As any good mother would want to make sure their child is protected from the H1N1, I received an email from my mom yesterday with advice about flu pandemic preparation.  I’m taking some other precautionary steps as well, and will share them with you below.

I also wanted to be sure you are aware of the website  PandemicFluOnline.com. If you are not familiar with the origins of this flu, and the ingredients in the vaccine, this site is a MUST SEE.  I will be doing future blog posts on this subject, but first want to clearly say up front that I do not recommend taking the flu vaccine in any way, shape, or form.

Here’s the email I received from my mother:

Swine Flu Prevention – Good Advice

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS, DRM, DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital, Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it’s almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. “Hands-off-the-face” approach.

Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don’t trust salt).

H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation.

In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don’t underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water.

Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga as an answer to clean nasal cavities), but blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.

5. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (and other citrus fruits).

If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can.

Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.  END.

For flu pandemic preparation, upping the amount of Vitamin D intake as a natural defense is also advised.  I aslo use an ionic silver product called InVision Silver 100. I spray it into my mouth, into my nose, and soon I will nebulize it straight into my lungs as a further precaution.  It’s my understanding you have to be careful with what type of silver product you use, especially ionic silvers, and this product answered my concerns and was also reasonably priced.

I also upped my garlic and antioxidant dietary supplement intake, and am cutting back on all sweets.  I am also concerned about the virus getting into our water supply if this flu is truly engineered into a pandemic.  It’s always a good idea to drink and shower with filtered water due to the fluoride and pollutants in water anyways, and I think it’s also a good time to also start brushing your teeth with filtered water as well.

I wish someone could come up with some type of invention where you could clean your toothbrush in graduated glasses of filtered water.  It’s hard to rinse your toothbrush when you don’t have a filtered water faucet at your bathroom sink.  Maybe it’s time for a whole house water filtration system!

I hope these flu pandemic preparation tips are helpful for you and keep you healthy!  And thanks for the email Mom!

Sharon Lorraine