How can I prevent colds and flu?

A healthy immune system may prevent a cold or the flu. Keep your resistance up by using these preventive measures.

• Eat a well-balanced diet.
• Get enough sleep (at least 7 to 8 hours per day).
• Incorporate daily exercise in your routine.
• Wash your hands often, especially if you are around people who have colds or the flu. 
• Keep your hands away from your nose, eyes, and mouth.
• Drink plenty of fluids.
• Stop smoking.
• Consider annual flu shots, especially if you are over 65 or have a chronic illness.
• Avoid contact, if possible, with people who are ill.

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Wash your hands. This sounds basic, but it is one of the most effective ways to prevent getting and spreading the viruses that knock us off our feet. You see, most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. When someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard or a doorknob, the germs can live there for some time. The next unsuspecting person picks them up. So wash your hands often and tell your children to do the same! If no sink is available, carry some hand sanitizing gel in your pocket book or briefcase.

Viruses can become airborne through respiratory droplets, so to protect those around you, use a tissue when you sneeze or cough. If you have to use your bare hands, be sure to wash your hands immediately to avoid passing germs along to others! We pick up cold and flu viruses through the membranes in our eyes, nose, and mouth. If you work in a busy office or are around children often, be sure to wash your hands frequently and avoid touching your eyes or nose with your bare hands. Using a spray, like Lysol, that has been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency to kill viruses and bacteria can greatly reduce the spread of common causes of the flu. Spray door handles, garbage cans and wipe counter tops.

In order to keep the body revved up to fight infection, it is crucial to keep your body moving! So, be sure to stick to your exercise regimen. Aerobic exercise like jogging, house cleaning, brisk walking and aerobic routines can really boost the body’s disease fighting abilities.

Our hands carry many disease-causing germs. They get there by the surfaces, items and people we come in contact with. Everything from holding hands, to using the restroom, to preparing food, to touching public door handles can transmit germs to our hands and the surface of our skin. This is especially true when someone gets sick with a cold or flu. Constantly coughing, sneezing and blowing your nose all contribute to putting those germs on our hands and potentially transferring those germs to someone or something else. For this reason, it is always important, but even more so when you are sick, to practice good hygiene techniques. These include sneezing or coughing into your sleeve or elbow rather than your hand.

Hand washing with soap and water for 30 seconds or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer can help cut back on the number of germs that we pass along. This includes after using a restroom, blowing your nose, preparing food or caring for someone who is sick or injured, just to name a few. Therefore, the single most important thing you can do to protect yourself and your family during cold and flu season is to practice good consistent hand washing!

Ferrum phos. is a natural remedy that can “nip it in the bud” for colds, flus and other common infectious conditions. You need to get the tissue salt or cell salt version of this mineral combo. Your local health food store may not have it but they can order it for you or you can get it online. The bottle will say Ferrum phosphoricum 6x (not 6c or 30c) and then you’ll know you have the right form.

This remedy has been used historically for people who feel a bit under the weather, feel susceptible, or feel like something might be coming on. Or for your kids – parents tend to know what their kids look like when they’re about to come down with something – your kids may be listless, low energy, without an appetite even for their favorite foods, uninterested even in their favorite games. They are not actually sick yet, except they may have a mild fever. If you can catch yourself or your child at this stage with Ferrum phos 6x, it may not develop into anything.

Once you have symptoms, though, it’s too late for Ferrum phos and you need to give a remedy appropriate for the symptoms.

Directions: two tablets dissolved in the mouth three times a day. The tablets taste like sugar, kids like taking them, and they dissolve easily.

For more information about Ferrum phos and how it’s used, kindly see my book, A Healer In Every Home.