Metropolitan France, where the epidemic threshold has been reached for several weeks now faces massive influenza A (H1N1), especially in Paris. Nearly 200,000 people visited their doctor last week, nearly 100 patients were hospitalized, with 22 severe cases and 4 deaths. The world’s nearly 6,000 deaths were attributed to this disease. Faced with this situation that worries many people, it is worth recalling that several studies show the benefit of interventions in the lifestyle to enable the organization to strengthen its field and to protect themselves from viral infections. This is the subject of my column this month in Psychology Magazine. It seems to me important to share it here.
On his deathbed, Louis Pasteur, the man who discovered the viruses and bacteria and then invented the first vaccine to have said: “The microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything! “Why? Because our ‘field’ – our immune system, our capabilities antioxidant and anti-inflammatory – is generally much stronger than these bacteria and viruses. When we are bombarded with information about swine flu, it is time to remember this essential message.
During the epidemic of “Spanish” Flu of 1918, there is much more resistant than others to the virus. In his forthcoming book on the subject (1), Thierry Souccar tells of the experiences at the time (unimaginable today): Dr. Milton Rosneau, Boston, United States, had infected more than one hundred young recruits the Navy with secretions from patients with flu secretions that he had injected directly into the nostrils, throat and eye. After ten days, none had developed flu! Their “field” had the virus. Today, many studies have demonstrated the importance of several factors that contribute to strengthening the field against viral infections.
Sleep: sleeping eight hours or more per night divided by three the risk of developing a cold after exposure to the virus (compared to those sleeping seven hours or less) (2). Yeast Infection No More If you can, enjoy your sleep as if it were an antiviral medication!
Physical activity: moderate physical activity (eg walking thirty minutes five days a week) stimulates the immune system and greatly increases resistance to infection (3).
The daily diet:
Reduce sugary foods or white flour, and fats in general. Preferably use olive oil and rapeseed;
increase, until the seven-fold, your servings of vegetables and fruit a day. Food “anticancer” are also antiviral, for the same reasons (the presence of flavonoids and polyphenols). Eat garlic, onions, shallots – remembering that during the First World War, the hairy advised consumed two to three cloves of raw garlic every day to protect themselves from influenza;
also eat broccoli, cabbage and mushrooms (oyster, reishi, maitake, shiitake, enokitake, crimini and portobello), used as immune stimulants in Japanese hospitals;
drink green tea, three to six cups a day, not without food (not to reduce the absorption of iron). EGCG, the catechins in green tea, very active against cancer, is also a powerful antiviral. A U.S. study (4) has been shown to reduce by one third the risk for influenza;
add herbs and Mediterranean spices (oregano, thyme, turmeric) every day, at least during a meal for their antiviral effects and anti-inflammatory. It is encouraging to know that what strengthens our field work without discrimination against all the diseases we want to stay away: the flu to cancer. Pasteur had an intuition of genius: the field is …
1. “To prevent and cure the flu” Souccar Thierry (Thierry Souccar Publishing, 2009).
2. “Sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold” by Sheldon Cohen et al., In Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009.
3. “Current perspective on exercise immunology” by David c. Nieman, in Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2003.
4. “Specific formulation of Camellia sinensis Prevents Cold and Flu Symptoms and Enhances gamma delta T cell function” of Cheryl A. Rowe et al., In Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 200