Lemon, Peel, and All? Absolutely.

FIGHTING SEASONAL COLDS?

Eat sliced lemon.  Peel and all.

HOW MUCH DO I EAT TO STOP A COLD?
As much as you can tolerate.

WHAT EFFECT CAN I EXPECT?
1)  A relaxation of body ache that comes with a cold or flu.
2)  You become less contagious.

I've heard the clarion through the years about reaching for Vitamin C immediately when you have a cold.  In the past, it's either been Ester-C or ascorbic acid.  But I don't like the fact that many, if not all vitamin supplements, are derived from genetically modified sources.  So I wanted to see if by reaching for real food that I might experience an equal or better response.  And it seems to bear itself out. The lemons with the peel cleanses your liver and intestines.  This cleansing alone is beneficial.  It doesn't do everything, but it does help in repairing the immune system.  Some might thing that eating slices of lemon is too strong or too much and that maybe a lemon wedge or slice in a glass of water would do. It would do. It just wouldn't do enough. Remember, you goal is to eliminate the virus that is causing the cold or flu.  Lemon slices will overwhelm any virus.  You will feel better.

STARVE A COLD, FEED A FEVER?  OR, FEED A COLD, STARVE A FEVER?

Remember that maintaining a healthy immune system is what's key.  And good nutrition is essential for a healthy immune system.  I would not starve a cold or a fever, but instead focus on your immunity and the foods that will boost it.  Since 80% of your immunity comes from healthy gut flora, paying attention to your gut immunity is vital.  To that end, probiotics are the go-to foods when one feels weak from a cold or flu.  In other words, yogurt.  Plain, whole milk yogurt.  During illness, avoid sweetened yogurts.  It's always your decision, of course, but in the service of rebuilding immunity, it's encouraged to go sugarless for a few days. What other foods contain probiotics?  Kefir appears in all the lists that you'll find online.  You can find unsweetened kefir, but I have yet to find whole milk kefir.  It's true that sometimes people get bilious or nauseous with the flu and dairy products may turn some people off, but the probiotics should settle your stomach.  The lemon peel will chase the virus away.  Probiotics targets the larger effects of a cold, in other words, your gut immune system.  It needs support during times of illness.    

Bob Wenzel on RomneyCare

RomneyCare Result: It Takes More Than Two Months to See a Specialist Physician in Boston

Well, surprise, surprise. The city at the heart of the 
most government interventionist healthcare system 
has the highest wait times to see a specialist than 
any other place in the country.

A survey of physicians nationwide found the 
average wait time for a new patient is nearly 
19 days, according to FOX DC. But the longest wait 
time is in Boston, Massachusetts at 72 days.

Massachusetts is the home of RomneyCare, which is 
the precursor to ObamaCare.  If ObamaCare is fully 
implemented, expect medical service shortages and 
wait times to soar. At some point, life expectancy in 
the United States is going to fall dramatically.

That's the nature of government intervention poorer 
service at a higher price.

Childhood Vaccines. All That Bad?

During the '80s, I got caught up in the low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diets.  Not only did I learn to think that there was nothing wrong with eating breads--lots of them--platefuls of pasta, pizzas, rice, and cereals, but I actually believed that breads and pastas were the by-product of a healthier lifestyle.  My mind, as if only by consensus and without any real thought, analysis, or garnering of a second opinion, was made up.  I ate like this for about 15 years.  I exercised all the time-basketball, running, tennis, hiking, you name it, I was active.  Oh, yes, I ate meat.  Lean meat.  Chicken breast.  Steak with the fat cut off.  Cottage cheese.  Pork?  Blegh!  Just too fatty.  Pastrami?  Is that allowed?  I internalized the U.S. food pyramid.    

Then one day I consumed two tablespoons of olive oil and wow did I feel immediate relief from general tension.  Later that year, I tried two tablespoons of Norwegian Cod Liver Oil and experienced remarkable mental clarity.  It was something.  

So for me, food and exercise have really been the most beneficial medicine.  But with this campaign at looking at food as the remedy for all ailments, I do understand the task of sifting through some dubious claims and campaigns. One of those is the anti-vaccine campaign.  I've heard and read a lot of the literature about the disgusting ingredients in some vaccines.  Also read the connection of childhood vaccines to autism and other cognitive and functional impairments.  It sounds bad.  But I wonder if the anti-vaccine campaign isn't just another campaign as, say, the high carb campaign of the '80s where people are taught that the vaccines--all vaccines--are poisonous with only destructive results.  

Just tonight I came across a story from Amy Parker, a British mother of two, who claims that her parents did everything right with regard to her diet growing up--grass-fed meats, home-grown vegetables, plenty of exercise, lots of water, no refined carbs, you name it--and yet she still contracted some life-threatening diseases that could have been prevented with vaccines.  I thought that her article was interesting, which is why I am re-posting it here.  Slate magazine posted it, and truth be told I am a little biased against Slate.  Still, her story is compelling.  She compares the health of her youth with that of the health of her two children who were vaccinated.  And the difference is astounding.  In a positive way.  Here is one excerpt from her essay:

My two vaccinated children, on the other hand, have rarely been ill, have had antibiotics maybe twice in their lives, if that. Not like their mum. I got many illnesses requiring treatment with antibiotics. I developed penicillin-resistant quinsy at age 21—you know, that old-fashioned disease that supposedly killed Queen Elizabeth I and that was almost wiped out through use of antibiotics.*  


UPDATE, Feb. 12, 2014: After having read this article, it is hard to believe Ms. Parker's story above. Give a look as to the ingredients of vaccines:  

Here are just a few of the facts that I learned from 

Catherine’s book:

• There are secret ingredients that don’t show up on labels, like the kidney cells of monkeys, cells from aborted human fetal tissue, and genetically engineered insect viruses.
• Adjuvants in vaccines actually weaken our immune systems, making us more susceptible to illnesses.
• Heavy metal ingredients pass through the blood-brain barrier and can cause life-long neurological damage.
• Undisclosed ingredients given in vaccines to very young children can be at the root of the rash of severe life-threatening allergies that so many people suffer from these days.
• The comparison of American vaccine schedules with the schedules of other countries is mind-boggling.
• Even though schools will try to tell you otherwise, there are exemptions available n every state for your child to attend school without receiving vaccinations.

Garlic: Nature's Strongest Antibiotic

By far, the best remedy for any lung condition is garlic.  Break a clove from the bulb, peel it, then place the side or flat end of a knife over it, smash the garlic so that it breaks and releases the enzymes.  From here you can do a few things.  One, you can swallow that clove whole and chase it with olive oil to suppress the burn going down.  Or, you can place the smashed garlic cloves in a frying pan with butter and broccoli and sear all three for a few minutes for a great snack, side dish, or meal.

Have a lung infection?

Then eat garlic.  Lots of it.

Destroy Annoying Pests with Food

The bitter rind of cucumbers chases ants away.  Much better option than those toxic sprays can linger for hours and leave a nauseating air.

You can add other ingredients to cucumber rind to make the chase of the critters even more hurried.  Here are a few amazing takeaways from the article linked in the previous sentence:

". . . keep crawling pests, such as ants, out. These include garlic – grind it up with water and apply – cayenne pepper, cinnamon, powdered charcoal, bone meal, talcum powder or chalk. Keep in mind that different pests have different aversions, so you’ll have to see what substance works best with the ones trying to sneak into your home."

"Boiling water is excellent for ant control or if you see where they are creeping into your house, squeeze some lemon into the hole or crack."

"If you don’t want to spread sugar around your house, boric acid, about as toxic to us as table salt, is naturally occurring and is another way to kill roaches dead."  I've had great success with boric acid to shoo roaches.

"Baking soda and powdered sugar mixed in equal parts is a good roach killer."

"Cloves smell better than moth balls and are a natural deterrent against winged pests."

"Grind rosemary leaves into a fine dust and sprinkle it onto your pet or its bedding to ward off fleas." And my guess is that their memory and temperament would improve as a result.