Tips to Avoid the Flu

Since mid-Fall TV commercials have been trumpeting the horrors of the "flu season". "It's never too soon to begin fighting this year's bug" they blare. Public health announcements urge us to get our "yearly flu shot", as if this is something we've got permanently scheduled in our Blackberries. All the leading over-the-counter pain medications offer special seasonal "flu" mixtures, and their ads deluge daytime and prime-time broadcasting. For the health consumer, it seems as if this annual "war on the flu" is received wisdom. We're just defenseless human beings at the mercy of the all-powerful flu virus. What’s wrong with this picture? What's never mentioned in the "flu warning" marketing is the versatility and adaptability of our remarkable immune system. We're the lucky owners of a built-in state-of-the-art biowarfare system, on-the-job 24/7 to combat microscopic foreign invaders of our health and well-being. Once our immune system has detected a foreign protein it mounts an immediate defense, attacking and destroying the alien molecules. And, the memory of that particular invader is permanent, enabling a future immune response to be swift and effective. The big issue with influenza is that new strains appear each year. We've never encountered these germs before. But, the whole basis and strength of our immune system is flexibility. It is specially designed to respond quickly to new attackers. And, for the most part, it does this very, very well. Of course, no one wants their dinner companion to sneeze in their plate of pasta, as Elaine did on an infamous episode of "Seinfeld". Through a typical cascade of unfortunate events, Jerry's and George's comedy pilot was almost scuttled because the network executive was Elaine's date, and he got violently ill by being on the receiving end of her blast of micro-bugs. In the real world, our immune systems can be weakened due to life habits, circumstances, and stress. Stress is a notorious compromiser of immune defenses. And, of course, being human, there's plenty of stress from dawn to dusk. If worry and anxiety pile on top of not-enough-sleep or sub-optimal nutrition, getting sick is a pretty likely outcome. So, developing and maintaining healthy habits of living and successful strategies for managing stress is really the key. If you do the simple things that keep you healthy and well, in the winter months you can pretty much "let the flu go around you". You can be confident, knowing you've done the work to fight off the latest flu threat. Someone else's germs are their germs, not yours. If your immune system is on the job, you're far less likely to "catch" something. And, even if you do succumb, you've got a much better chance of getting well again quickly with adjustments from Dr. Bryan this season!

TIPS: · Drink plenty of water - six to eight glasses each day · Eat several servings of fruits and vegetables each day · Take vitamin/mineral supplements to fill in the gaps in an urban diet · Get sufficient sleep - on average, seven to eight hours each night · Exercise regularly - five days per week, at least 30 minutes each day · Meditate and/or engage in quiet time regularly to center yourself and let go of the day's stresses · Your immune system functions at peak performance when you Get adjusted regularly to help boost your immune system. Ask Dr. Bryan about Supplements to keep you healthy this year!