This is the very first time EVER that my 13 year old daughter has been ill. Seriously, she’s never once been ill. Until now. And, of course, now that she’s getting over it and starting to feel better, I feel like I’m coming down with it too. Personally, I haven’t had a cold or flu in at least 15 years. I’m hoping that I can head it off, and avoid getting fully sick.
So, what’s different about this year compared to the past 15? I was lax about Vitamin D this year. Most winters I insist that the kids take Vitamin D every day. My husband and I take it, too. And, none of us get sick. Even when everyone we know has the winter crud, my family cruises through winter without even a sneeze.
Until this Winter.
This Winter I was negligent in not only taking my OWN Vitamin D, but also in ensuring my kids took theirs. I’m not sure what happened. We ran out of D back in November, and when I went to the store to get another bottle, they were out. I remember checking two more times for D, and each time the store didn’t have any. After that, I think it kind of fell off my radar.
Vitamin D deficiency is a leading cause of acute illnesses such as the common cold and flu. But Vitamin D deficiency is also a leading contributing factor way to common chronic illnesses. Everyday conditions like: osteoporosis, heart disease, obesity, depression, cancer, Seasonal Affective Disorder, asthma, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and a host of other common, and PREVENTABLE chronic illnesses.
If you haven’tread The Vitamin D Solution by Michael. F. Holick, Ph.D., MD. yet, you really should. It’s an eye opening book. He covers everything you could ever need to know about Vitamin D and the science behind it.
Because I have MS and asthma, taking my daily dose of Vitamin D is one of the four most important things I do for my health every day. In case you’re wondering the other three are: taking a good magnesium supplement, getting in enough daily activity, and maintaining my primal/low oxalate eating plan. Somewhere in the past few months I let Vitamin D slip. Getting sick is a good reminder that I need to stay on top of my protocols.
So, now that I’ve got the crud, what do I do? Well, one thing I don’t do is take over-the-counter medications, especially not those that contain sugar of any kind. I have been completely free from added sugar since Dec 31, 2018, and I refuse to slip up just because I caught the ick.
First thing this morning I took 50,000 IU of Vitamin D to sort of jump start my immune system. When I realized my daughter was getting sick, earlier this week, it reminded me that we were out of D so I asked my husband to pick up a couple bottles on his way home from work. In addition to the mega dose of D this morning, I’ve been eating one clove of raw garlic hour or so. Garlic is powerful antimicrobial. It doesn’t taste as bad as you might think. Okay, maybe it does, but I’ve taken a LOT of raw garlic over the years and I’ve learned to bite a clove of garlic, and swallow it without letting it touch my tongue. That way I avoid the strongest flavor. I’m also drinking water mixed with apple cider vinegar. ACV also has anti viral properties. Later on this evening, I’ll go for a short walk to help boost my immune system, and before I go to bed, I’ll take a zinc supplement. I don’t take Vitamin C supplements because too high a dose of C can cause an oxalate dump, and I want to avoid that right now. Instead, I’ve been eating foods that are high in Vitamin C.
I’m already starting to feel better I’m sneezing my head off, and I’ll probably make up some capsules with licorice root, anise, and some other herbs to curb the sneezing. I don’t want to make my syrup because it contains a good deal of honey, and I’m on that sugar fast.
With all this natural treatment I feel well enough to go cork the clarinet I just bought from an on-line auction. When it’s repaired, this particular clarinet will be donated to one of our local schools.
