8 Natural Alternatives to the Flu Shot
It is that time of year…every grocery store, pharmacy, and school is heavily marketing and promoting getting a flu shot. Vaccinations are a controversial topic. For those in the natural health and medicine fields, it is counter-intuitive to inject the body with foreign contaminants and known harmful toxins in an attempt to trick the immune system into doing its job.
It goes against the fundamental premise that the body is intelligent enough to heal itself and will heal itself if given the right tools and building blocks.
Currently, we see vaccines being dispensed with no medical oversight or caution. You can walk into your local drug store and be injected on the spot by a pharmacy tech with no rhyme or reason other than to sell a vaccine.
It has been found without question time and again that there are many adverse side effects, especially for children and their effectiveness is scantly supported.
Even on the CDC’s website, it states, “How well the flu vaccine works (or its ability to prevent influenza illness) can range widely from season to season and also can vary depending on who is being vaccinated. During years when the viruses in the vaccine and circulating viruses are not well-matched, it’s possible that no benefit from vaccination may be observed.
However, even during years when the vaccine match is very good, the benefits of vaccination will vary across the population, depending on the characteristics of the person being vaccinated and even, potentially, which vaccine was used.” Things to consider before you get the flu shot….
- A scientific study published in The Lancet reveals that influenza vaccines only prevent influenza in 1.5 out of every 100 adults who are injected with the flu vaccine
- Neurological problems due to nerve damage after vaccination are a fairly common adverse event with flu vaccines. In 1976, there were more cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome reported after vaccination than there were confirmed cases of Swine flu.
- You may not even get protection against the intended virus. Why? First, because viruses change over time. The piece that was in the vaccine may not ‘look’ the same (chemically) as the real thing (months later, after all!). Second, the vaccine may not have given you enough stimulation to fight off the disease.
There is no single virus that causes the flu; there is no one flu vaccine that protects against all of them. - The vaccinated population has a much higher rate of infections than the non-vaccinated population. For example, research shows that vaccinated versus unvaccinated children suffer: – five times more asthma – nearly three times more allergies – over three times more ear infections – over four times more apnea and near-miss cot death – nearly four times more bouts of recurring tonsillitis – ten times more hyperactivity
- Vaccinated children also have 317% more ADHD, 185% more neurologic disorders, and 146% more autism than non-vaccinated children.
- Natural is always better! The body was meant to self-heal and self-regulate. Natural remedies not only do not contain any harmful toxins, but they also do not cause an imbalance in the body’s systems rather they strengthen the body’s own natural healing defenses and activate the body’s own healing response, which is millions of times more powerful than any vaccination or drug that can be made in a laboratory.
Table of Contents
Here are 8 Natural Flu Shot Alternatives
1. Vitamin D
Robert Edgar Hope-Simpson was one of the first to discover the link between a deficiency in solar radiation and seasonal influenza. Then, in 2006, the journal Epidemiology and Infection published Dr. John Cannell’s paper “Epidemic Influenza and Vitamin D,” which presents the hypothesis that influenza is little more than a symptom of vitamin D deficiency.
The fact of the matter is that if your immune system is operating optimally, your chances of contracting a cold or flu-like illness or influenza are very slim.
Vitamin D is an important player in overall healthy immune function, but it’s also an effective antimicrobial agent in its own right, producing 200 to 300 different antimicrobial peptides in your body that kill bacteria, viruses, and fungi. So optimizing your vitamin D levels will help combat viruses in more ways than one.
The sun is your most significant natural source of Vitamin D, although it is present in small amounts in certain foods. The best plant-based source of vitamin D available is shiitake mushrooms.
If you decide to take supplements to boost your vitamin D levels, based on the latest investigations by Carole Baggerly, director of GrassrootsHealth, the average adult dose required to reach healthy vitamin D levels is around 8,000 IUs of vitamin D per day. For children, many experts agree they need about 35 IUs of vitamin D per pound of body weight.
2. Protandim
Protandim is a proprietary blend of 5 traditional herbs that came out of the University of Colorado after 40 years of research. Research shows that this specific combination of herbs in this specific ratio activates the body’s own antioxidant enzymes.
Our own internal antioxidant enzymes are 1 million times more powerful than antioxidants from foods or supplements. BY increasing the body’s own antioxidant enzymes the body is better able to protect against invading germs, viruses, and bacteria and keep the body in balance, which equates to better health.
3. Fresh, Organic Foods
Eating fresh, organic foods helps to continually cleanse your body or germs and bacteria. Fresh foods provide your body with the highest quality and quantity of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals like antioxidants and active enzymes all of which help the immune system stay strong and fight off germs. During flu season increase your fresh or raw food ratio to 80% and eliminate all processed and refined foods which reduce the effectiveness of the immune system.
4. Green Juices
Green juices are high in all the nutrients previously mentioned for fresh, organic foods, but taking in these nutrients in the form of juice flushes and cleanses cells, allows you to take in way more nutrients then you would ever be able to eat and requires no digestion so there are a much higher absorption and assimilation rate of nutrients. Drink 2 glasses of green juice daily, and every hour on the hour if you happen to get the flu. Green Flu-Free Juice Serves 1 (makes about one cup)
- 2 cups spinach
- 1 large kale leaf
- 1 large rainbow chard leaf
- 1/2 a beet
- 1/2 of the beet greens
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 medium celery stalk
- 1/2 medium cucumber
- 1/2 medium apple, such as Gala or Fuji
- 1 (1/2-inch) piece fresh ginger root
- Put all ingredients in a juicer. Stir well and serve right away.
5. Garlic & Onion
Besides being rich in antioxidants and selenium, garlic has powerful antibacterial and antiviral properties. Both garlic and onions are part of the Allium family, which is rich in sulfur-containing compounds responsible for many health-promoting effects, most especially killing off pathogens.
Both should be consumed raw and within 15 minutes of cutting, because that is when their oils are the strongest and will have the most powerful effect on your body. Keep both fresh and organic on hand and add chopped to your recipes.
