Talk about health

A few years ago I was a proponent of flu jabs. I thought they were an answer to older people and people at risk because of their job or illness. Having suffered a particularly nasty episode of flu some years ago, I would have been very happy to think that I could avoid it again just by getting a flu jab. And I'm sure many other people think the same.

But, as time has passed, I've read about several studies that cast doubt on it's worth. Just recently, a new study on the effectiveness of the annual flu jab has found that it had little or no effect on campaign objectives such as cutting the number of people hospitalized, time off work and deaths from flu. Mind you, most deaths are in people already weakened by other illnesses.

One problem the researchers identified is that it is difficult to measure how well the vaccines work since the strains of virus used in the vaccine change every year. And, I've talked before about how the drug companies manipulate the information and supply of vaccine to create demand.

There is now a growing body of people who suggest that not only is the flu vaccine a waste of money - ours! - but some of the additional chemicals in the vaccine could be harmful as well. Preservatives and additives could cause side effects.

So, what can you do if you don't want to have a flu vaccination this year?

The main aim will be to build up the effectiveness of your immune system.
You can do this by restricting the amount of sugar you eat
Get enough sleep - this can be 7 or 8 hours a night
Don't let your exercise schedule slip - keep exercising at least five days per week for half a hour or so a day
Include some garlic in your diet - garlic boosts your immune system and is also antibiotic and antiviral
Don't be a martyr to stress - look into ways of relaxing and controlling your stress
Make sure you eat properly and take a good quality multivitamin supplement and vitamin C

All of these will help put your immune system in good fettle and help to resist the flu. And you'll probably feel better, too.

So why not give it a try and have a flu-free winter without the flu vaccine.

Check out my site at http://www.healthexplored.co.uk for info on foods and vitamins. I'm in the final stages of writing a stress-busting book that will be on the site very soon - clik on the order online page.

If you want to be healthy, you should eat more of ... I'll leave you to fill in the blank. As a regular reader of healthy e-zines and publications, I'm sure you could list a whole range of foods that help your health. If you were to try and eat all of them all of the time I doubt there would be much time for anything else in your life. But, at least, you would be very healthy.

The thought occurred to me the other day when I was making my weekly supply of muesli. I base my recipe on rolled oats and add all sorts of nuts, seeds and fruits. Some months ago I began adding pumkin seeds because I'd read that they were good for you. They don't taste of anything really, but they are good for you, so in they go. I thought, "you could go on for ever, adding the latest ingredient that is good for you", but you have to stop somewhere.

The thing is that these tips you see in the magazines and e-zines for adding a new healthy food to your diet don't usually let you know how much you need and how often you need to eat it. So you are wandering around your supermarket or health shop and you suddenly spot a packet of it. Just the thing, you think, to supplement your diet.

You get back home and sprinkle it on your cereal, fruit or whatever, and hope for a little better health in the future. And really, that's about the best you can do.

The ideal is to make it a habit to eat as healthily as you can, get regular exercise, maybe take a regular vitamin supplement and hope for the best. If you take every piece of advice on healthy eating you'll worry too much to enjoy your newfound health. So, be realistic and practical. Adjust your diet to suit your taste while avoiding processed foods as much as you can.

Your health will improve if you stick at it.

I have a booklet on foods that will show you just what they can do for your health. Just visit http://www.healthexplored.co.uk and check out the booklet range on offer there: subscribe to my newsletter and get a free Tips booklet on food and supplements .

Today I want to have a little rant about flu vaccines. It has become an annual media event when it is announced that there will be a shoratge of flu vaccines this year, and every other year in recent memory.

I remember when, about 20 years ago, there were several manufacturers of it and they competed on price and availability. The resut was the patient always go the vaccine if they wanted it and the costs to the health sevices was kept down. In this case at least, competition worked.

Then the number of producers declined to two and everything changed. All of a sudden, prices rose steadily and the now yearly shortages began to appear. There was always a problem of either the strain of flu to be included in it or difficulties at the production units.

At first, I could understand these problems. They happen to all kinds of products in all walks of life. But then, I became a bit more cynical. Just consider what the publicity does to the numbers of vaccines used.

It's human nature to want something just as soon as you know it is in short supply. Every Christmas there is THE toy that suddenly has dwindling numbers for sale. The queues for it get longer by the minute.

And it's the same with flu vaccines. Simply because there might not be enough to go around, everyone really needs it, and right now!

Who benefits? I'll give you one guess ... that's right - the manufacturer. It will be able to sell every unit it makes because demand outstrips production all through the vaccine season.

This year, too, there has been a research finding that pregnant women might benefit from having the vaccine so ther babies can resist the chance that their immune system might not be up to scratch once they are born.

So, the manufacturers will have yet another market to exploit.

On the other side, one professor of medicine has got into print saying that he doubts the percieved benefits of having the flu vaccine in the first place.

There is a body of medical opinion, still in the minority, that vaccination against flu just doesn't change the mortality rate at all. The same number of people die each year despite mass vaccination.

Perhaps we should just work on our general health and immune system by eating well, exercising and taking the occasional supplement. then we can forget the yearly dash to shove money into the drug companies' and doctors' hands.

Just a thought!

Let me know what you think. Reply to this post or visit my site at http://www.healthexplored.co.uk to get in touch and join my newsletter list, it's FREE.