Of course, there's the flu shot that's readily available in drug stores, as well as your doctor's office. But to naturally protect yourself from colds and flu, take 200 mg. of North American Ginseng daily for a few months. Another natural protector is taking 2000 IU of Vitamin D daily. Both of these have been shown in studies to be very effective against viruses.
Another problem with the holiday's can be stress and cold weather...putting you at risk for heart problems. Christmas day, followed by New Year's Day are the 2 days of the year with the highest number of heart attacks. Stress are high factors in this, but did you know that cold temperatures are also a risk? Just 2 degrees drop in the temperature causes 200 more heart attacks in a day. Lower temperatures cause blood to thicken and flow slower through your body, putting you at a much higher risk of a heart attack and a stroke.
To protect your heart during these stressful days, fill a shot glass half full of pure cranberry juice, then fill it the other half full with pure flaxseed oil, and add 4 drops of stevia extract and drink it first thing in the morning upon waking up. This will relax your blood vessels and stay with you all day.
Also, eating about 10 sprigs of fresh parsley with your meals will help protect your heart from damage that too much salt may cause.
And while we love this time of the year, we tend to rush around shopping, and baking and so busy we stress ourselves out. To ease the stress of the season, try 100 mg. daily of Phosphatidlyserine supplement taken 2 to 3 times daily. It's available in health food stores and online for $20. This helps produce a lot of dopamine (which is a "feel good" hormone) and will calm you down and ease stress.
Another stress reliever is Jujube supplement which comes from a Chinese fruit and will lower your blood pressure and your cortisol levels and will give you a good, sound night's sleep. Start with 250 mg. an hour before bed and it's available for about $7 in health food stores and online.
Theanine is an amino acid that's found in green tea and black tea and promotes mental relaxation, decreasese stress, and raises dopamine and seratonin and gaba ("feel good" neurotransmitters in your brain). It reduces anxiety and should be taken 200 mg. daily and it costs about $12 a bottle.
Another problem during the holidays is the problem of food poisoning through bacteria in food. More cases of food poisoning happen this time of year than any other. We tend to make great quantities of food to share with others, and we don't know how long the food has been left out, or what temperature it is. It's important to cook foods to the correct temperature - use food thermometers in your meats. Also, pick up a few packs of "T-sticks" (or click here to order them) which are tiny disposable thermometers you can stick in your foods while they're sitting out to make sure they stay at correct temperatures. Make sure poultry is kept at 165 degrees and other meats at 145 degrees.
Also, it's best to put leftovers away properly...be careful not to pack too much in a container. If you're packing away something that's been hot to store in a tupperware container in your refrigerator, be sure to leave enough space around it to allow it to cool down all the way, or let it cool completely before storing it in the container. Otherwise, the middle of the food will remain hot and begin to form bacteria in it.
Hope these few tips help your holidays to be fun filled and incident free!
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!
Thea
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading my blog! Comments are welcomed and appreciated!...