by Joilene Rasmussen

Created on: September 12, 2008   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

On Guard: How to Send the Flu Fleeing

You don't have to forfeit your time and health to the flu this year. Here are three areas of your life you can take charge of, to stop illness in its tracks.

First, consider your hygiene and habits. Preventing an illness is certainly easier than curing it, so be aware of handling objects or touching surfaces that sick people may have contaminated. Use your elbow to push open doors, or use a tissue to touch handles. Wash your hands often while in "enemy territory", and avoid touching your nose and mouth.

Next, be on the defensive by using foods that boost your immune system, and purify your blood and liver.

Here are several favorites:

* Garlic, especially raw. If this is too much of a challenge to your love life, steeping a minced clove in hot water, then adding a little honey, is a good second.

* Chiles and other spicy peppers, added to recipes or sprinkled atop pre-made foods.

* The "nuts" out of fruit pits, such as peaches and apricots (use a hammer to crack the outer layer of the pits)

* Flax oil, homemade. To 1 cups boiling water, add 1-2 tablespoons flax seeds, and boil 8 minutes. This mixture, drunk or added to recipes, helps dissolve phlegm, and may directly attack viruses.

* Milk-and-black-pepper drink. To one cup hot milk (do not use a microwave to heat it!), add 1 teaspoon ground black pepper. Drink while warm.

* Whisky-and-black-pepper drink. To one shot whisky, add 1 teaspoon or more of ground black pepper. Stir and drink. This purifies the blood, and boots immunity. Caution: Do not use if pregnant or nursing, as no amount of alcohol is considered safe for babies.

* The old stand-bys, vitamin C and the herb Echinacea. Taken at the first signs of illness, these can often change the course of your health, putting you back on track within hours.

Third, strengthen your calm and allow your spirit to become stronger. To de-stress, you might try:

* Walking in nature, or a nearby park Look up and ahead of you as you walk.

* Listening to rejuvenating music, or read or watch something that makes you feel contented. At the least, avoid reading or watching things that don't bring you calm.

* Making focused love with a totally devoted honey.

* Forgiving grudges. Even medical science is beginning to acknowledge the detrimental effects of unforgiveness. Some studies say it can literally eat holes in your brain and nerve connections. So not only will truly forgiving make you feel freer, it will allow your body and spirit to meet challenges in a more advanced, prepared way.

* Watching your words. You get what you say, quite literallyeven the things that "pop out" or that you "don't mean." So don't talk about being sick talk about being well!

And if nothing else works, just say "No" to the flu. It just might turn coward and run, taking its simptoms with it.

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