Experiment #1: Flu Virus

This past year, I've been acting as a lab rat for my own health experiments.  If I was going to spend a good chunk of my life dedicated to holistic health care then I wanted to make sure I truly believed in it; and more importantly, I needed to see if it really worked for a variety of health conditions.

Every year around late-December, I'm in bed for about 2 weeks with a high fever; chills; body ache; ear ache; chest pains and migraines.  There have been a couple of winters when I had to be admitted to the hospital because my fever was so high.  Despite getting my annual flu shots in October, I'd still get the flu. 

This year, I opted to forgo the flu shot.  I wanted to see if there were conscious, mindful preventative care I could add to my life throughout the winter season that would prevent me from getting ill.

I didn't get the flu this year.

My main plan was to boost my normally weak immune system.  I have an extremely sensitive body and it's just something I've learned to accept.  As I've learned more about viruses and how they work, the notion of flu vaccinations doesn't seem to make much sense to me. 



In touch with my Inner-Nye

 Viruses, like the flu, is a protein that can't survive on its own.  To survive, it needs  to latch onto a healthy, host cell, dump all its genetic material and tell it to start reproducing. 

Our immune system is made up of white blood cells (WBC), that immediately responds to the viruses reproducing.  There are a variety of WBC, like T Memory WBC, which sole purpose is to remember the genetic codes of the virus.   Through memorization, the T memory cells can alert the other WBC to attack faster and quicker the next time the virus enters the body.  It's kinda like remembering every, single information about your lame ex-boyfriend so the next time you meet another "musician" - All those red-flags flash louder and faster.  Totally a hypothetical correlation, of course.

I spent the entire summer researching, reading and devising my "Master Plan: Anti-Flu 2010/2011".  Meh, it ended up being more like conscious reminders throughout the winter and always being aware of my lifestyle choices.

1. Clean - Schools, airports, train stations -- Post-modern petry dishes.  I became obsessed with washing my hands and carried around my hand-sanitizer everywhere.  I had to drill into my head, viruses are spread through liquid droplets.
2. Diet - Garlic, Lemon, Ginger, Kale, Salmon, Yogurt - I love eating clean, fresh, light food like Greek cuisine but for the winter, my body was craving hearty, warm meals.  Vegetarian chili, baked squash, ratatouille, bouillabaisse and delicious soups loaded with vegetables.  I ate more carbs and eased up a little on the protein but I was always conscious of eating complex carbohydrates.
3. Sleep - I stopped listening to the advice, an average adult needs X amount of sleep, and started listening to my body.  My body functions best at 9 hours of sleep in the winter.  As the hours get longer and the days are warmer, I sleep less but during the winter, 9 is perfect.




Kettle balls: Perfect for one-shoulder outfits


4. Exercise - This was hard but I continued the majority of the winter working out 5 to 6 times a week.  There were times when I skipped (and later, regretted) a couple weeks but I got back on it when I started getting depressed and feeling sluggish.  I tried new workouts that I never thought I would enjoy like plyometric training, boxing and kettle ball workouts.  I'm not a runner; and when I do, I prefer running a treadmill that instills the fear of falling on my face if I stop.  I do, however, really like interval training and that's what I did most of the time with a day of yoga/pilates.




Best fish tacos: Santa Cruz, California


5. Chill out - The more I learn about human body, the more I look towards nature for answer.  During the winter, animals either head South or hibernate.  I took a trip West and soaked up the Vitamin D in California.  I also gained a little weight and slowed it down.  I didn't work as hard during the winter.  I chilled out more.  I bought the most colorful "Fat Pants", hung out with my BFF and watched all the Karate Kid movies. 



Grind 'em up w/hot cereal tea.



I also embraced TCM and relied on it heavily.  I went in for more acupuncture sessions and took herbs whenever I felt weak.  My body is uber-sensitive, especially during the winter; and particularly when it's cold and windy.  I can easily become Yin Deficient as TCM states.  On the advice of my practitioner, I increased the amount of foods that were blue/black like black beans, mulberry teas, seaweed and black sesame. 

According to TCM, these foods help boost and rebalance the Yin.  In Western terms, this is very similar to the endocrine system.  The nervous system responds mad quick; whereas the endocrine system responds very slowly but has an extremely long-term effect.  Western medicine doesn't really talk that much about the endocrine system because it's not as "sexy" as some of the other systems.  Holistic medicine is very concerned with this system because there are many diseases that begin with the imbalance of hormones, lymph fluids and lymph nodes.  It may takes years for the symptoms to manifest and affect other systems which makes preventative care imperative. 

It's now spring and I can't believe I went through an entire winter without getting sick.  I had a few days of mild colds but nothing that kept me bedridden for 2 weeks.  It wasn't easy, especially on those cold days when all I wanted to do was wear my hoodie, flannel pants & fuzzy socks.  But it wasn't that hard either. 

Truthfully, it was just... Eh... Annoying.  I didn't do anything that was vastly different from what I've been told for years - Wash your hands; exercise; eat right; blah blah blah.  We know these are the things that keep us healthy but we get lazy.  We ignore our health until it debilitates us; until it becomes a distraction.  It's such a warped way of thinking. 

I got tired of getting sick every winter and having my body take so long to recover.  I weighed out my options: Quit being lazy and work mindfully towards my health through preventative care or Get sick... Again.  I decided to put my health at the forefront of my consciousness.  I have to say, I'm pretty amazed at how my strong my body felt all throughout the winter season but I'm stoked to see how this will continue and how it will affect my long-term health.