The flu season is upon us. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), flu activity often peaks between January and February, but can occur as late as May.Be forewarned: the flu can strike no matter what time of the month it is.
Fortunately, it’s not difficult to dodge the dreaded flu virus. You don’t even need to get a CDC-recommended seasonal flu vaccine. The flu shot is a witch’s brew of toxic ingredients including mercury, aluminum, anti-freeze, phenol, squalene, and other dangerous chemicals.
Dr. Joseph Mercola emphasizes that you can greatly lower your risk of coming down with a cold, flu, or other illness by modifying your daily lifestyle habits. Dr. Mercola has not missed a day of work due to illness in over 30 years — without getting a single flu shot.
Dr. Mercola’s shares his top five secrets to avoid getting sick:
1. Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels
Vitamin D influences many different tissues and affects a large number of different diseases because it regulates about 3,000 genes in your body.
Vitamin D helps upregulate your ability to fight infections, including the flu. At least five studies show that higher vitamin D levels lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections, Dr. Mercola points out.
Visit vitamind.mercola.com to find out about vitamin D supplementation, age-appropriate dosage, and other important information about the “sunshine nutrient.”
2. Optimize Your Insulin and Leptin Levels
Consuming grains and sugars increases your insulin and leptin levels, which contribute to premature aging and makes you more prone to disease.
Dr. Mercola’s nutrition plan (Nutritional Typing) is based on natural whole foods and is geared toward optimizing your insulin and leptin levels. He believes that eliminating or drastically reducing grain and sugar consumption — while focusing on the foods that are right for your unique biochemistry — helps greatly increase your chances of living a longer, healthier life.
3. Exercise Regularly
Exercise improves the circulation of immune cells in your blood. The better these cells circulate, the more efficiently your immune system can find and fight attacks from viruses and diseases.
Studies show that regular exercise can help dramatically reduce your risk of acquiring an upper respiratory infection. In one study, those who stayed active lowered their risk of having a cold by 50 percent. Those who caught a cold lowered the severity of symptoms by 31 percent.
Dr. Mercola believes that exercise should be properly prescribed, monitored, and maintained for you to enjoy maximum benefits. He recommends having a varied routine composed of interval training, conventional aerobics, strength training, core exercises, and stretching.
4. Eat Most of Your Food Raw
Americans’ fondness for processed food contributes to the epidemic of chronic and degenerative diseases, including numerous cases of colds and flu.
Consuming food in its natural state – whole, unprocessed, and uncooked – provides your body with optimal nutrition. Vital elements such as enzymes, oxygen, hormones, phytonutrients, and bioelectric energy are kept intact this way.
Dr. Mercola personally tries to eat about 80 percent of his food raw, including eggs and organic, naturally raised meats.
5. Practice Stress Management
Having treated many patients with serious chronic illnesses, Dr. Mercola found that previous emotional stress may contribute to physical problems. The trauma can often be traced back to childhood. But it doesn’t take serious trauma to cause negative changes. Emotional setbacks that you experience daily can have a detrimental impact on your future health, he points out.
Emotional stress can increase your risk of an infection and worsen cold symptoms.
Managing daily stress — as well as your reactions to circumstances beyond your control — will help boost your immune system. Dr. Mercola recommends the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) to help balance your body’s subtle energies and repair emotional “short-circuits.”
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