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The fear of swine flu is everywhere these days. But there are quite a few things you can do to protect yourself from any flu, and I will list some of these further down. First I want to give my take on the current situation with the flu, then give you those protection tips, and end with a link to  articles on the big picture of this flu situation.

My Take on the Swine Flu

I live in Mexico at present, and I take statistics here as rough estimates. There are so far only two labs in the country that can do testing for this flu, so some of the numbers you hear are inaccurate. They really can’t say how many people have had it for sure. The first known case is said to be a little boy in a region with lots of huge hog farms. But I can imagine that the flu may have existed for a good while before gaining official attention. Where I’m going with this is that I suspect that possibly many thousands of people have already had this flu. I suspect that just as most cases in other parts of the world are being reported as relatively mild, so too most cases here probably have been.

Now this is conjecture, and only time will tell, but I think it is quite likely that this flu is not going to be a serious global health threat.  But it is well worth doing everything you can to take good care of yourself – in any case!

Nine Natural Approaches That Help Protect You From Swine Flu and Other Diseases

You may be surprised at how simple these ideas are, but do you do them all? I have trouble with some of them myself. All but one are commonsense and widely known.

1. Get enough sleep. Take naps if you like them and can.
2. Eat a healthy, natural diet emphasizing vegetables and fruit. Eat a good bit of your food raw.
3. Stay away from preservatives and chemically altered foods.
4. Go  easy on the sweeteners. All the chemical ones are known to be bad for you, and sugar itself isn’t great. Honey, agave syrup, and other more natural sweeteners aren’t really health foods either!
5. Drink plenty of liquids, and I don’t mean the ones that come in cans or oversized plastic bottles.
6. Exercise – walk, do sports, do stretches, do yoga, whatever. This matters!
7. Wash your hands quite a bit, and especially when you come home from being out or after handling money.
8. Do something peaceful every day. This could be relaxation processes, prayer, visualization, listening quietly to lovely music, whatever.
9. Here’s the one that is less well known: get enough vitamin D by being outside in the sun with little enough clothing that you can absorb the rays. Here in Mexico, I walk in my yard quite early in the morning. In colder climates, you may need to do other things. Vitamin D helps protect you.

Specific to flu and colds: keep a bit of distance from other people when you are out shopping or in public places. Often this isn’t possible, so don’t obsess about it.

For More Reading on Swine Flu

[1] Dr. Mercola of mercola.com had written a scathing book on the bird flu scare, so I have been very curious what he would have to say about swine flu. This morning he came out with this long article:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/04/29/Swine-Flu.aspx

You may have to try more than once to get through, as I think his servers are having quite a heavy load. He goes into the politics of flu and how some people get very rich from having others frightened. He also has some interesting points: more people died of bird flu vaccine than of bird flu, for one. Lots of footnotes in his article.

You will recognize that my tips resemble  his. That is partly because they are common sense, and partly because I have read his daily newsletter for years!

[2] Here’s an interesting article from Grist about the factory farming of hogs in Mexico and the start of this flu. Lots of comments.

http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-25-swine-flu-smithfield/

I think the fear that the swine flu has engendered is a real problem – I had a bout of it myself. Just keep in mind that much of the media makes its living off drama!

A Resource on Homeopathy for Flu

Here’s a link that a friend of mine who does homeopathy professionally sent me:

http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/Swine-flu-symptoms-treatment.asp