Madison Chiropractor - 608 - 231 - 3900 - Cold & flu advice

As you already know, cold and flu season is either here or just around the corner and most people can't afford to stay home, especially now when we need as much money as we can get, and here with some preventative measures on colds and flus--and also what to do when you have one--is Dr. John Haase, a chiropractor at Walnut Grove. First, prevention--everybody knows it--you get germs on your hands, you touch your face, you get sick. But you say you have to look for the type of antibacterial gel or soap that has a certain amount of alcohol in it? Well, number 1 is washing your hands. It's even more important to do that than get a product like this. This works pretty good because it has over 60% of ethyl alcohol in it. That's the trigger point. Less than that, you're just spreading the germs around, so this product has exactly 62%, and so if you do buy a product like this make sure that it has a high ethyl alcohol content. Antibacterial soap or non-antibacterial soap? Does it matter? There's not enough in there to kill the germs effectively. Really, washing away the viruses and germs is the most important thing that you can do. After that, if you're going to use an antibacterial, use one with high alcohol content in it. Okay, now we have a bunch of supplements here, so once you get a cold or try to prevent it, what do we have here? The mainstay, of course, is vitamin C. There are studies done at the University of Wisconsin proving--actually the largest study in the country--proving that it will reduce the duration of the affects of the cold if you up your vitamin C. And that's the only known way to reduce the duration of a cold? No, there's a number of ways to do it. We have historically Echinacea and garlic which a lot of studies have been done. There's some controversy about Especially with Echinacea. Indeed, there is. It's a cone flower and some people swear by it. Other people think that it doesn't do a whole lot, but nonetheless, there's a lot of people that feel that it does quite a bit. And sometimes the science has to catch up to the history of taking these type of herbs. See, I actually think Echinacea works. My mother shoved it down my throat when I was growing up and I really do think it works. I haven't taken it in years. I mean I'm more sick now than I was when I was younger, especially being in school, everybody else was sick so I got sick more. Well, the combination is really important. It's not just Echinacea, it's not just garlic, it's high end nutrition, designer nutrition, which complements the nutrients that you are taking into your body which provide a level of immunity to resist colds. And the thing with vitamin C is that we don't create that in our bodies, right? Well, that's good, we were talking about that earlier. Humans are one of the few animals that don't create vitamin C. For instance, a goat will produce 27 grams of vitamin C a day. That's like us eating a hundred oranges a day. And, you know, animals can eat all kinds of flesh that's been on the ground for awhile and resist that infection, and they do it this way. The quick answer is that it prevents oxidation of free radicals. Free radicals are like a spark coming off your fire and burning a hole in your carpet. But in the case with your cells, that cell—that spark—will hit the cell and then it will transfer to the next cell, and the next cell, and the next cell, damaging every one, and that's the domino effect that vitamin E and vitamin C will stop, and that's why they're so important. Okay, we're pretty much out of time but real quickly, what about supplements like Ultrapreventative X? So best multi-mineral in the world. Why? Because the bible which you're all welcome to take a look at at any time at my office takes about 1500 of the best supplements in the country and rates them. And don't forget about your kids by the way. They need supplements just as well as you and I, in fact, probably even more as they go through their growth phase. Okay, sounds good, Dr. Haase, thank you so much for joining us.