Have You Sanitized Your Nostrils Today?

If you know me at all you are probably aware that I am absolutely NOT a germaphobe. I would probably be closer to the opposite. (Would that be a germophile?) Maybe some day I'll go into all my thoughts on the matter but let's just say I grew up hearing "a little dirt makes you healthy" and I'm now one of those moms that lets her kids snack on food they find under the table. (Is that too much information? Don't leave me!)

I mean, I'm not a cave woman. I do own a bottle of anti-bacterial gel. We bought it when Bennett was born and it should easily last us another five years.

I'm sure I err on the side of not being too laissez-faire about germs, especially considering I have small children and it is cold and flu season. Even though I'm not careful enough, I don't want my kids to be sick either! (Ok, I admit I joked about hanging out with some swine flu infected friends so we can all get it, get better and be done with the drama. But I've not actually done it!) So, what's a lazy, non-paranoid momma to do?

Enter an interesting email forward. Uncharacteristically, I did not immediately delete it, but actually read it and then (gasp) sent on to some friends. I appreciate that it gave some tips for staying healthy but wasn't alarmist. I thought, "Hey, I could follow the recommendations without having to purchase gallons of Purell, carry paper towels with me for opening doors or keep my kids inside the house until April!"

Here is the email (For blogging purposes I've deleted a few of the extra details and explanations):

Here's a listing of some steps we can do to help keep us healthy during this cold/flu season! :-) This is a combo of things from Dr. Oz and a friend of mine ....

* The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

* While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat or bathe.)

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine or Hydrogen Peroxide if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water, or hydrogen peroxide. *blowing the nose softly once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. Drink lots and lots of water...not juice but water!

7. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

8. Vitamin C: Boost your natural immunity! Eat oranges and/ or grapefruit (the whole fruit not the juice) for the vitamin C or just take high doses of a good Vitamin C supplement. If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

9. Vitamin D!!! When people think of a vitamin to increase when they are sick they always think of vitamin C but Vitamin D is just as crutial! So far, Swine flu, H1N1, has killed thirty-six children in U.S. and analysis of CDC data indicates Vitamin D deficient children at higher risk of death. 58 million American children are Vitamin D deficient; 7.6 million are severely deficient. Vitamin D deficiency is found in ALL auto immune patients (MS, Fibro., remetroid arthits) as well as many cancers.

If you were to maintain your vitamin D levels within the optimal range of 50-65 ng/ml, you would likely avoid being affected during the cold and flu season entirely. Ultimately, your best bet – not just for cold and flu prevention, but for the prevention of an astounding number of common and often chronic diseases – is to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D year-round.

The best most natural way to get Vitamin D is through 30 minutes of sun exposure every day , WITHOUT SUNSCREEN!! If this is not possible than take a vitamin D supplement but first see your naturopath or physician and get your vit. D levels tested! Too much vit. D can be toxic to your body , cause osteoporosis and harden your arteries!

10. Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! The absolute best natural immunity booster!! Eat or swallow raw garlic cloves, as much as you can handle. And if you can't stomach any at all then go get a supplement. Kyolic is a good brand.

So, after reading this, thinking "ah, yeah, that's awesome!" and forwarding to friends, I looked at it with a more critical eye. Something about being "a combo of things from Dr. Oz and a friend of mine", probably because the author invoked the name of Dr. Oz, seemed awfully fishy.

I was transported back to textual criticism lessons from my Baylor religion classes. Suddenly it was glaringly obvious that the writing style, language and punctuation was inconsistent and one of the points was repeated twice. Hmmm...this stinks of a copy and paste job. My guess is it started with three or four points and then people added stuff (maybe tips learned from their doctor or great-grandmother) and deleted other things (kind of like I axed fluff I considered extraneous) before sending on to friends.

So I got my Google on and tried to tease out where this advice might have originated and if what validity there may be to the suggestions. This is what I found:

~~ Variations of this "article" is EVERYWHERE on the 'net. I'm confident there is no singular source, much less one reliable (as in a medical professional, organization or journal) source.

~~ This might be nit-picky but the claim that the "only portals of entry are mouth/throat" is not 100% true. Many sources, including the Centers for Disease Control, add the mucus membranes of the eyes as a potential area for a flu virus to enter the body.

~~ Here is some interesting analysis of this popular email forward. It includes opinions from some random physicians regarding the gargling, nasal swabbing, etc. (As far as I'm concerned, they are just that, RANDOM opinions.) According to this source, none of the techniques have been proven ineffective...although some are proven effective, others are disputed.

~~ Apparently, Dr. Oz does include a recommendation to increase vitamin D intake on his Swine Flu Prevention page. So maybe the big doc's name wasn't totally used in vain.

~~ More info about the vitamin D issue (which I found particularly fascinating) comes from Dr. Mercola, a widely read natural health proponent.

And that's about all I got. Turns out I'm not the best researcher. Either that or maybe Google isn't the premier research tool (could it be??). My exhaustive one hour of web searches didn't provide me all the answers I desired.

Even if my method of "research" falls short, it is apparent to me in talking to various medical professionals (my doctor, friends who are nurses and a nurse practitioner) plus reading WHO and CDC recommendations there is just a bunch of stuff we don't know for sure. No one disputes that hand washing, not touching your face, staying away from sick people and eating healthy are all Good Things when it comes to staying healthy. But other stuff...?

In conclusion (I know, you thought I'd lost the ability to come to anything resembling a conclusion) these tips make some sense to the interested, natural-remedy-leaning, non-medically-educated person like me*. It doesn't appear that implementing any of them in moderation could cause major harm**. Unless you consider some seriously stinky garlic breath "major harm".

So, I'm off to swab my nostrils and gargle some salt water. Why not? Adios and stay healthy!

* Reading my self description it occurs to me that doctors and other medical professionals who have spent years upon years in school probably hate people like me who like to think we know what's up.

** Certainly you realize that this is all my uneducated ramblings and I'm only coming to conclusions for myself and my family and not making any kind of medical suggestions for anyone else. Right? Ok, good!