Six Ways to Avoid Getting Sick
by www.SixWise.com
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Just because it’s flu season doesn’t mean you and your family have to get sick!
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A stuffy nose, sinus pressure, chills and sweats, aches and pains … nobody likes getting sick, but as we head into winter in the United States it’s prime time for colds, flu and other nasty viruses to go around.
Is there anything you can do to help stave off germs and stay healthy all winter long?
Fortunately, yes. The tips that follow will help you to avoid getting sick so you can enjoy the holiday season and the New Year feeling at the top of your game!
1. Drink Plenty of Fresh, Pure Water
Water is crucial for survival -- it's the base of all your body fluids, like blood and digestive juices, it helps nutrients from your food get absorbed and be transported, and it helps eliminate waste. Even becoming mildly dehydrated (when you lose as little as 1 percent to 2 percent of your body weight) can seriously impact your body's ability to function.
If you're thirsty now, you're already mildly dehydrated. That's because, contrary to popular belief, thirst is not a reliable indicator of proper hydration. Ideally, you should drink enough water so that you don't become thirsty, not wait until you're feeling parched and then drink enough water to quench your thirst.
A word of caution: not all water is good for you. Tap water can be potentially contaminated with chemicals, pesticides or even pharmaceutical drugs. And bottled water, which is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has weaker regulations than the Environmental Protection Agency requires for tap water.
Plus, the bottles themselves often contain bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical that mimics the female hormone estrogen, impacting fertility, reproductive health and potentially promoting cancer, heart disease, diabetes and liver problems.
To put your mind at ease and get safe, superior quality water that will promote your health rather than harm it, Sixwise.com highly recommends The Wellness Kitchen Water Filter. It reduces chlorine, chloramines, cysts, VOCs, pesticides, and herbicides below detectable levels for the life of the filter.
The Wellness Kitchen combines the best filtration and enhancement technologies to deliver the purest and most natural tasting water available. It effectively reduces harmful contaminants, while at the same time enhancing the water with adding important yet delicate wellness "ions and minerals" that your body needs to stay healthy.
2. Eat Healthy, Fresh Foods
A healthy diet can play a role in your immune system’s ability to fight of illness.
"Nutrition plays an important part in maintaining immune function," explains George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D., associate director of the division of nutrition at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, on CNN.com. "Insufficiency in one or more essential nutrients may prevent the immune system from functioning at its peak."
A balanced diet is key, focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy protein sources like lean meat, seafood, eggs and beans, and good fats, including omega-3 and monounsaturated like olive oil.
Flavonoids, a type of antioxidant that's especially concentrated in fruits and vegetables, may also boost your immune system, so be sure you’re eating plenty of these.
Want to boost the flavonoids in your diet? Eat more raw food. Alive in 5: Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes has all the simple, and great-tasting, recipes you need.
3. Maximize Your Nutrient Absorption and Immune System Health With a Digestive Enzyme
Digestive enzymes are what allow your food to be broken down, and the nutrients absorbed by your bloodstream, however if you eat a mostly processed, cooked food diet you may be lacking in these crucial catalysts to nutrient absorption.
So if your diet consists primarily of cooked foods it’s important to take an enzyme supplement. There are numerous enzyme supplements available on the market to help increase your levels, but Sixiwse.com highly recommends the plant-based, acid-resistant digestive enzyme formulation, AbsorbAid Platinum from Nature’s Sources.
This vegetable-based digestive enzyme system combines its effective ratio of proteases, amylases, lipases and cellulases with two "acid-tolerant" bacteria or a probiotic combination, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum.
This product addresses not only the digestive enzyme system deficiencies recognized in most adults, but it combines two effectively beneficial bacterial strains that are metabolically complementary and help create a symbiosis with the digestive enzyme system complex and helps promote immune system excellence.
Remember that your digestive enzyme production drops with age; it also declines greatly during times of stress such as when you are too cold, too warm, too tired, ill, recovering from injuries, or suffering from life’s pressures physically, mentally or emotionally, making a high-quality digestive enzyme important for nearly everyone!
4. Optimize Your Levels of Good Bacteria With Probiotics
New research published in the journal Pediatrics has shown that probiotics may be useful for preventing cold and flu viruses.
Your key defense against viruses like colds and flu is your immune system -- and 70 percent of your immune system is located in your digestive system. This means that if your gut is overrun with bad bacteria, there’s a good chance your immune system will not be functioning at its best.
"Introducing friendly bacteria into the digestive system improves how we absorb vitamins, nutrients and co-factors, so overall, immunity is boosted," Dr. Tasneem Bhatia, medical director of the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine, told ABC News.
In choosing a probiotic supplement for yourself, Sixwise.com highly recommends Nature’s Sources AbsorbAid Probiotic -- a superlative probiotic supplement that provides clinical activities supporting systemic health and wellness through immune-system protection, allergy reduction and effective and enhanced nutrient absorption.
AbsorbAid Probiotic has 30 billion organisms per capsule, with two clinically effective and dominant genera Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus: L. acidophilus and L. salivarius in a 2:1 ratio and B. lactis and B. breve, also in a 2:1 ratio. Each bacterial genus-species has its own specific metabolic activities, which lead to their effective inter-species synergism.
Further, this proprietary probiotic blend contains a strain that survives with or without oxygen, unlike others -- one that doubles its population every 20 minutes so you need less of it, and one that binds to the intestinal mucosa to help reduce pathogenic bacteria.
5. Cleanse Your Nasal Passages With Nasal Irrigation
Nasal cleansing, also known as nasal irrigation, involves using a neti pot to pour a lukewarm saline solution (pure water mixed with natural salt) inside one side of your nostril while tilting your head sideways so the water runs out of your other nostril.
It’s quick, easy and soothing (not painful in any way) as it opens up your sinuses as it softly flushes out much of any sinus congestion.
Dr. Mehmet Oz recommends regular use of a neti pot to flush your sinuses. He says:
“Regular use of a Neti pot can keep sinuses and passages clear.”
And according to Susan Smith Jones, PhD, in her article “The Healing Poser of Neti -- Nasal Cleansing”:
“Dr. Andrew Weil, among others, is a strong proponent of nasal cleansing on a regular basis. Research and articles have appeared in a number of professional journals such as the Academy of Otolaryngology. Also, research conducted at the Harvard Medical School shows that nasal cleansing can aid in various chronic and acute conditions, including allergic rhinitis and acute sinusitis.
Doctors and alternative health practitioners around the world recommend the regular practice of nasal cleansing using a saline solution as part of a regular regimen of health and well being.”
Nasal cleansing using a well-designed Neti pot can help you:
There are many Neti pots on the market, however Sixwise.com highly recommends Ancient Secrets Nasal Cleansing Pot. It is made from sturdy, lead-free ceramic and coated with a food-grade sealant. Its unique design also makes it very easy and effective to use, plus it’s dishwasher safe.
Ancient Secrets Neti pot has a truly advanced design with easy-grip handle and better nozzle seal. It’s also balanced for ease of use with a concave grip for more assured control, and a better water chamber for less mess and easier cleaning.
Ancient Secrets Neti Pot is also available in a plastic travel model crafted from sturdy food-grade HDPE lead-free plastic. We highly recommend using the ceramic Neti pot at home and taking the plastic version along with you when you travel.
Right now, for a very limited time, we’re able to offer Ancient Secrets Neti Pot and Cleansing Salts at a reduced price, just in time for the winter.
“Very Reduced Prices” -- Ancient Secrets Limited to Flu Season Offer:
(for your ease to compare prices, just click each: Bed Bath & Beyond link below)
6. Use Antimicrobial Hand Wipes to Keep Your Hands Germ-Free
Considering that Americans touch about 300 different surfaces every 30 minutes, it's pretty much impossible to avoid all germs. However, there are ways to dramatically reduce your risk of spreading, and getting sick from, these pesky invaders.
The best continuous alternative to soap and water (before and after you wash your hands) -- ideal for use when you can't get to a sink or have been washing your hands to the point they are getting dry and cracked -- are exclusive PerfectCLEAN Wipers: Terry Cloths and Super Silks.
PerfectCLEAN Wipers: Terry Cloths and Super Silks are made to meet the rigorous standards of the commercial health care market in support of infection control programs that are required in ultra-clean environments.
They are capable of "trapping and removing" 99.99% of bacteria from hard surfaces throughout your home, workplace and those surfaces you have to touch in daily life (doors and door knobs, grocery carts, countertops, etc.).
PerfectCLEAN Wipers: Terry Cloths and Super Silks penetrate invisible surfaces in your skin, then "trap and remove" contaminants, absorbing and concentrating them in the wipes.
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Hypoallergenic: great way to help reduce asthma and allergy triggers
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Absorbs 8 times its weight in water/fluid and absorbs it faster
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Patented Built in Antimicrobial PRODUCT protection: PerfectCLEAN Wipers are distinguished by patented ‘Built-in Antimicrobial Product protection'
Independent laboratories and Fortune 500 companies have rigorously tested their efficacy and proven through in-service validation that PerfectCLEAN Wipers offer unrivaled performance and quality. Independent testing demonstrates that PerfectCLEAN Wipers support Class 10 (and lower) commercial clean room classification.
PerfectCLEAN Wipers: Terry Cloths and Super Silks remove many pathogens in their path ... that is because at an astonishing 4-6 microns (bacteria range from 2 – 8 microns) the "polyester-polyamide conjugated filament" are even smaller than most bacteria.
The microscopic size combined with the high percentage of fiber used dramatically increases the surface area of the Hand Wipes (each 12" cleaning hand wipe cloth contains over 300 miles of actual cleaning surface!).
Unlike ordinary cleaning rags that simply push dirt around, PerfectClean's revolutionary ultramicrofiber construction enables them to reach deep into microscopic crevices (NO other cleaning tool available even comes close!) and remove everything in their path, including biological contaminants too small to see with the naked eye. Even better, the terry cloths are ideal to carry with you, and can be used without cleaning agents or even water, and are still incredibly effective.
In fact, we recommend carrying PerfectCLEAN Wipers in your pocket and wiping your hand discreetly any time you shake hands or touch a public surface (especially door knobs, shopping cart handles, light switches and other heavily contaminated but rarely cleaned surfaces). You can also use them to wipe done public surfaces, such as shopping cart handles or hotel room remote controls. Because germs are also easily spread around schools, we recommend you tuck one in your child's backpack and teach him or her to wipe his hands regularly throughout the day.
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Place in your pocket or purse. Wipe and rub your hands and fingers thoroughly after you come into contact with people through handshakes or when you touch surfaces that others have touched.
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Clean surfaces using antimicrobial hand wipes: from your car steering wheel and doorknobs, to all the various surfaces throughout your home and office.
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Use these wipes to clean anywhere others touch: on your desktop, telephone, keyboard, door knobs & door frames, chair-arms/back, mirror surfaces, file cabinets, other office furniture and other large surfaces. Can be used dry or lightly dampened.
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Wipe frequently touched areas once per day, as we do more frequently during flu season or anytime others visit your office and/or use your office equipment.
PerfectCLEAN Wipers: Terry Cloths and Super Silks are a simple way to remove germs from your hands and other objects you and your family are likely to touch, and will go a long way toward keeping you well all winter long!
Recommended Reading
How to Keep Your Asthma Under Control This Flu Season
Want to Improve Your Immune System? Then Here's What You Need to Know about Flavonoids
Sources
CNN.com November 14, 2007
Pediatrics Vol. 124 No. 2 August 2009, pp. e172-e179
ABC News July 27, 2009
FreedomPressOnline.com Nasal Washing -- The Cure for Sinusitis?
FreedomPressOnline.com The Healing Power of Neti