How to stay healthy this flu season without the help of big pharma

With shorter days getting shorter by the minute and colder temperatures riding the coattails of autumn, it's only natural that images of your fevered sniffly achy self pathetically lying in bed or on the couch with a thermometer sticking out of  your mouth become more frequent, but haunting?  It doesn't have to be so.

So how then do you stay healthy when all those around you are willingly overdosing on cold and or flu medicine as if they had stock in the very pharmaceutical companies pushing these drugs?

Well for starters don't panic.  A healthy immune system is an amazing and surprisingly intelligent fighting machine.  It's the kind of thing all of the great Sci Fi  films are made of...  It learns, remembers, and attacks with precision strikes!  It has however one critical flaw, to learn and remember it has to first actually be exposed to... and therein lies the problem.

We have become a society of 'live unhealthy and let big pharma take care of the rest'... Who needs a working immune system when there is a shot, pill, or elixir just waiting to be had?  Well, if avoiding sickness and disease is your intention then the answer is you do!

I will share with you my secrets but first you should know it really is not a secret at all, and I really can't take any credit for it because much of it (that of which is not common sense or trial and error learned) is based on others research that I've simply picked up along the way.  So without further ado...

1. Maintain a healthy diet.  A rule of thumb should be if it promotes a healthy gut (digestive system) and inhibits inflammation (NOT promotes inflammation) while satisfying your inner carnivorous need for pastured animal protein, animal fat, and animal fat soluble vitamins, then it's a healthy diet. I recommend incorporating unpasteurized fermented foods such as sauerkraut and kefir into your diet, while avoiding gluten and minimizing grains as they are high in omega-6 which promotes inflammation.
2. Get some sun.  I am using sun as a synonym for Vit D, with the understanding that the sun is the healthiest most efficient and most natural source of 'D' available.  Avoid sun screen!
3. Exercise regularly.  My favorite exercise is hiking or running (barefoot) OUTSIDE on NATURAL surfaces.  Not only do you get the basic cardiovascular benefits of exercise as well as fresh air and sunlight, you also get the added benefit of 'grounding' and natural healing from barefoot contact with the earth due to the naturally occurring magnetic fields.  
4. Get sufficient rest.  Sleep is important period; no way around it, and insomnia or any chronic sleeping issues is a sure sign of unhealthier things to come. 
5. Take only good quality supplements.  Your best bet are whole food supplements when possible.  I take a fermented cod liver oil for omega-3 with the added benefit of vitamin D, A and K.  I also take a wild greens powder supplement which is loaded with vitamins and antioxidants.
   
6. Eat local sustainably farmed meats, dairy, eggs, and veggies.  Most anything else you buy is a product of factory farming (grain fed, omega-3 deficient, antibiotic/hormone inoculated) animals.
7. Make sure any store bought foods are organic non-GMO.
8. Don't use pharmaceuticals!  Over-the-counter or Rx, and this includes vaccinations.
9. Don't use antibacterial soaps!
10. Avoid hospitals when possible.  For that matter avoid doctors as well...
11. Use only organic or chemical free products for all your hygiene needs.   This means fluoride free, sulfate free toothpaste.  Your dentist may tell you otherwise but if you do the research you will see that fluoridation of all types (drinking water or topical) is toxic not to mention fluoridated water is  byproduct of the phosphate chemical fertilizer industry!
12. Use only plant based chemical free (organic if possible) household cleaning products.
13. Practice some sort of meditation.  A stress free life is a healthy life.