Flu Prevention Tips for your Home

By the Vteam, Kamau Austin Publisher

So much of the talk you hear about ways to prevent the cold and flu focus on things like keeping hands clean and eating right. And there’s no doubt that these two cold and flu prevention techniques alone can go far towards keeping your family healthy and happy during the cold and flu season.

But protecting yourself and your family involves more than just taking care of yourselves. It also involves taking care of your environment. The underlying cause of a cold or the flu is a virus. If the virus gets into your system, or that of a family member, guess what? The infected person is more than likely going to get sick. And if the virus isn’t controlled, it’s going to go ‘round and ‘round, infecting everyone in its path.

Unless you take steps to keep the virus at bay, you can pretty much plan on spending some portion of the upcoming cold and flu season dealing with a sick child or spouse. And you don’t even want to think about what’s going to happen (or not happen) if you’re the one who falls victim to the influenza virus.

If you live in a cold weather climate, here are some tips that will help keep your home environment from becoming a breeding ground for the influenza virus.

Occasionally crack open the windows

When it’s cold outside, the thermostat’s going to heat up. No one ever thinks about how stale the air inside the house can become when it’s never allowed to circulate with some fresh air. You’ve got to get some fresh, outdoors air inside to help chase away the germs. I’m not suggesting you throw open the patio doors; just crack open the windows in the rooms where your family spends a lot of time about an inch every couple of days and your indoor environment will be healthier.

Lower the temperature

Yes, this sounds like another crazy idea when it’s freezing outside, but most homes during the winter are actually overheated. Cold and flu viruses love living inside homes that are hot and dry. You can send those viruses packing simply by setting the thermostat back just 5 degrees. Your family probably won’t even notice. And if they do, tell them to throw on a sweatshirt or extra blanket. Not only will you be lowering your medical bills (fewer trips to the doctor), you’ll also be saving money on your heating bill! With the costs of heating rising year after year, this is one time that makes good financial sense too!

Moisten the air

With a humidifier, but not so much that you succeed in moving the influenza virus out and inviting mold in. Mold is a whole other issue you don’t want your family involved in. When the air inside your home is dry, everyone’s mucous membranes are likely to dry out. Mucous membranes need to be moist so they can trap dirt and germs. They’re actually one of the most important lines of defense the immune system has. If germs don’t make it inside the body, the body doesn’t have to wage war against them. Invest in a hydrometer, a tool that’s capable of measuring indoors humidity levels. For the best protection against colds and flu, the air inside your home should measure about 50% moist.

Put tissues everywhere

Using tissues and then throwing them away will help keep germs off fingers. When germs get on fingers and then fingers touch eyes, mouth or nose, those germs have a direct route inside the body. Besides putting a box of tissue in every room of the home, put a pack in purses, backpacks and vehicles. If someone in the family does catch a cold, he or she should always cough and sneeze into the tissues and then throw the tissues away.

Put the dishwasher and microwave oven on your team

Wash towels in hot water every couple of days during cold and flu season. If you don’t want to wash that frequently, then at least put fresh towels out regularly. Also use the microwave oven to sanitize your family’s toothbrushes which can become breeding grounds for germs.

Put Immune Support Supplements in your cupboards

Realistically in our fast paced lives you probably won't get enough immune system support in your regular diet. For this reason you may want to experiment with high quality supplements created to give your immune system a boost. Immunitril™ is an herbal supplement that may help give your immune system a substantial boost. I have read good things about this supplement at www.Amazon.com and the Health and Fitness Resource.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a health care professional before taking health or food supplements.

Eat Right and Boost your Immune System

By the Vteam, Kamau Austin Publisher

Go ahead and add boosting your immune system to your ever-growing list of reasons why you should eat right. Long or not the reality is, who has time to eat right?

You know it’s important to eat right, but you just don’t have any time left over at the end of the day to give good eating much thought. But remember “You are what you eat” so if you’re feeling like a jelly donut right now then perhaps it’s time you start making changes to your diet. And here’s another reason why you should…

You immune system deserves it!

When you consider all that your immune system is responsible for, it’s more important than ever to give it the tools it needs to do its job right. The immune system is your body’s first line of defense against foreign invaders, but you don’t need to arm it with swords or guns. All your immune system needs is some good old vitamins and minerals; the kind you can find right in your neighborhood grocery store.

Whether you get these important vitamins and minerals naturally from the foods you eat or you get them by taking nutritional supplements doesn’t matter much at this stage. You’ve got to do whatever is easier to get those nutrients into your body so they can start running your immune system, and the rest of your body, more efficiently. Ideally it’s better to eat right rather than to rely on supplements, especially since there’s always the risk of over-supplementation (ingesting too much of a vitamin or mineral), but that’s the topic for a different article.

What to feed your immune system

You’re probably wondering which vitamins and minerals your immune system needs most. At the top of the list is Vitamin C. Not only is it an important immune system-boosting vitamin, it’s also a powerful antioxidant. Your body needs antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals which is the most effective way to control the cell damage that free radicals can cause. Like rust on the body of your car, your body can suffer irreversible damage from the oxidizing effects of free radicals. A lifetime of unchecked free radicals can weaken the immune system and that in turn can compound the effects of aging.

Vitamin C is abundant in oranges and other citrus fruit and it’s also found in brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes, papaya, red pepper, strawberries and spinach. It helps the immune system produce more white blood cells (the cells that help fight infection) and beneficial antibodies such as interferon, a cell coating that helps cells keep viruses out. Getting more Vitamin C into your system won’t prevent you from developing a cold or the flu, but it can help lessen the severity of the symptoms and it can help you recover more quickly.

Vitamin E is another antioxidant that helps the immune system boost its reserves of “killer cells,” those naturally-occurring cells that seek out and destroy cancer cells and germs. The body also needs Vitamin E to produce the immune system antibodies that destroy bacteria. Studies are ongoing to determine whether the boost that Vitamin E gives the immune system can also help slow or even reverse the aging process. Nuts, seeds and grains are rich sources of Vitamin E and so are vegetable, corn, sunflower, canola, soybean, olive and palm oils.

The mineral Zinc is also very beneficial to your body’s immune system. Zinc ramps up the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and T-cells, and the system’s natural killer cells that help fight germs. Besides helping to increase production, Zinc enhances the fighting capabilities of these cells. Oysters are one of the best sources of zinc.

Carotenoids, bioflavonoids, garlic, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids are some other nutrients that help boost the effectiveness of your immune system. And so is the herbal supplement Immunitril™. This revolutionary complex is a unique combination of herbs, extracts, minerals, and anti-oxidant vitamins providing maximum support for immune system function. To see how others express their experience using Immunitril™ search for Immunitril™ at Amazon.com and the Fitness and Beauty Site.

Once you learn more about the many ways these nutrients positively impact your immune system, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start eating better a long time ago!

Disclaimer: This article is for information only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a health care professional before taking health or food supplements.

Exercise Gives your Immune System a Boost!

By the Vteam, Kamau Austin Publisher

Sounds like the latest tabloid headline, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It’s the truth and it’s just one more reason why you need to find time to work a bit of exercise into your daily routine. Read along to learn more about the benefits of exercise on your immune system.

Why should I care about boosting my immune system?

Whenever you have a cold or the flu, or whenever you cut yourself, your body’s immune system immediately kicks into high gear. The immune system is a fairly complex system of organs and cells spread throughout your body. It’s the system that’s responsible for identifying and for fighting off foreign invaders such as bacteria, parasites and fungi. Without an immune system, your body would have little chance of remaining healthy. When your immune system becomes compromised, diseases like cancer and AIDS can take over.

No matter how old you are, you’ve probably heard that it’s important to exercise regularly. You understand that exercise is neccessary for maintaining proper weight. You might even understand that exercise is an excellent way to help reduce your stress levels. But one thing you might not realize about exercise is that it also plays a role in keeping your immune system healthy.

How exercise helps your immune system

Exactly how exercise keeps your immune system strong and healthy is an area that is beginning to be studied in earnest. Scientists have known for years that exercise helps strengthen the immune system; they just haven’t been able to figure out exactly how it does so.

Exercise helps lift your mood, relieves anxiety and depression, and promotes sociability, so one area that’s being studied is a potential connection between the central nervous system and the immune system.

Another area of study is focused on the effects of exercise on individuals with already compromised immune systems. One such study involved women undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. Results of this study suggested that women who became involved in moderate exercise a few times each week after completing breast cancer treatment actually were able to bring their immune cell counts back up to “normal” levels. Their immune systems also made more lymphocytes (white blood cells) and had lower levels of inflammatory markers.

More is Not Better!

Contrary to what you might think, exercising longer and more strenuously won’t make your immune system better and stronger. What is most effective when it comes to giving your immune system a boost is moderate exercise such as walking, swimming or bicycling performed 3 or 4 times per week. Believe it or not, more exercise than this can actually cause the immune system to weaken. How could this be?

The reason really isn’t that complicated. When people exercise strenuously, their bodies begin to release cortisol and adrenaline. If you don’t know what cortisol and adrenaline are, well they’re more commonly referred to as the “stress” hormones. The release of these two hormones can cause an increase in your blood pressure and an increase in cholesterol. And just as dangerous, they can cause the immune system to become suppressed. Their release is the reason why individuals who participate in endurance or extreme exercise are more susceptible to infection.

Exercise can combat the effects of age

Besides foreign invaders and excessive exercise, the aging process can also cause your immune system to become compromised. A compromised immune system later in life can bring on the symptoms of several age-related diseases including macular degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have also shown that a physically active lifestyle all throughout life can help prevent age-related declines in certain antibodies that are produced by the immune system. And once again, the type of exercise does not matter.

In addition to incorporating exercise into your daily routine, take a look at Immunitril™. It’s an herbal supplement that may also help give your immune system a boost. You won’t find Immunitril™ in your grocery store, though. Right now it’s only available at select e-tailers and online stores like Amazon.com and the Fit Weight loss BODeStore . If you’d like more information, simply visit Amazon.com and search for Immunitril™.

Disclaimer: This article is for information only. It is not medical advice. Always consult with a health care professional before undertaking an exercise regime or taking health or food supplements.