Fitness And Healthy Blog

According to the news yesterday, “Swine Flu” (a variant of influenza) is now officially a pandemic and has been upgraded from a level 5 to a level 6. That's not because it's more deadly but because it's transferring quickly and easily in at least 3 different countries.

Actually, cases have been reported in 74 countries, so it's clearly a global epidemic, but the WHO (World Health Organisation) says we shouldn't panic. So far there have been 26,563 reported cases and 146 deaths worldwide but there are suspicions the real numbers may be more.

The name “swine flu” has understandably upset the people in the pork industry and in some places there has been mass slaughter of pigs. However, although it's evident the virus passes from pig to human and human to animal, there seems to be no problem actually eating pork.

Anyway, the current strain of “flu” is a new variation of the influenza virus we see in humans, and is a mix of both the human and animal versions. It has been renamed A(H1N1), and differs from the annual influenza type virus (H1N1)in as much as this one affects mostly the under 25's and children, rather than the older people.

Incase you're interested, the H and N stand for geographical locations. H is North America and N is Eurasia.

Currently, the virus is quite mild and that appears to be one of the reasons it's spreading. People are treating it like a normal cold, going around sniffing and continuing life as normal. Several schools have been closed when there have been confirmed cases though, much to the delight of the other pupils. One young lad said his classmates had rung him up to say “Get better soon” and “Thanks!”

I must admit I'm not surprised the younger generation are affected because they never get a chance to build up their immune systems.

We live in a society, which insists on giving us vaccines against everything as soon as we draw breath; uses anti-bacterial sprays, soaps, and cleaners for this, that or the other; hands out antibiotics like sweets and puts them in our food supply. Then we're bombarded with toxic synthetic chemicals from every direction and expected to be healthy!

Swine Flu is a virus and the microscopic world is very intelligent. It has one aim – survival. A virus is not a living thing, but a tiny particle of inert genetic material, and the only way it can reproduce is to find a living host.

When a virus gets transferred either through the air or by touch, it enters the body through the mouth, nose or eyes. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells, and once inside, the virus takes over a living cell and instructs it to clone the virus.

The cell becomes overloaded and finally bursts, and as it does so virus particles are scattered and begin to multiply. At the same time, the dying cell releases interferon, which alerts the body something's wrong. Natural antibodies generated by the immune system automatically kick in to battle the intruder, and it's then a matter of speed and strength.

Clearly the stronger the immune system, the better the outcome, which is why you need to look after your gut.

Now before you think I've lost the plot, the reason I say it is because 85% of your immune system is in your gut. Did you know that? Well, you do now.

I discovered it when I got mercury poisoning because of my dental amalgams. Mercury is the second most toxic substance on the planet and weakens the immune system.

It's found in dental amalgam and certain vaccines amongst other things, and I also discovered, the more toxic your body is, the more aggressive viruses can be. That's because instead of being able to just concentrate on fighting the virus, the immune system also has to handle the toxins.

Toxins are everywhere and you can't avoid them. They're in the air you breathe, the water you drink, your vaccines, your skincare, your clothing, furnishings, and specifically in your food.

One way to boost your immune system is to take probiotic bacteria. These are the good, healthy bacteria, which everyone needs, but few of us have them in the amount we require. I have some every day, and don't say “Yuk”. They're great! It's no good being squeamish anyway, because whether you like it or not, you've got more bacteria in your body than actual cells!

When we're born our guts are sterile and need to be populated by bacteria. There are two types. Probiotic are the good guys and pathogenic are the bad ones.

The ratio of good to bad bacteria for a healthy immune system should be 85:15, but in most people it's the other way round. That means we have trouble dealing with the many environmental insults we're all exposed to on a daily basis.

If you've got sufficient of the right bacteria, your body will be protected from unwanted invaders. Toxins can be grabbed, neutralised and removed, and viruses never have the chance to take hold.

However, you need to replenish your probiotic bacteria on a daily basis because they're destroyed by all sorts of things including, antibiotics, stress, pollution, chemicals, dental work, prescribed medication, contraceptive pills, and old age, just to name a few.

Unfortunately, if the probiotic bacteria are wiped out, a window of opportunity opens up for the bad guys to flourish, and pathogenic bacteria don't need a lot of encouragement.

So, if you're worried about swine flu I suggest you get a really good probiotic inside you – NOW!