Staying Healthy During Cold & Flu Season:
Your Naturopathic Doctor Can Help
As winter is upon us, so too are common cold and flu viruses. A Naturopathic Doctor can help you support your immune system to ward off illness during the cold and flu season with a natural approach to health. A strong immune system not only reduces the risk of getting sick, but can also reduce the severity of colds or the flu if you do catch a bug. And if you do get sick your Naturopathic Doctor can help you to feel better sooner.
Naturopathic Doctors are highly trained and provincially regulated primary health care providers. Visits to Naturopathic Doctors are covered by most workplace benefit plans. Even if you have a family doctor, your Naturopathic Doctor can complement their care with naturopathic treatment options.
Supporting your immune system
The human body has a natural ability to respond to viruses that attack during the cold and flu season. These defense mechanisms can sometimes be weakened and require additional support to effectively respond when you are exposed to viruses. Your Naturopathic Doctor can work with you to assess the current status of your health, help you prepare for flu season, and support your immune system using advanced natural therapies.
You can do simple things to help your body avoid the flu or other viruses. Here are some basics:
Be an early bird
Book a prevention appointment with your Naturopathic Doctor to prepare for flu season. Your Naturopathic Doctor can advise you what to keep on hand and how to use alternatives to pharmaceuticals to stimulate and support your immune system.
You are what you eat
Food is fuel for your body and all its work. Eating a diet high in essential fats, complex carbohydrates, and plenty of fruits and vegetables is important to a strong immune system. Avoid processed or sugary foods in particular.
Hands off
Washing your hands regularly and thoroughly is one of the simplest ways to keep germs at bay. Avoid touching your face since germs often enter the body through the nose, eyes and mouth.
Keeping the barrier intact
Mucous membranes (such as the lining of your nose) must be moist to act as an effective barrier to bacteria and viruses. Using a humidifier in your home or office, or even taking a hot shower helps to keep membranes moist.
Both feet on the ground
We all lead busy and stressful lives, and while it’s not possible to avoid all stress, it is important to find a way to achieve balance and reduce stress. Get a full night’s sleep, have an outlet for stress, and make your health and happiness a priority.
If you do start to feel sick
Take action as soon as you start to feel the first signs of getting sick. Viruses like the flu don’t respond to antibiotics, but there are anti-viral therapies your Naturopathic Doctor can offer you to prevent or lessen the severity of illness. These therapies help to focus your body’s energy on defense and healing so you can feel better sooner.
Naturopathic Doctors can offer a variety of therapies that will help you to fight off viral infections. Being experts in natural medicines, like botanicals and homeopathics, NDs are able to provide you with advice on effective natural treatments you can use at home to help you recover quicker and strengthen your natural defences. For more serious cases of viral infections, many Naturopathic Doctors can offer more advanced treatments in their clinics for those sick and not improving, including injection and inhalation therapies using all-natural substances with scientific research demonstrating their ability to fight viral infections and to stimulate the immune system. While there are many natural products out there that can help you, only a Naturopathic Doctor can provide you with expert advice on what works and is best for you personally.
Some other basics to keep in mind are:
Less and light
Eating lighter and nutrient-rich meals helps your body use its energy to fight the virus rather than on digestion. Avoid sugar because it lowers your immune system and dairy products because they increase mucous production.
Drink up
Water is a part of every bodily process. Keep well-hydrated while limiting dehydrating fluids like alcohol and coffee.
Sleep it off
Your body is working overtime when fighting a virus. Plenty of good rest is essential as your body is able to focus energy on defense mechanisms while you sleep. Consider taking a “preventative” day off work if you do start to feel sick— you’ll be able to fight the bug in its early stages rather than when it’s already taken hold.
The road less travelled
Although no one likes to be sick, there is one perk: once your body fights off a virus it creates natural anti-bodies to it so that you won’t suffer from the same virus again. While this doesn’t mean you will avoid illness entirely, it does mean you are better equipped to keep healthy in the future.
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