The World Health Organization had raised the global alert level of the spreading of this swine flu to Phase 4 two days ago. An alert at this phase simply means that there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country.
I hope it won't ever reach the feared Phase 6 which is the pandemic phase, where the outbreaks will be seen in at least two regions in the world.
How Virus Reproduce taken from wormman.net
Although our Malaysian Government had taken steps to prevent the virus from entering the country, can we be sure that we will be safe from the virus? I really don't think so.
Even the use of the thermal scanners does not guarantee that visitors to the country are free from the virus. A person who has just been infected with the swine flu virus will not show any symptom yet. Therefore, he or she will have no problem getting past the thermal scanners or any other methods of screening at the airport.
It's just like doing the HIV or AIDS Test. If your partner or someone you plan to marry did a HIV Test and came back with a negative result, does that conclude he or she is 100 percent free from the HIV virus? Of course not!
If he or she got infected with the HIV virus during the 3 months before he or she took the test, it won't show up in the test result! That's because once you are infected with the HIV virus, your body would take anywhere between 3 weeks and 3 months to produce enough antibodies to be detected in the test. During this HIV window period, he or she would not have not have any symptoms at all but could still transmit the virus to others!
I believe the same goes for the swine flu virus or any normal flu virus. Once a person gets infected, he or she is able to transmit the virus even though there is no visible symptoms. In other words, the possibility of an infected person entering the country successfully despite all the screenings and checks and spreading the virus to Malaysians is there!
So what is the best way to prevent being infected with the swine flu virus?
In my opinion, I believe the best way is to rely on our God given immune system. When we have a strong and active immune system, we will be able to fight any kind of viruses and pathogens.
I would like to share with you 10 factors that can lower and weaken our immune system. It's from my years of reading and learning about health and getting involved in the alternative health industry.
1. Stress
Stress of any kind will dampen the immune system, especially prolonged stress.
2. Lack of sleep
Our immune system is strongest during sleep, so a lack of sleep will be detrimental to the immune system and make us susceptible to the swine flu virus. Now you know why we need to sleep when we are sick? That's because it's the best way for our body to fight the sickness!
3. Lack of exercise
Regular moderate exercise has been proven to strengthen our immune system.
4. Over-exercise
If lack of exercise weakens our immune system, so does over-exercise! Intensive exercises that make you go out of breath for prolong periods are not healthy. I'm sure you would have noticed that world class athletes may look fit, but they get sick easily due to over-exercise!
5. A diet high in fat and cholesterol
High cholesterol slows down the macrophage, one of our white blood cells. Our white blood cells are responsible for defending us against virus invasion. High saturated fat causes our T cells, another one of our white blood cells, to be slow in recognizing invaders or abnormal cells in our body.
6. A diet high in sugar
Sugar is known to depress the immune system. Especially processed white sugar. The immune depression effect of sugar starts less than 30 minutes after ingestion and can last up to 5 hours!
7. Smoking
Smoking slows down the speed of B cells, which affect the production of antibodies. Smoking also destroys Vitamin C, which helps to strengthen the immune system in our body. Do you know that 1 cigarette destroys 25mg of Vitamin C?
8. Excessive alcohol consumption
Alcohol is a known immune suppressant. High doses of alcohol suppress the ability of the white blood cells to multiply! Do not have more than 2 drinks daily. (One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1 ounce of hard liquor).
9. Drugs and medication
This may be surprising to some, but it is a fact that some drugs lower your immune system. A good example is statins, the cholesterol lowering drug. That is why, it is best not to take any drugs unless absolutely necessary and unless prescribed by the doctor.
10. Unstable emotion
This must be the most surprising of all! Most people do not know this, but nervousness, anger, and even sudden feeling of happiness can throw your immune system into turmoil! So make sure you stabilise your emotion at all times!
This is not the swine flu virus but the dreaded avian flu virus (taken from dreamstime.com)
Now that we know the 10 factors that can weaken our immune system, let me share with you my 10 ways to strengthen our immune system and keep it healthy! This is especially important to fight off the swine flu virus!
1. Avoid stress
This is definitely easier said than done. Ways to get rid of stress include exercising, practising yoga, doing relaxation exercises, watching sitcoms on TV and having a good chat with a good friend.
2. Have sufficient sleep
I would say at least 8 hours of good quality sleep every night is a must for a healthy immune system! Even more important if you want to avoid the swine flu virus!
3. Exercise
The absolute minimum is 20 minutes, 3 times weekly. But do not over-exercise or else you will have the opposite effect! Also try to exercise regularly in the parks or places with trees and grass so that you can benefit from the negative ions and also from the phytoncides that help to elevate the immune system.
4. Eat loads of fruits and vegetables and eat less cooked meat
Fruits and vegetables are devoid of cholesterol and high saturated fat, both responsible for lowering the immune system. Also, they contain high fibre. Take more raw food, and fruits. They are natural immune boosters! Cooked meat and processed or refined foods are known as "dead food" devoid of any living energy that is found in raw food. Thus they should be avoided as much as possible.
5. Avoid food high in sugar
This means cakes, cookies, donuts, ice cream, Coke and any kinds of sweet desserts!
6. Do not smoke
This is like a no brainer that needs no explanation.
7. Drink moderately
Red wine contains antioxidants and is good for raising our HDL, or good cholesterol. But over consumption will see the reverse effect! So drink moderately, never going beyond 2 drinks daily. (Read definition of 1 drink above)
8. Avoid drugs or medication
Avoid drugs of any kind unless absolutely necessary or unless prescribed by the doctor.
9. Avoid fluctuating emotions
Keep your emotion stable and your body will thank you for it!
10. Take nutritional and health supplements
I don't know about you but I believe in health supplements. Good quality health supplements are essential to our body. That's because we just don't get enough quality nutrition from our daily food especially if we eat out all the time! And coupled with our daily stress and the toxic environment, it is even more important we give our bodies the essential nutrition to combat any kind of disease.
Although there are many nutritional and health supplements in the market, I go for high quality ones. I highly recommend any of the following...
USANA Multivitamins and Minerals
USANA Omega 3 fish oil
SHUANG HOR ganoderma (lingzhi)
SHUANG HOR bee pollen
I consume these 4 products on a regular basis and I can tell you the effect is great!
Of course, the best way to avoid being infected with the swine flu virus is not to visit the countries which are experiencing the outbreak. And to always wash our hands and not touch our eyes and nose as this is the easiest way to get the virus!
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