{"id":657,"date":"2008-12-13T07:43:58","date_gmt":"2008-12-13T12:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/?p=657"},"modified":"2008-12-13T07:43:58","modified_gmt":"2008-12-13T12:43:58","slug":"switching-to-natural-remedies-mid-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horizonsmagazine.com\/blog\/switching-to-natural-remedies-mid-flu\/","title":{"rendered":"Switching to natural remedies mid-flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flu Recovery, Day Six.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ah!\u00a0 Yesterday I felt pretty good all day – very low energy, but could feel myself steadily reviving.\u00a0 The body is an amazing vehicle!\u00a0 I began at\u00a0last week’s flu taking Gatorade\u00a0 to hydrate and\u00a0Mylanta to calm my stomach, since that’s what the hospitals suggest.\u00a0 Both products did a good job of getting me through the first few days.\u00a0 By the second day of the Gatorade, I felt whacked out by the sugar and was having\u00a0lots of heartburn.\u00a0 I was in the cycle of alternating the Gatorade with the Mylanta, forgetting that both of those were really contrary to the natural balance of my system.<\/p>\n

You know how when you don’t feel good, you can’t think straight?\u00a0 I am not practiced enough in natural remedies to have them be my first thought when I get sick.\u00a0 When I’m sick,\u00a0my path of least resistance is to\u00a0go back to 10 years old again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0My path of least resistance is to have my subconscious bring to mind every “remedy” the tv and radio has programmed into my thoughts for the past 30 years. And in my weakened\u00a0state, those thoughts bring me comfort and I forget that I know more.<\/p>\n

I forget that when I began researching natural remedies for digestive ailments\u00a0in 2004, I learned that\u00a0if you take acid blocking medicine – prescription or over the counter antacids – you are stifling Nature’s process, and the acid is produced as an indicator to you, not unlike a gas gauge.\u00a0 It’s just telling you you’re getting low on resources and it’s time to fuel up.<\/p>\n

And fueling up seldom means\u00a0ingesting more, it usually means eating a balanced diet and getting more nutrients into your\u00a0system.\u00a0\u00a0If you take\u00a0acid blocking medicine, you\u00a0may not be absorbing nutrients from the food you do eat.\u00a0 That’s why\u00a0you\u00a0feel\u00a0constantly tired,\u00a0because you’re not getting\u00a0the vitamins and minerals, etc. you need from your food.<\/p>\n

So 3 days into my flu, I switched from Gatorade and Mylanta, to Emergen-C (see http:\/\/www.emergenc.com\/)<\/a> and clear vegetable broths.\u00a0 I know I was also getting better, but my heartburn stopped within hours.\u00a0 I still had\u00a0nausea\u00a0off and on, and my innards were still spasming, but the heartburn was gone.\u00a0 I also began to lose what must have been a sugar headache, and I felt less hyper and restless, which I also attributed to the sugar of the Gatorade.<\/p>\n

By Day 5, I had managed to get to Publix and bought\u00a0a jar of\u00a0Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base\u00a0and began making a very light broth, using 1\/4 tsp per cup\u00a0of hot water.\u00a0 I would do that every 4-5 hours.\u00a0 It has a very high, homemade flavor.\u00a0 I was tempted to gulp it, but knew better.\u00a0\u00a0I’m slow, but I’m learning!<\/p>\n

Also on Day 5, my friend Joy stopped by to share\u00a0some\u00a0bean soup she’d made.\u00a0 It was still warm and, although my first thought was “I am not going to put even a single bean through my digestive system right now”,\u00a0the container tempted me into opening it before I got to the fridge.\u00a0\u00a0 It smelled heavenly!\u00a0 She told me she’d made it extra soupy for me, so I took a tentative sip… ambrosia!\u00a0 I closed it up and put it in the refrigerator.\u00a0 Two steps out of the kitchen, I could taste it on my tongue… I turned around and got\u00a0it back out.\u00a0 The water of it had come to the top, so I took another sip and enjoyed the flavors in my mouth.\u00a0 I felt the cells of my body start dancing in a good way!\u00a0 One more quick sip and back to bed.<\/p>\n

I was able to nap a little and then got up and spent two hours working on the January Horizons.\u00a0 I was feeling much more nourished and revitalized, but knew not to attempt to do too much.\u00a0 I had been steadily drinking the Emergen-C\u00a0and sipping\u00a0the\u00a0organic vegetable\u00a0broth\u00a0every couple of\u00a0hours.\u00a0\u00a0 By 10pm I went to bed and slept straight through until 1:30am.\u00a0 Heaven!\u00a0 I think I had pleasant dreams.<\/p>\n

1:30am\u00a0 I woke up a little chilly.\u00a0 The temperature outside had dropped almost 20 degrees since I’d fallen asleep, so I jumped up to close my window, then took a hot shower and washed my hair.\u00a0 As I woke up more, I realized it had been hours since I’d had any tummy discomfort, despite my feast of clear broths all afternoon long.\u00a0 I recognized my tummy growling as good healthy bowel sounds and got excited!<\/p>\n

4:30am\u00a0I blew my hair dry and rolled it up into a bun, both\u00a0to keep it out of my way and to make it be wavy when I let it down.\u00a0 I could tell\u00a0I was feeling better since I gave thought to how I looked.\u00a0 I went into the kitchen and decided it was time for some more broth.\u00a0 I took out the bean soup and added hot water to it and gave it a good stirring.\u00a0 Then I strained about a cup of liguid out, and added 1\/4 tsp of the\u00a0Better than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base.\u00a0\u00a0 This wasn’t technically a clear broth because of the bean starch, but I knew it would be nourishing if I could keep it down.\u00a0 I was ready.\u00a0 I was going in.<\/p>\n

7:00am\u00a0\u00a0 Well it has stayed down, just some mild burping; I feel fine, and I have also had 19 oz of Cranberry Emergen-C overnight.\u00a0 I feel really nourished and psyched to be on the other side of my winter flu.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve had some good reminders that my food is my medicine.\u00a0 That I can overcome my past programming on essential areas like health, by doing my own research and then remembering what I know.<\/p>\n

We don’t forget because we’re getting senile.\u00a0 We forget because we’ve never made it\u00a0a discipline to be mindful and pay attention.\u00a0 We’re too lazy or it doesn’t seem important in the moment, plus we’re all self absorbed and shrinkwrapped\u00a0in our own insecurities.\u00a0 Then when something “real” in life happens, we fall apart because it isn’t in real life like we were programmed to believe it was going to be.\u00a0 And there’s no one to turn to, unless we’ve developed our own independent and internal resources.<\/p>\n

I’ve\u00a0been reminded that my body can be taken down in a moment, and that how long it takes me to snap back afterward is up to me.\u00a0 I’m lucky.\u00a0 I’ve got a good immune system, in 2004 I changed my diet so I eat a maximum of 50mg of fat per day, and very little processed foods.\u00a0 I\u00a0don’t eat sweets or ice cream or chips or things like that.\u00a0 I drink water and herbal teas, no caffeine, no alcohols, very little juice.\u00a0 I eat turkey,\u00a0chicken,\u00a0fish, maybe\u00a03-4 times a week.\u00a0 Plus I get my blood tested every 3-4 months to make sure my levels are all in balance.\u00a0 So I know I’m healthy and my diet helps determine how quickly I can\u00a0recupe.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It’s a\u00a0good reminder to me\u00a0that it’s not just a meal or a snack, it’s a building block for renewed cell structure.\u00a0 I’ve gotten more creative with salads lately, still training myself to love them \ud83d\ude42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I buy my produce at\u00a0local stands and I don’t always buy organic.\u00a0 When I am planning my salad, I am thinking less about taste than I am\u00a0about\u00a0what variety of nutrition I can get out of it.\u00a0\u00a0 I’m training myself that as I discover what is best for my optimum health, well I’ll just make myself love the taste of it, that will be the simplest.\u00a0 Yeah… I’ll let you know how that works out…. grin…<\/p>\n

The sun just peeked over the tree line and my body tells me it’s time for another nap, and… at last …\u00a0I’m learning to listen.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

In case the FTC is wondering<\/span><\/a>, I am not endorsing anyone.<\/p>\n

\"Add<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span>LISTEN FREE<\/span>: You Are Not The Body<\/a><\/p>\n

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