“When people sneeze, wipe their runny nose on their fingers, or cough, they put you in a position to catch a cold from one of two hundred or so rhinoviruses that take up residence in your nose.” Cold or flu is not something you catch, says Rubin. “When your body builds up enough toxic material and reaches a certain threshold, the symptoms of a cold or flu are the body’s way of eliminating the breeding ground where these germs live. Mucous is that breeding ground, so when you have the urge to sneeze or blow your nose, your body is discharging mucous and eliminating the germs it collected en masse.” Thus, sore throat, nasal drip, sneezing and so on are ways through which the body seeks to detoxify.

The book offers seven keys to unlock the body’s healthy potential and consequently ‘minimise the incidence of colds and flu and usually miss no more than a day of work per year’.

The first key is to eat to live. “Follow your gut and listen to your body,” advises Rubin. “If you feel lousy and have no interest in food, then don’t eat. If you feel up to a meal, by all means nibble on something… healthy, of course.” Another ‘key’, the most important one, is to practise advanced hygiene. “Your best defence against cold and flu germs,” declares the author. “Colds and flu start with the hands — not the respiratory system — because the hands and fingernails are the first areas where germs can establish a foothold.”

After germs set up camp on your fingertips, it’s only a matter of time before you rub your eyes, scratch your nose, stroke your ears, or touch your mouth, which sets the transfer of germs into motion, describes Rubin.

“Once that happens, your body’s immune system is under attack as the germs, like soldiers assaulting the beaches of Normandy, invade the portals to your body,” reads an apt war analogy. “Before you can say, ‘I think I’m coming down with something,’ your nose runs like the Mississippi, your throat is scratchy as sandpaper, and you’re sneezing like a circus clown trying to get a big laugh.”

Watch out, the most common pass of germs from one to another happens during a simple handshake. It may, therefore, be a smart strategy to switch to the traditional Indian greeting of namaste more often!

Healthy read.

More Stories on : Books | Health | Bill of Health

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page