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The Key to Fighting Colds and Flu
It seemed like it happened every time, and for the longest while I didn’t think I could do anything about it. I’d be going along feeling fine and healthy. Then I’d have a critically ill patient under my care. After a few days of stress and interrupted night’s sleep, WHAM — I’d come down with a heck of a cold.
At first, I didn’t know what specific steps anyone could take to keep their immune function at an optimal level.
As a physician, I was of course aware of the components of the immune system and their functions. However, like many aspects of wellness, traditional medical training doesn’t emphasize how we can support immune function in normal day-to-day life.
When I starting exploring complementary medical treatments, I was surprised at how much research had been done in this area. Once I started applying what I learned, those stress-related colds became a thing of the past. I’d like to share some of what I learned about building up a healthy immune system and fighting off those nasty bugs with you now.
Our immune system is a complex, interacting web of chemical and cellular components that serves to protect us against potential invaders such as bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. Although we often talk about immune “boosting,” what we really want is a perfectly balanced immune system (an overly active immune system can damage the body, but that’s another story).
A healthy lifestyle supports vitality, including immune health. It’s the foundation of any wellness program.
Gut Health — The Health Topic of the Coming Decade
For the last several years I have been emphasizing the importance of reducing belly fat, but just as important is getting one’s gut into shape on the inside. What I’m talking about is intestinal health.
Antibiotics and probiotics are two key players here. Antibiotics wipe out friendly flora in our intestines. This was clearly demonstrated in a study of patients taking the popular broad spectrum antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, commonly known as “Cipro”, which wiped out about 30% of the patients’ good bacteria population. After treatment, it took up to four weeks to re-establish the original level of healthy bacteria, but some strains took up to six months or longer to re-establish.1
