Well, another flu season is right around the corner (seasonal flu activity can begin as early as October) but the good news is there are things you can do to keep yourself well. I'm going to list a few lifestyle measures you can begin practicing now:
1. Do whatever it takes to get enough rest. When you're run down your immune system is run down and that's not something you want when exposure to nasty strains of influenza is likely. Take your sleep time seriously!
2. Develop a habit of keeping your hands away from your mouth and nose and wash them frequently, especially after touching "hot spots" like doorknobs, telephones, computer keyboards, etc. When possible, try to avoid shaking hands. Keep a hand sanitizer with you always for those times when soap and water (still the best!) aren't available.
3. Keep high-sugar foods to a minimum. Too much sugar can dramatically suppress the immune system for several hours after ingestion. And folks, that's all the time it takes for an opportunistic virus you may be harboring to "take hold."
4. Give consideration to the currently available flu vaccine.
5. Daily use of a high-quality vitamin C product.
The late Linus Pauling, Ph.D., a brilliant biochemist and two-time unshared Nobel Prize winner, was certainly the most well known advocate for the use of larger doses of vitamin C for the common cold and the flu. While Pauling's ideas were (and occasionally still are) ridiculed by certain "authorities" in the medical community, I've got to point out that the only scientist ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes hardly qualifies as the village idiot. As a matter of fact, no less a person than the late Robert A. Good, M.D., Ph.D., past President and Director of Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research, and widely known as the father of modern immunology, had this to say about Dr. Pauling:
"Linus Pauling was one of the greatest geniuses of the 20th century. He saw scientific problems and their solutions clearly when most of us could not see what he was talking about."
Pauling recommended several grams (1 gram = 1,000 mg.) daily along with other measures to help prevent or mitigate the cold or flu. To many folks that seems like a lot but for almost 31 years I've noticed doctors who have long-term clinical experience with the therapeutic or preventative application of vitamin C all recommend a good amount. There's an old saying: "You don't send a boy in to do a man's job." In other words, don't count on your morning glass of orange juice or an occasional vitamin C tablet to do much more than keep you from getting scurvy (vitamin C deficiency disease). For the average individual in good health 500-1,000 mg. taken morning and again evening (with your doctor's approval, of course) would be a reasonable preventive dose. But...if you're ill or feel you're becoming that way, you may want to consider taking a bit more.
Please read carefully: without a doubt cheap products which contain low-grade excipients (tableting agents) are responsible for most of the annoyances associated with vitamin C. These problems are virtually always gastrointestinal and may consist of upset or acid stomach, gas and sometimes mild diarrhea. I rarely see any of this but if it does happen, simply reduce the dose. However, a better alternative would be to spend a couple of extra bucks and buy a премиум product. Since 1982 I've personally taken several grams of Vitamin C a day and find that buffered (non-acid) products such as calcium or sodium ascorbate are not only better tolerated but may yield superior results as well.
Within the field of nutrition Vitamin C, when dosed properly, is by far the most powerful immune-enhancing and overall health-promoting agent we have with an almost non-existent toxicity. A quote: "I strongly believe that a proper use of ascorbate (Vitamin C) can profoundly change our vital statistics, including those for cancer."-Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, 1937 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine for work with Vitamin C.
IMPORTANT NOTE: My personal opinion is that Vitamin C, when combined with other health-promoting measures, may keep you from getting a cold or the flu. What it will do for a significant percentage of people is reduce severity of symptoms and shorten the duration of the illness. Also, the information and dosages in this article are not prescriptive and are not ужасно расскажу as such. Always consult your doctor before beginning the use of vitamin C or any other nutritional supplement.
Rusty Improta, BS, is a nutritional consultant and owns Rusty's Vitamins, located at 5 Chambersburg St., Gettysburg, 334-8212.
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