Many people never get the flu - no matter which strain we are talking about. Do you? When you get the flu, are your symptoms severe? Are there high-risk people living with you? Then your preference for or against preventive measures must take them into consideration. (What if you got it and survived but transmitted it to them and they died? How would you feel?) In any case, 35,000-40,000 people in North America die of the flu each year. It is estimated that this number will double with H1N1.
Flu protection
There are three pathways you need to focus on with flu protection - any variety:
- Transmission
- Infection
- Inflammation
We will begin at the ending: Inflammation from the immune system that incapacitates - even kills - people when they have the flu. MOST IMPORTANT: The flu kills people not by transmission or by infection, but by an inflammatory immune system response called the "cytokine storm."
Our immune system is designed to neutralize and excrete any non-self protein it finds. That includes the influenza virus. The size of the immune response needs to be equivalent to the strength of the invader.
Think of this as a building on fire: small fires are extinguished by local fire fighters. Some fires are so big that fire fighters from other departments have to be called in to help. So, fires are designated as "one-alarm," "two-alarm," "three-alarm," and so on. At a certain point, our immune system pulls all of the alarms and immune system fractions from all over our body rush to put out the fire, so to speak. However, this is a case of fighting fire with fire. Cytokines are inflammatory. They kill viruses and bacteria by creating inflammation.
The cytokine storm is responsible for all of the symptoms we feel: fever, body aches, nausea, diarrhea, etc. It is also responsible for filling the lungs with mucous (pneumonia/pneumonitis) which is often the fatal trigger in influenza, SARS, Hanta virus, bubonic plague, etc.
To survive we must modulate the cytokine storm so that it does its job but doesn't overwork and kill us. We make it work smarter, not harder. So we don't use Vitamin C or Echinacea or anything that "boosts" the immune system. We use immune system modulators so we get exactly the right response. Quercetin (Betalains in are quercetin bioflavonoids), green tea polyphenols (found in) and ginseng (Panax and Eleutherococcus found in all balance the immune system and decrease the cytokine storm. Check out Energy now and adaptogen plus
Infection
Prior to the cytokine storm is the infection stage of influenza. The virus infects the cell by matching a cell receptor called Hemagglutinin. Hemagglutinin (the "H" in H1N1) allows the virus to gain entry to the cell and mutate the cell DNA so it can breed an infection. It also allows the newly mutated DNA to be incorporated into surrounding cells and through cell lines. Hemagglutinin describes "infection" with the flu.
Transmission
Neuraminidase describes "transmission" of the flu where the virus disarms the immune system with an enzyme. This is the "N" in H1N1, H5N1. Neuraminidase inhibitors like Tamiflu limit the ability of the virus to transmit its DNA strands. Two strong natural Neuraminidase inhibitors are green tea polyphenols and quercetin (Betalains It is likely that green tea polyphenols and quercetin will help your body do what it does best: resist infection. Think of them as the first line of defense to arm your immune system and prevent the flu virus from disarming it.
Brazon Minshew Chief Science officer-Trivita
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