Beating Colds and Flus.... BEFORE They Get You!

The contents of this post are not to be considered as medical advice. Always consult a qualified health care professional before trying health maintenance methods that are new to you.

It's not over yet, and I just found out the hard way...

Cold and flu season... those nasty little devils that can sneak up on you and make your life miserable.  

While the season has been on for several months here in the northern hemisphere, we're at a particularly difficult time right now as the ambient temperature starts to fluctuate above and below the two critical numbers - the freezing point (0C/32F) and the "comfort point" (20C/68F).  

This happened here just last week - last Friday was a balmy, spring-like 10C and the next day the mercury fell 10 degrees below freezing.  That was when my wife's virus, the one she had had all week, decided I'd finally be an easier target.  You see, it's around these temperatures that the human immune system has the hardest time.


So here are some thoughts on prevention - yes, if you throw this heavy artillery against an oncoming virus in time, chances are you'll fight off the worst of it.

From Indian Ayurvedic medicine:

First, when you feel something coming on, do what animals do in the wild and stop eating!  Or at least eat much lighter.  This allows your body to devote more resources to killing the invaders.  


Then make yourself a thermo-nuclear beverage.  You can use chicken or vegetable soup stock and then add some ginger, some mushed garlic and as much cayenne pepper as you can stand.  Then drink it, wrap yourself up nice and warm and let yourself sweat it out.  


And finally, the following combination of herbs comes highly recommended - astragalus, reishi and golden seal.  




From Dr. Eddy Basch and Dr. Joseph Mercola:


Finally, here are a couple of videos to get you thinking some more about unique solutions that may help you.  You may or may not agree with all their advice (I'm currently testing some of it myself), but at least you may find something that works really well for you personally:



 Basch:







Mercola:






Enjoy them and stay healthy!!




~ Dr. Symeon Rodger

Unravelling the Vitamin D Mystery

One of the disturbing facts about having done my formal training in nutrition a little over ten years ago is that some of what I was taught has been superseded by new information.

A case in point, and one very much on my mind as winter approached, was the mystery of Vitamin D.  And a mystery it is, since we don't yet have all the answers.  However we do know the following:

• Vitamin D regulates a large number of critical processes in your body
• And you're almost certainly Vitamin D deficient 

Hmmm.... sounds like the start of a serious problem you might want to nip in the bud.  

To help you understand the essential facts about Vitamin D, here's a great explanation by Dr. Joseph Mercola:

As Winter Approached...

Back in October-November last year I did some research on the Vitamin D question and consulted some experts to try to learn more about how it contributes to maintaining your health and personal resilience.


Living in the second coldest national capital on the planet, where getting sunshine on your skin is a real challenge from November through April, I was looking for a solution for myself and my family.  Yes, it can be nice and bright outside with all the snow, but you're all bundled up because of the cold.  Good thing you can absorb at least some Vitamin D through your eyes, as long as you're not blocking UV-B rays with sunglasses, of course.

But that's no guarantee of maintaining adequate D levels.  Far from it.  So I was looking at supplements and naturally ran into some concerns about the source, quality and absorption (perennial problems with supplements) when I came across the "Sunshine Mist" non-aerosol Vitamin D spray Mercola mentions in the video. 

After using it for a couple of weeks now, I can truthfully say I'm delighted with it and much more confident about getting enough Vitamin D this winter!  So if Vitamin D is one of your concerns, I'd advise you to check it out!

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger  

 **The contents of this blog post are not to be considered as medical advice.  Always consult a physician before beginning / modifying a fitness program or before undertaking lifestyle modifications that could impact your health.**

A Revolution in Exercise Science

Here's something I feel absolutely compelled to share with you about your exercise program.  It's the very latest in exercise research and comes from highly reputable sources.  Moreover, it coincides with what many of us have felt to be the case for a very long time - distance running is NOT the answer to your exercise needs, and here's what IS the answer...

Courtesy of Dr. Joseph Mercola, that tireless researcher of sane solutions for your health, here is a series of videos (4 in all) he recorded with exercise coach Phil Campbell regarding an entirely "new" approach to exercise AND the science behind it:








Campbell's basic thesis, based on extensive studies, can be reduced to this:

• Ordinary cardio, typified by long-distance running, does not in fact work all the muscles and energy systems of your heart.  It gives you aerobic exercise but not the vital anaerobic component.
• This type of exercise (which also includes much of standard weight training) also fails to work your fast and super-fast muscle fibers, leaving them underdeveloped and atrophying
• When you work the fast and super-fast muscle fibers and the aerobic and anaerobic components together, your body produces large amounts of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), which improves cellular regeneration, improves your physical performance and retards the aging process. 

In these videos, you'll learn a whole new way of exercising that can unleash these benefits for you.  Even better, this type of exercise takes very little time.

I mentioned above that many of us had intuitively felt for years that distance running and similar endurance training methods were unnatural, unnecessary and responsible for a depressingly high body count (it seems every time I hear about a marathon somewhere, it's because one of the competitors dropped dead).  


As Dr. Mercola mentions in his own article on this, kids and animals in the wild do short, intense exercise, not long distance.  I'd add that from my studies of ancient Warrior cultures, they focused largely on short, intense exercise.  

And as a side note, to all of you who are using Matt Furey's famous Combat Conditioning system - don't stop!  The reason I began recommending Furey's program a few years ago was because he was promoting short, intense exercise and not a 2- hour jog.  His system is superb for building core strength and endurance using high intensity in a minimum time frame.  

So, if you're concerned about your fitness and your health, do take the time to digest this information from Phil Campbell.  Even though I've been doing short, intensive training for years, I'll be making some adjustments in the coming week based on this new information and I'll let you know what I discover.  Please feel free to share your results too!

Just remember - you should not begin any new program of physical exercise without first consulting your medical doctor.  

~ Dr. Symeon Rodger :-)