning up the furnace and burning them. This is why we have a fever. People always worry about children with fevers running up to 104. It’s ok! It’s actually natural. The medical community has scared individuals and scared the students into learning this stupid rule. What we were really taught was if the child reached 104 and had the signs of beginning seizures then we needed immediate medical attention.  Lowering a child from a fever of 100 or 102 is not wise. They need to run their course to kill whatever is in them, or the problem will continue and get worse as time goes by with chronic illnesses.

If you are concerned, here are a few easy tricks that I have applied in my home many times. Never ever give your child a Motrin or Tylenol. Even the WHO and Pediatric Associations are starting to frown on this approach. What we find works phenomenally and helps speed up the healing process is “CALCIUM LACTATE”.  I personally sell this in my clinic in pill and powder form. It will immediately reduce the fever and help the child sleep. This calcium is necessary for relaxing the adrenal glands, reducing muscle aches and pains, and help with the nervous system response to fevers. Do you really want to learn something interesting?  Grandma used to always give chicken soup when sick, even with fevers. First because of the liquid and fluid. Second, most soups were made with bone broth and as you cook the bone: calcium, Vit D, and other marrow like products would leach into the water making this healthy, delicious broth. Therefore, you were consuming that calcium, the vitamin D needed for immune system, and other nutrients that support the cells and WBC in the human body.

The other thing we use to help reduce extremely high fevers in babies and children is apple cider vinegar. When my child was a baby and she had an extremely high fever, I took her baby socks and soaked them in apple cider vinegar and then put them back on her feet with a cold cloth on the back of her neck. Fever did not drop in 3 minutes (don’t be so impatient. I find parents want a “turnaround” in 5 minutes, and if it does not work, “pooey” on that and It’s time to get the hardcore quick meds). It takes time for the body to absorb, assimilate, and repair. Yet, within an hour her fever was completely broken, and she was back asleep. For older children, I fill a tub with water and pour apple cider vinegar in the tub and usually add Epsom salt for the calcium and magnesium. I let the child soak in the tub for no less than 20 minutes and then I pull them out and wrap them in warm blanket to encourage sweating. We want to heat up the body to kill those bugs and we want to sweat to detox the body of all those toxins. Sweating is good! If you are worried about dehydration, during our tub time, I make a nice lemon and honey tea to drink. I also love, love, love for children to drink Elderberry and Echinacea tea. Elderberry, Pau D Arco, and a combination of lemon and garlic are the most researched herbs demonstrating they can kill a virus. Not just boost the immune system, but actually kill. Elderberry and Echinacea teas are sweet and very good for the child as well.

Lastly, sleep. I can’t emphasize enough sleep.   know we are in just a rat race pace in today’s society, but rest is the only thing that allows our body to heal. And let me give you a hint. Nobody cares if you can’t make it to a party when you are sick. Please don’t pretend you are not just so you can make a presence. We don’t want to you to share your illness. Go home and sleep. There will always be another event to attend. If you don’t sleep, you may not make that future event, Ha Ha! 

It took me awhile to learn from my dad, but whenever he felt something was not right, he would immediately go to bed and sleep all night with warm blankets around him. Before he even got “sick”. As I have gotten older and realized I have less time to spend laying in bed in the middle of an illness, I decided to apply his wise words. Now if I feel like I am about to get sick, I go straight to bed, with a cup of Bone Broth Soup (lots of garlic and lemon) and warms blankets to sweat anything out.  Sometimes I will even do my Epsom salt bath before bed. Next day, I feel like a million bucks.  An ounce of prevention is a pound of cure!!!!!

In conclusion to this paragraph: Calcium lactate, Apple Cider Vinegar, Bone Broth and Epsom salts can help reduce fevers.

Elderberry and Echinacea, lemon, honey and garlic, and Pau d Arco help assist in killing viruses. 1

Sweat it out and SLEEP

BONE BROTH RECIPE:

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