Friday, January 27, 2012

Natural and Healthy Cold And Flu Prevention


My children never had cough medicine, a decongestant, or went to the doctor when they had a cold or the flu.   When they got a cold or flu, I would give them a lot of fresh lemonade or lemon and honey water, along with fresh fruit until they felt better.  Then I would give them homemade chicken soups with my broth in it that clears congestion.  

I never gave them anything to bring down their fever, unless they were absolutely miserable.  Fever is the body's way of fighting off the bad bugs.  As soon as you feel a sore throat coming on, start gargling every 15 minutes with salt water, even snort it up into your nostrils {not pleasant, but helps a lot} or take a teaspoon of Manuka Honey which is great at killing bacteria and viruses.

The book I went to all the time when my children were young was How To Raise Healthy Children In Spite Of Your Doctor.  It was written by a doctor who was a Pediatrician for 30 years.  He recommends taking children off all sugar as soon as they get sick.  He also gives advice when something is really an emergency like when a fever is too high and you need to take them to the doctor.

I rarely took my children to the doctor...mostly for broken bones and things like that.  I believed that their bodies were meant to fight most illnesses and diseases if nourished and taken care of properly.

Every morning, I have a big glass of tea with the juice of a whole lemon in it sweetened with stevia or raw honey.  It is a wonderful way to start off the day.  It is very alkalizing and cleansing.  I always have a huge salad once a day.  This provides all the minerals your body needs.

Drugs are great for emergency situations, but they don't heal your body.  Your immune system does that.  So the key is to keep your immune system strong.

One of my favorite blogs for recipes and health advice is The Nourishing Gourmet.   I like her philosophy on health and the recipes I have tried from her blog are great.  All of my recipes on my blog are simple with healthy ingredients.  That is the way I like to cook and my family likes to eat!


The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed 
and restore him from his bed of illness
Proverbs 41:3

Here is a short 2-minute video about vaccinations.  Worth the time to watch.
Be educated.

P.S.  I have been told to always inform you that I am not a doctor!  I have just studied and experienced many health issues.  So I teach out of my own experiences and what I have studied.

Comments (29)

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Great post! I totally agree with you! A lot of people are ill-informed when it comes to vaccines and their health and don't realize that there are natural ways that they can deal with a cold or flu. Somethings do need medical attention, but not every ailment. I love your blog and am so thankful that I found it!
We're just starting out, but we treat illness the same way. It's amazing how God created our bodies so well and how he created this earth with great means to heal. I am thankful for doctors in emergency situations, but agree that they are completely overused and over-trusted these days. Thanks for sharing your experience...I'll go back and check out your links!
Thank you so much for this post! I totally agree! I've been wanting to get that book too - now I'm even more motivated! We have a 17 month old and we've never taken him to a doctor for sickness and have been able to treat almost everything naturally! The Lord has truly blessed us with healthy resources! I love your blog, it's a huge encouragement to me!
A few of you commenting must have woken up with a headache! The post is quite clear that doctors are an important part of health care, but that most important is keeping your kids immune systems strong and nursing them back to health during a flu or cold with proven home remedies.

Being educated is a plea for all parents to understand that they must take their own health and the health of their children in their own hands. Your family doctor may be terrific but the five minutes he spends with you or your child is going to keep your family healthy. You owe it to yourself to be educated about all health issues ... and no, a two minute video will not do this, but it is a start. Make it priority to subscribe to a wellness letter or two. The Mayo Clinic has a terrific one, and subscribe to an alternative health letter too. Know all sides of the important story of medicine, its benefits and its pitfalls.

We love doctors, and needed them very much, for a number of operations, but we also know that health and medicine are two pretty separate departments. Medicine is where you go when you are unhealthy and looking for answers. Health is what you do to keep your body and immune system healthy. Even the AMA would approve of this statement.
While I agree with the thought that leading a healthy lifestyle including eating healthy foods and using natural treatments (such as gargling with salt water, which my dr has suggested to me many times) this should be in conjunction with professional advice/evaluations. Illnesses such as colds and viruses do not need treatment by a dr unless they linger or have complications (as antibiotics will not be effective) but it is important to be sure that's what it is. Strep can have similar symptoms, and they are not always severe. Strep needs to be treated by antibiotics/a physician as it can have VERY serious consequences if untreated, including death. It is not worth it to assume you can treat/diagnose it yourself. My cousin complained of a sore throat to my Aunt for a couple days but didn't seem "sick". My aunt gave her throat drops and it seemed her sore throat "went away" . It turns out the strep went into her bloodstream and developed so that she ended up with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which was very painful. My mother is a nurse, and another nurse in her hospital had a daughter with a sore throat. She took her daughter to the drs after a few days but the strep went into her bloodstream. She had a very serious infection which led to her organs shutting down and she passed away. These are extreme cases, but I would never gamble on my child's health knowing this. You know your child, and you can give them tea, saltwater, etc but you cannot diagnose them definitively and have not been trained (as well as seen many cases to note if something is presenting differently) to identify their ailment.
Raw honey is a live, nutritious food. White sugar is a dead, processed food. I am sorry. I don't agree with you at all. My dad is a doctor and they had one or two weeks intruction on health. He was trained in drugs and surgery. My mom would be dead if she followed the doctor's instructions. I would be dead without doctors so I feel they are fabulous for many things but some things like chronic conditions I don't think they are so good at curing.
My grandmother had 7 children and didn't take one child to the doctor. My dad almost died from an antibiotic. There are many side effects to antibiotics....scary side effects. You failed to mention that. Dr. Marshall believes a healthy body can fight off any infection, except an infection in a tooth. I believe him but that doesn't mean you have to. It is a free country and if you want to use doctors for all your illnesses, you have that right to. I don't and I have the right to try and heal my body naturally. It has worked beautifully for me for 53 years! Doctors aren't God and they are "practicing" medicine. They don't know everything and I certainly don't either. But I have every right to study on my own and use good old common sense. I don't force my views on anyone. This is my blog and I have every right to just tell you all what works for me! You have every right to take it or leave it.
3 replies · active 687 weeks ago
Common sense is not so "common" anymore. We do not have to live at two extremes of never going to the doctor and always going to the doctor. Google U is the place to begin now a days and when things are in question concerning health, go to the doctor. But when you or your child has something that most likely is the common cold or flu, treat it with home remedies and monitor it.

The typical parents approach to a cold or flu is to mask the symptoms by giving their child Tylenol and never thinking of getting them to gargle or snort salt water or to drink lemon juice and honey water for its soothing effect and vitamin C.

It's kind of revealing that the Mayo article on Remedies for the Common Cold http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cold-remedies/ID... is half on Lori's home remedies and the other half spent on warning how bad the Tylenol, drugs and antihistamines can be for a child, and adult. Doctors are terrific, but now a days most doctors are very keen on making sure their patients know that medicating, especially self-medicating is quite dangerous, and often time more dangerous than no medication at all.
I enjoy your blog but must comment on this last post. Our three-year-old daughter had a fever earlier this very week. She was lathargic, as a fever will usually cause but not complaining a whole lot. She had a cold the week prior so when the fever hit I 'treated it' as you probably would have except I gave her Advil and Motrin (for her age group) and we waited it out for a bit. Then she woke up with a rash along with the fever. If I were you I wouldn't have taken her ASAP to the ER but continued to wait it out thinking the fever was her body's way of fighting some infection. Thank the Lord I am not you. We got to the ER at 2am and my little girl was diagnosed at 2:30am with strep throat and Scarlet Fever. She required immediate medical attention from a medical professional. Had I waited and self-medicated her I risked febrile seizures (from the fever going untreated) and sepsis (blood poisoning from an uncared for infection that moves into the blood stream) but praise God I did not. Strep throat even though she never complained about her 'mouth' hurting and a very mild rash that I could have ignored. God has given us tools with which to handle our circumstances and I believe most doctors are those tools. I do not rush to the doctor at every little instance but we go when I know I cannot keep them comfortable with over-the-counter medication. I thank the Lord today that He provided medical knowledge and physicians for us to utilize. And I would never recommend anyone follow medical advice except that of a trained and educated physician. Our world is as healthy as it is today because of vaccinations and antibiotics, use them (but not unless necessary), I believe God gave the knowledge for their creation. You remind me of the story of the man stuck on top of his house as flood waters rose. He prayed and asked God to save him. A row boat came by and the man inside offered him a ride. He declined saying God was going to save him. Moments later a full-blown rescue boat came by to rescue him but he declined saying God was going to save him. The waters rose and in time a helicopter hovered above him but he, once again, declined saying God was going to rescue him. The man drowned. In heaven the man asked God why He didn't save him and God replied, "I sent a row boat, a rescue boat and a helicopter but you declined them all. I tried saving you three times but you refused three times". As a mommy it is my job to do everything possible to 'save' my children and I will not refuse the Lord the tools He sends me.
3 replies · active 687 weeks ago
I don't think Lori is saying doctors are bad guys. Doctors do not create Tylenol, Motrin or vaccinations. They are simply told "whats in these medicines". And to the best of the doctors knowledge he tells you what is right.
I catch a lot of slack by people who are uneducated about holistic treatments. My family uses a midwife who has been educating herself & treating others for 30+ years. She delivered our son in a birthing center without an epidural or pitocin *GASP* I know!
Learning the ingredients in Tylenol is just as important as learning the benefits of onions, lemons, garlic, etc.
The Lord created herbs for a reason, just like he did doctors.
What one person chooses to do is his own business. Lori was only sharing what works for her family and offering it as an alternative option.

Lori, I agree with you. Way to many chemicals today. At my house we are very conscious about what is put into our bodies.
Again, rarely does not mean never taking our kids to the doctor. What is it with these extremes and snooty comments as if Lori hates doctors? She loves doctors and what they have done for her and our family, but as Michelle correctly points out Lori is saying be wise and judicious in how you use doctors. Get educated as a parent, not a doctor… and go to your doctor when necessary.

Just for fun I went to update my knowledge on Medical School curriculum and pulled up the handbook to see if there was any class listed for nutrition or wellness, or how to develop a strong immune system. Not a one. http://med.stanford.edu/md/policies/MD%20Handbook... But I am sure that some of this info is buried in some other classes. It just does not deserve a class of its own. I also am pretty sure that medicine is still primarily focused on healing the sick and not prevention, and especially not nutrition or alternatives to drugs.

I still remember Lori going to the head of the Infectious Disease Dept at USC loaded with five different types of parasites after seeing 10 other docs and the doctor says to her, "You do not look sick. I see sick people all the time and you look too healthy for those parasites to be causing any of your stomach pain.” The doc was so focused on "sick" people that she missed understanding that indeed Lori's parasites can cause massive problems in the quantities she had them. Fortunately a super specialist came to the rescue out of NYC. You see, we love doctors! But we also know that we have to take our own health in our own hands and not rely completely on a doctor who sees you for five minutes to be responsible for our health and wellness, nor that of our family. They do not have the time or inclination to play such a role.
Raw honey is what Lori has used for years in small quantities in place of sugar. One accuses Lori of being cruel to our kids by not giving the m Tylenol or taking them to the doctor, and now you want her to give them lemon water without any sweetener at all? :). If she has to put something to sweeten it, it is best to put something with a scant amount of nutrition and most importantly, antibiotic qualities to it:

According to Dr. John McKenna, "We know that honey is antibacterial - it kills bacterial cells by drawing water out of them. In addition, the enzyme inhibine, which is found in honey, converts glucose and oxygen into hydrogen peroxide, a well-known disinfectant" (1). In fact, "honey helps replace missing enzymes for nearly all purposes throughout the entire body" (2). This is only true, however, of honey that has never been heated over about 96 degrees Fahrenheit during processing and packaging. Since enzymes power all immune system functions, unheated honey is be a powerful way to boost the immune system. http://www.unhinderedliving.com/honey.html

For further great info on this important subject do your own search and see the latest scientifically proven information on honey's potential anti-bacterial proteins and helpful enzymes: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/1006....
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
This is from Jen {She commented above but it was a reply so it wasn't clearly visible}. It is so good, I thought more people should be able to see it ~

I have a BS in biology, a BA in chemistry, and studied molecular biology in graduate school. My husband has a BA in biology and a Masters in health systems management. We've studied, gotten the degrees and advanced degrees, done the research and do NOT vaccinate our children.

Good post! :)
1 reply · active 684 weeks ago
I don't much care for taking my children to the doctor either. Something about spending money to have someone to tell me to go home, give them lots of water and some Tylenol if the fever gets worse bothers me. Thanks for your suggestions. Thanks for linking to that book "How to Raise Health Children In Spite of Your Doctor". It sounds like one I would be really interested in.
Thanks for sharing w/ Healthy 2Day Wednesday! Hope to see you back next week!
I'm finally getting around to getting back to visiting on the Weekend Whatever 8. I pretty much agree with your post here. When I was growing up we almost never went to the doctor when we were sick. I think a good part of the reason was because we didn't have insurance &/or a lot of money. Unfortunately I am a frequent visitor at my various doctor offices for multiple health reasons. I used to tough out getting sick until it started to affect me missing work & then I ended up getting pneumonia a few years ago & now when I start to get something possibly close to bronchitis I run to the doctor (once you get pneumonia you're more likely to keep getting it, I've had it once a year since the 1st time). My husband's family are big advocators of running to the doctor the instant you get sick. Every time I have listened to them & taken my son into the doctor there generally was not much that was ever done. What we were already doing at home was all they said for us to do. I'm learning as I go but I've definitely learned a lot in the 2 1/2 yrs as a mommy.

Thanks for this post, I did actually learn a tip or two. I'm following you on FB now, GFC & Linky Followers
These are things that we should always consider. When our children are prone to viruses, being regretful about it is an awful thing. It's a must to start early when it comes to taking care of our child's health.
What are your thoughts on using oregano oil to treat common flu? It comes from a natural source and has some strong antimicrobial properties.
Rob Daniels's avatar

Rob Daniels · 469 weeks ago

I agree with you on leading a healthy lifestyle one should eat healthy and take care of the hygiene and you are right on where you said that drugs should be used only on emergency situation and one's immune system heals one's body. I eat raw honey and it is good for health i try to look for natural treatments.Thanks for sharing the information

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