• Winter Wellness
• Germ Theory
• Natural Immunity
• Prevention Support
• What Do You If You Get Sick
• Flu Shot?
• One More Tool

In the 1870's microbiologist, Louis Pasteur, worked extensively on finding the cause of disease, developing the idea that germs cause disease, and the first vaccine. While modern medicine has continued to focus on this model of health and disease, it is believed that Pasteur himself came to a different understanding by the end of his life.

His purported last words before death were, "The terrain is more important than the pathogen". This means that the internal state of our body is more important in determining health and immunity to disease than the pathogens to which we are exposed.

Pasteur & Germ Theory

Yes, it is important that people living in close community with others cover their mouth when sneezing and wash their hands frequently when ill and other such sanitary measures. But more important is how well is our body able to handle these pathogens.

How can we make sure we can fight off pathogens? Here are some vitally factors:
* Eat whole organic foods
* Consume good fats like extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, flax oil, fish/cod liver oil
* Avoid refined sugars and flours
* Avoid chemical additives
* Don't microwave your food
* Minimal consumption of alcohol and caffeine
* Move your body regularly
* Get adequate rest (8 hours really IS important!)
* Fill your life with love, compassion, peace and integrity

Because our lifestyles often fall short of ideal, even with our best efforts, we sometimes need extra support to stay healthy. Here are some of my favorite prevention tools that can be used regularly or specifically during stressful times when immunity may be challenged:

* Immuplex by Standard Process 3/day
* Echinacea Tea by The Art of Health 3
* Elixer Vita by Systemic Formulas 3 droppersful/day
* Echinacea Premium by MediHerb 3/day
* Echinacea Glycetract for kids by Mediherb

All of these are available at my office. You can order these immune support products for your family by emailing me at doc@art-health.com.

Sometimes we will get sick. Getting sick is the body's way of bringing to our attention some imbalance in our life. Sometimes it will be clear what that is: working too hard or perhaps not eating right. But other times it may be something that we can't pinpoint. We will never know everything that influences us.

If/when we do get sick all of our preventative tools will support us in moving through the illness more quickly than without. You may also want to use some additional tools to give your immune system extra support:

Congaplex by Standard Process 12/day
Imperial Ataker 6 droppersful/day
Garlic fresh or in tablets 2/day
Fluids - lots
Warming Socks (see link below)
These tools will boost your immune system by killing off pathogens, increasing white blood cell production, and supporting cleansing through the lymphatics.

Cold medicines will relieve your discomfort but they will do nothing to support or speed healing. Take them if you NEED relief, but also support your body's self healing!

Warming Sock Home Treatment

As with all vaccinations, I generally do not tell my clients whether they should take them or not. Instead, I try to provide information that might balance out the information that is most commonly available so that they can make an educated decision for themselves and their children.

Contrary to public beliefs, there is actually no science to support the use of vaccinations - including the flu shot. Truly - there are NO controlled studies to support their use. To the contrary, those who have read the studies in detail find only evidence of serious side effects. Even the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) says, "this year's flu vaccine had no or low effectiveness against influenza or influenza-like illness".

What they do find is that in some people it causes Guillan-Barre Syndrome, it causes flu-like illness in many who take it, and may contribute to Alzheimer's disease due to the mercury and aluminum content. Not only is the flu shot ineffective, it is dangerous.

What about flumist? Flumist contains live attenuated virus that replicate in the nasal passageways. The mist's most prevalent side effects are cold symptoms - runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion. It has been documented that the virus can be spread via sneezing and nasal secretions. There is also concern of the chemical contents of the mist entering the brain through a paper-thin bone at the top of the nasal passageways raising a concern that it could cause encephalitis.

Here are two great websites for more information on the flu shot and other vaccines:

http://www.putchildrenfirst.org/flu.html
http://www.909shot.com/

Many of you know that I am very excited with the benefits of the BodyTalk system. One of the reasons it excites me is that BodyTalk works to balance the body's response to life (meaning diet, exposure to toxins, quality and quantity of sleep, etc.). This means that instead of all of our focus being on trying to live a perfectly healthy lifestyle, we can adjust our body to the lifestyle we have. This doesn't mean that healthy choices are not important, just that they are not the only factor.

A piece of the BodyTalk system is Access, which is a set of treatments that you can do on yourself and members of your family. Access includes an immune specific technique which works beautifully to both prevent illness and speed healing when illness occurs.

Access is a 6 hour one time course that costs $125.00. It is perhaps the best investment in your health that you can make. Access is great because once learned you can do the techniques right when you need them. The best time to treat a cold is at first time of symptoms rather than several days or weeks into it.

This also means that a great time to come in to the office for a BodyTalk session (and perhaps specific recommendations for herbs or whole food supplements) is at first time of illness. I say this because I often hear from clients that they didn't know if they should come in when sick. My response is Yes!

Upcoming Access Class