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Beating Colds and Flu Naturally

By Dr. Ben Kim

Giving your body plenty of rest while allowing a cold or flu to run its course is good for your health, and it's a good thing to remember the next time that you experience a cold or the flu.

Pharmaceutical industry and conventional medicine would have you believe that there is no "cure" for the common cold. We are told to protect yourself against the flu with a vaccine that is laden with toxic chemicals, and that during the midst of a cold or flu, it is favorable to ease your discomfort with a variety of medications that can suppress your symptoms.

Unfortunately, all three of these positions represent a lack of understanding of what colds and flus really are, and what they mean to your body.

Colds and flus are caused by viruses. So to understand what colds and flus do at a cellular level, you have to understand what viruses do at a cellular level.

First, do you remember learning about cellular division in grade seven science class? Each of your cells are called parent cells, and through processes of genetic duplication (mitosis) and cellular division (cytokinesis), each of your parent cells divides into two daughter cells. Each daughter cell is then considered a parent cell that will divide into two more daughter cells, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Viruses are different from your cells in that they cannot duplicate themselves through mitosis and cytokinesis. Viruses are nothing but microscopic particles of genetic material, each coated by a thin layer of protein.

Due to their design, viruses are not able to reproduce on their own. The only way that viruses can flourish in your body is by using the machinery and metabolism of your cells to produce multiple copies of themselves.

Once a virus has gained access to one of your cells, depending on the type of virus involved, one of two things can happen:

1. The virus uses your cell's resources to replicate itself many times over and then breaks open (lyses) the cell so that the newly replicated viruses can leave in search of new cells to infect. Lysis effectively kills your cell.
2. The virus incorporates itself into the DNA of your cell, which allows the virus to be passed on to each daughter cell that stems from this cell. Later on, the virus in each daughter cell can begin replicating itself as described above. Once multiple copies of the virus have been produced, the cell is lysed.

Both possibilities lead to the same result: eventually, the infected cell can die due to lysis.

Here is the key to understanding why colds and flus, when allowed to run their course while you rest, can be good for you:

By and large, the viruses that cause the common cold and the flu infect mainly your weakest cells; cells that are already burdened with excessive waste products and toxins are most likely to allow viruses to infect them. These are cells that you want to get rid of anyway, to be replaced by new, healthy cells.

So in the big scheme of things, a cold or flu is a truly natural tool that can allow your body to purge itself of old and damaged cells that, in the absence of viral infection, would normally take much longer to identify, destroy, and eliminate.

Have you ever been amazed by how much "stuff" you could blow out of your nose while you had a cold or the flu? Embedded within all of that mucous are countless dead cells that your body is saying good bye to, largely due to the lytic effect of viruses.

So you see, there never needs to be a cure for the common cold, since the common cold is nature's way of keeping you healthy over the long term. And so long as you get plenty of rest and strive to stay hydrated and properly nourished during a cold or flu, there is no need to get vaccinated or to take medications that suppress congested sinuses, a fever, or coughing. All of these uncomfortable symptoms are actually ways in which your body works to eliminate waste products and/or help your body get through a cold or flu. It's fine to use over-the-counter pain medication like acetaminophen if your discomfort becomes intolerable or if such meds can help you get a good night's rest. But it's best to avoid medications that aim to suppress helpful processes such as fever, coughing, and a runny nose.

It's important to note that just because colds and flus can be helpful to your body doesn't mean that you need to experience them to be at your best. If you take good care of your health and immune system by getting plenty of rest and consistently making health-promoting dietary and lifestyle choices, your cells may stay strong enough to avoid getting infected by viruses that come knocking on their membranes. In this scenario, you won't have enough weak and extraneous cells to require a cold or the flu to work its way through your body to identify and lyse them.

Curious about how to differentiate the common cold and the flu?

Here is an excellent summary of the differences from Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

A cold usually comes on gradually — over the course of a day or two. Generally, it leaves you feeling tired, sneezing, coughing and plagued by a running nose. You often don't have a fever, but when you do, it's only slightly higher than normal. Colds usually last three to four days, but can hang around for 10 days to two weeks.

Flu, on the other hand, comes on suddenly and hits hard. You will feel weak and tired and you could run a fever as high as 40 C. Your muscles and joints will probably ache, you will feel chilled and could have a severe headache and sore throat. Getting off the couch or out of bed will be a chore. The fever may last three to five days, but you could feel weak and tired for two to three weeks.

One Final Note on Colds and Flu

Because the common cold and the flu are both causes by viruses, antibiotics are not necessary. People who take antibiotics while suffering with a cold or flu often feel slightly better because antibiotics have a mild anti-inflammatory effect. But this benefit is far outweighed by the negative impact that antibiotics have on friendly bacteria that live throughout your digestive tract. In this light, if you really need help with pain management during a cold or flu, it is usually better to take a small dose of acetaminophen than it is to take antibiotics.

Please share this basic health information on colds and flus with family and friends; although it isn't readily available from the annals of conventional medicine, this information can save you and your loved ones significant time, money, and angst.

www.drbenkim.com

Dr. Kim studied at the University of Toronto before going on to earn his Doctor of Chiropractic degree at the National University of Health Sciences in Illinois. After graduating, he travelled to the arctic of Alaska where he worked at a chiropractic clinic for a group of Inuit villages. Following his time in Alaska, Dr. Kim completed a residential internship at the TrueNorth Health Center in northern California for certification in therapeutic fasting supervision by the International Association of Hygienic Physicians

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Contradicting Evidence: The Case For Echinacea

Echinacea has been the subject of many clinical studies. Some health experts admit the jury has yet to be decided for the effectiveness of echinacea as a immune enhancer. Here's the contradicting evidence for Echinacea's Effectiveness.

Elderberry extract safe and effective treatment for symptoms of influenza A and B virus infections.

J. Int Med Res. 2004 Mar-Apr;32(2):132-40, Department of Virology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.

Elderberry has been used in folk medicine for centuries to treat influenza, colds and sinusitis, and has been reported to have antiviral activity against influenza and herpes simplex. We investigated the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry syrup for treating influenza A and B infections. Sixty patients (aged 18-54 years) suffering from influenza-like symptoms for 48 h or less were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study during the influenza season of 1999-2000 in Norway. Patients received 15 ml of elderberry or placebo syrup four times a day for 5 days, and recorded their symptoms using a visual analogue scale. Symptoms were relieved on average 4 days earlier and use of rescue medication was significantly less in those receiving elderberry extract compared with placebo. Elderberry extract seems to offer an efficient, safe and cost-effective treatment for influenza. These findings need to be confirmed in a larger study.

Nature's Way Sambucol Black Elderberry Extract - 4 oz

Easy To Swallow Sambucol Black Elderberry Extract Developed by world renowned virologist Dr. Madeleine Mumcuoglu, Sambucol® Black Elderberry extract is a natural product manufactured in Israel. It is derived from the black elder tree, Sambucus Nigra L. It was Dr. Mumcuoglu that discovered the key active ingredient in elderberry, then patented a procedure for its correct standardization. Laboratory and clinically tested, Sambucol Black Elderberry extract has been used by millions of people with positive results being reported worldwide. No other elderberry product can make the same claim.

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Immune System
Nutritional Check List

Source: HealthNotes - Immune Function

Nutraceutical Research

A growing body of evidence shows how nutraceuticals may offer many advantages for the future of medicine.

• Carotenoids
• Colostrum
• Cranberry
• Elderberry Extract
• Fucoidans, Alginates, Laminarines
• Glyconutrients
• Lo Han Kuo
• Lotus Seed
• Polyphenols

Cold, Flu and Sinus Infection Facts:

More than 200 different viruses are known to cause the common cold.

While antibiotics kill disease-causing microbes, echinacea enhances the body’s own ability to fight off cold flu and sinus infections.

Echinacea is the most widely used herbal supplement in the United States.

Test Your Immune System

Does your immune system need a boost? This test by Dr. Linda Page is quick and easy.

Flu Shot Side Effects-
The United Press Investigation

By Mark Benjamin
Published 7/20/2003
The Vaccine Conflict


Influenza virus

Echinacea tea blend shortens duration of cold symptoms

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study of 95 people, treatment with an echinacea tea preparation (Echinacea Plus®, Traditional Medicinals) early in the course of a cold or flu was significantly more effective in relieving symptoms than a placebo tea. For the 90-day study, participants reported for assignment to one of two treatment groups at the first onset of cold and flu symptoms (scratchy throat, runny nose, fever, etc.). The subjects drank 5 to 6 cups a day of echinacea or placebo tea on the first day of symptoms, reducing the dosage to 1 cup per day for the next five days. Results were assessed with a questionnaire that measured symptom relief, duration of symptoms, and time before subjects noticed a difference in symptoms. The echinacea tea was significantly more effective than placebo in all parameters measured. No side effects were reported in either group. Echinacea Plus is a proprietary blend of E. purpurea and E. angustifolia leaves, flowers, and stems, a water soluble dry extract of E. purpurea root, and flavoring herbs. Eater's Digest® (Traditional Medicinals) was selected as the placebo tea because it was not expected to have a significant effect on cold or flu symptoms at the dosages used in this study. Among other herbs, Eater's Digest contains cinnamon, ginger, and peppermint. Lindenmuth GF, Lindenmuth EB.

The efficacy of echinacea compound herbal tea preparation on the severity and duration of upper respiratory and flu symptoms: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

This article originally appeared in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 2000; 6(4): 327-334.

Nasal irrigation is effective in improving symptoms and the health status of patients with sinus infections.

Clinical study and literature review of nasal irrigation. School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, USA.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS: Nasal disease, including chronic rhinosinusitis and allergic rhinitis, is a significant source of morbidity. Nasal irrigation has been used as an adjunctive treatment of sinonasal disease. However, despite an abundance of anecdotal reports, there has been little statistical evidence to support its efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of the use of pulsatile hypertonic saline nasal irrigation in the treatment of sinonasal disease. Study DESIGN: A prospective controlled clinical study. METHODS: Two hundred eleven patients from the University of California, San Diego (San Diego, CA) Nasal Dysfunction Clinic with sinonasal disease (including allergic rhinitis, aging rhinitis, atrophic rhinitis, and postnasal drip) and 20 disease-free control subjects were enrolled. Patients irrigated their nasal cavities using hypertonic saline delivered by a Water Pik device using a commercially available nasal adapter twice daily for 3 to 6 weeks. Patients rated nasal disease-specific symptoms and completed a self-administered quality of well-being questionnaire before intervention and at follow-up. RESULTS: Patients who used nasal irrigation for the treatment of sinonasal disease experienced statistically significant improvements in 23 of the 30 nasal symptoms queried. Improvement was also measured in the global assessment of health status using the Quality of Well-Being scale. CONCLUSIONS: Nasal irrigation is effective in improving symptoms and the health status of patients with sinonasal disease.