The panic is here! But wait, let's talk about some "old fashioned" immune system building. This Swine Flu scare has given me so many sleepless nights especially since I have two children under the age of ten. The main thing about everything that is going on is to stay focused on your "health" right now. Do not worry about "what may happen" because if it comes, there is nothing you can do about it. Make sure you get plenty of rest.

Swine Flu is on everyones mind these days and frankly I have become obsessed with finding out "how many" confirmed cases are in my town. Last count I heard was around forty cases from the local hospital. There have been no confirmed cases in my children's school, but something tells me that some people are not being "honest." This is the hard part about the school system these days. Even though I e-mailed the Principal and asked how we will know, she e-mailed back and said "if there is a confirmed case," you will know. So, here I am back at the beginning. Some people refuse to get "tested" for the Swine flu so here we are wondering if some have had it or not. Not fun!

I'm not a doctor so I will not bore you with too many studies or history about flu. I will share with you some of the things I have learned from the community who also dabble in "natural medicine" as well as the regular kind prescribed by doctors. I wanted to share some of the things that have worked for me and my family. I do believe that a few of the products that I'm going to share are extremely important for your immune system during flu season.

My main concern right now is making sure everyone stays healthy in my home. The fact that there are too many studies pointing to toxic ingredients and not enough testing on the shot for Swine flu has brought me to this point. If the President and Dr. Oz have both decided to not immunize their families, then I do believe something "is not right." So, I shall fight this season the "natural way" for now.

First of all you should know that hot liquids are necessary to fight any virus that enters your body. The Swine Flu virus takes about three days to incubate before it takes you down, so here is some preventive suggestions. It is best to gargle with hot water and salt every day, but if you do not want to gargle with salt water, any hot liquid (coffee, tea, hot cocoa, soup) will do if you drink or eat it when it is hot. The fact that it is hot on the throat will help fight the virus before it gets worse or may stop it entirely. There have been studies done on this and it does make sense doesn't it? I make sure my kids have hot tea every morning and soup, hot cocoa or decaf tea every night.

The first supplements I'm going to share with you are full of Vitamin C. Health Force Nutritionals makes the best vitamin C in powdered form. This is important to make sure the vitamin gets into your body right away. I usually put it in a glass of orange juice in the morning. Some of the synthetic vitamins take too long to do their job. Another miracle working supplement that I swear by is AMLA-C Plus by Pure Planet. It is natures most potent source of vitamin C with Spirulina. I take this every morning and it makes me feel fantastic and rejuvenated. For prevention using Homeopathy products, I use two different remedies from Boiron called Belladonna 30c and Influenzinum 200ck. I also give my children smaller doses of these every day before or after school. There are others that you can take too, but if you take some of each of these it is good enough for flu prevention. Although it says to take them three times a day, I find that twice a day is enough and I mix the two of them. Also remember to keep any homeopathic remedies away from cell phones, computers or anything else that can effect the the contents. 

If everything fails and I happen to get signs of the flu I always have Oscillococcinum by Boiron in my home just incase. I have always used this the minute I get any symptoms and most of the time I did beat the flu in the past on the first day or so. Although the Swine Flu seems a whole lot worse then the regular flu I still think that all of this will help you fight the virus. It is not a miracle drug, but it does work if you catch it in time. They also have smaller doses for children too and I have smaller vials on hand for them. Another important supplement is D3. I'm still reading up on this, but I have been told that Costco has a great Calcium D3 in liquid form that the kids will like too. I just got one from my local health food store that I'm going to try, but want to get the liquid for my kids soon.

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Although I give my children smaller doses of Belladonna and Influenzinum I also have a few other things on hand at all times. Natures Plus makes a really great vitamin for kids called Love Bites which is a great multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. It also has vitamin C in it and iron so for picky kids that do not like to take supplements, this has seemed to go over well with both of my kids. It also has Vitamin D in it, but I still want them to have D3 because of what I have read about it. For "boosting" their immune systems, ChildLife makes a great immune system product called First Defense which I sneak into their drinks in the afternoon. Another good supplement to fight viruses or the flu is called Elderberry Syrup which supposedly "confuses" any virus that hits the system. I do not know everything about this one, but after speaking to quite a few people this seems to be an important piece of the puzzle.

I do believe that keeping your immune system in check is most important. I focus on this daily instead of worrying about everything that keeps coming out of the media. I have spoken to very prominent doctors regarding flu shots and they all told me that it is mostly done to protect the old and the very young. There was a family that got the Swine flu shots and half of them still got it. I decided that I was not willing to chance it until more studies have been done for now. A lot of people are acting on "panic" right now instead of doing any research.

Everyone is entitled to make their own decisions on this one, but it does not hurt to put supplements in your body that will help you throughout the year.

So, supposedly in the early 1900's, they did a study with a lot of farmers when the Influenza Epidemic hit. Half of the farmers ended up getting the flu and half did not. What did the farmers that stayed well all have in common? A basket of onions in their kitchen! Supposedly the onions absorb the virus. So, I will surround my kitchen with them! Infact I will have "onion" everything by the time I get done with it. Can I buy stock in onions? On a serious note, anything I can do to calm my nerves is worth it. I hope this article helps anyone who "worries" as much as I do!