Living in Harmony with Colds and Flu

By Jane Sheppard

Taking care of sick children can be a rather challenging aspect of being a parent. Waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of a cough, feeling your child's feverish body, and cleaning up vomit is something you may be familiar with. We all knew there would be times like this in our parenting experience. It's inevitable that kids get sick. It's a necessary part of growing up, a normal part of childhood.

Influenza (flu) and colds are respiratory illnesses that originate from viruses. There are about 100 different cold viruses as well as many viruses that create similar symptoms as flu, but are not actually one of the influenza viruses. So even if it seems like it's the flu, it may actually be a different virus. The flu vaccine is prepared with only a few viruses out of the thousands that are possible.

An independent analysis of worldwide flu vaccine studies published in the British Medical Journal concluded there is little scientific proof that flu vaccines are safe and effective. The flu vaccine has little or no effect on preventing flu in children. However, a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial of school children shows vitamin D does prevents the flu. Learn more about this research.

http://www.healthychild.com/healthy-child-blog/kids-are-vitamin-d-deficient-not-vaccine-deficient/

It's not the vaccine that keeps your child healthy; it's your child's immunity and overall health. The vaccine does nothing to strengthen immunity, and in fact it can weaken it.

The general belief is that kids "catch" colds and flu from viruses that are circulating in the air or passed from others. Many people talk about a cold or flu "going around" as if it were making the rounds infecting every child in its path. The reality is that out of all the children exposed to the virus, only a portion of these children will get sick to some degree and others will not succumb to the disease at all. This is because viruses and bacteria are not the sole cause of disease. In fact, there are trillions of bacteria and thousands of virus particles that live in our bodies all the time. They are there to keep us healthy by helping with cell metabolic processes, protecting our cells, helping us to eliminate wastes, and helping with digestion.

Germs are not the enemy! The internal environment of the body determines whether a child will be susceptible to colds, flu or any other illness. In order to survive and become active enough to cause symptoms, the non-beneficial germs first need to have an environment that nourishes them. They survive and proliferate from feeding off the wastes and toxins that accumulate in the body. The immune system responds, triggering an inflammatory response that may include rash, fever, congestion, runny nose, and coughing. These are signs that the body has begun its process of healing - dispelling the wastes, virus, and accumulated toxins from the body.

In order for the body to generate a sufficient and complete healing response, the immune system needs to be strong and functioning at its best. Factors that contribute to a weakened immune system include poor nutrition, stress, an unhealthy mental or emotional state, and excessive toxins.

There is plenty you can do to reduce the toxic load and strengthen your child's immune system and overall health and vitality. The best approach is to provide a healthy environment right from the start. A baby needs to be nourished during the entire pregnancy with organic, whole foods and lots of love, birthed in a peaceful, welcoming environment, then exclusively breastfed and nurtured immediately upon entering the world. Good nutrition is vitally important - plenty of fresh, whole foods. Processed foods place a burden on the immune system and create more of a toxic environment within the body.

A low-toxic environment is essential. In our current world, it is impossible to avoid all toxic exposures. But we can reduce exposure to a great extent if we know how our children are being exposed through their food, homes, schools and playgrounds. Vaccines and antibiotics can greatly increase the toxic load on the body, and these substances can weaken a child's innate immunity.

Moreover, a child needs a healthy mental attitude, plenty of laughter, low stress, emotional security, and plenty of rest and exercise. In addition to all of the above health builders, you can boost your child's immune system with herbs, homeopathy, acupuncture or chiropractic care.

When your children do get sick, you can help facilitate and support the healing process by gently supporting the immune system and assisting the cleansing process. Keep in mind that the symptoms of cough, fever, runny nose, etc. are exactly what need to happen to dispel and heal the disease. You don't want to suppress this healing by giving them fever reducers or cough syrup. Antibiotics do absolutely nothing to for a virus - they kill bacteria, not viruses. Antibiotics can suppress the healing process and weaken the immune system. They weaken immunity by killing the good bacteria that helps keep the body healthy. Instead of trying to control and suppress the symptoms our children are experiencing, we can try to stimulate their immune systems to enable their bodies to heal themselves.

During an illness, the most important thing for your child is a lot of TLC and rest. Create a healing sanctuary with soft music, lots of hugs and love, and a low level of mental stimulation, noise and distraction so your child's body has a chance to do it's healing.

Make sure your child is getting plenty of fluids, especially if there's a fever. Water is very important for hydration, and unsweetened herbal teas such as lemon balm, peppermint, chamomile and nettle are good. Vegetable broths can be nourishing and chicken soup (without the noodles) is a great healing food when it's properly made from bone stock. Keep your child away from sugar, including fruit juice which is mostly sugar. Sugar has been shown to reduce immunity and bacteria and viruses love to feast on sugar.

The following supplements and remedies have been shown in medical studies to successfully treat cold and flu:

When taken within 24 hours of when cold symptoms begin, zinc lozenges, syrup or tablets can reduce the duration of colds and dramatically reduce the severity of symptoms.

When taken at the first sign of symptoms, black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) extract can significantly improve your child's immune function and shorten the duration and severity of cold and flu symptoms. The product Sambucol® has been extensively studied and has no side effects. Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials show that Sambucol® inhibits influenza A and B viruses when given to patients within 48 hours of symptom development. (see resource below for Sambucol)

Propolis, a substance that bees use to protect their hives, supports immunity and fights colds, flu, and upper respiratory tract infections.

Cold and flu infections can deplete both vitamin C and vitamin D from the body so much higher doses are needed during an illness. Vitamin D increases the body's production of naturally occurring antibiotics called antimicrobial peptides that destroy the cell walls of viruses and bacteria.

Childhood inflammatory diseases are an essential part of the development of the immune system. Every time the immune system works to dispel a cold virus or other inflammatory illness, your child's immunity is strengthened. The more the immune system does this clearing process, the stronger it will be. Studies have shown that the more acute inflammatory diseases a child has, the less the likelihood of getting chronic inflammatory diseases, such as allergies and asthma, later in life. Another great benefit is that after successfully discharging and healing certain diseases like chicken pox, your child will most likely receive lifetime protection from these illnesses.

In addition, children often have developmental growth spurts directly after an acute illness, as long as their bodies have been allowed to process the illness without suppressive drug intervention.

Childhood illnesses can certainly be demanding and frightening at times. But you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it's a normal part of the growing process and your child's immune system and overall health is developing naturally and becoming stronger in the process.

NOTE: Antibiotics may be absolutely necessary for serious acute bacterial diseases such as bacterial meningitis. Antibiotics should be saved for these life-threatening issues.

Sambucol for Kids is available at iherb.com at a low price.