A lot of people are hearing on the radio and on television that this is flu season. The flu is around all year long, it isn’t just here during one season. The thing is that the other months of the year people make better health choices. That means that they are making wiser choices on what they eat and they tend to exercise more. They also get a lot more natural sunlight which gives them natural Vitamin D and they tend to drink more water because they are hot.

When the weather starts to get colder, people start to change their habits. They don’t exercise as much, their water consumption goes down, they aren’t seeing as much sunshine and they start to fall off of good habits like eating healthy. People start to eat more comfort foods which are laden with refined sugars, such as Pumpkin Spice lattes, hot chocolate, cakes, and cookies.

When you look at the holidays, the major holidays start in October, during Halloween. Every holiday after that encourages some sort of sugar eating. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Easter are all major sugar holidays. During these holidays there is a lot of encouragement to eat a lot of pies, cakes, and sugar.

The problem with sugar is that it destroys your immune system functions. It actually suppresses your immune system for 6 hours after eating it. When your immune system is suppressed, it is not working at optimum levels, your immune system is distracted from other things, other jobs it normally has like identifying the flu virus and getting rid of it before it becomes a problem for you physically.

This is what happens in the summer. When you are eating less sugar and are making better health choices your immune system has the opportunity to fight off the flu virus and remove it from your body.

The flu is around all year long, so why the press for the flu vaccine now, during this time of the year? It is because people are making bad health choices. The medical community knows that people are going to be over-consuming sugar in all forms and they are trying to stop an epidemic of the flu.

Should I get the flu shot?

It is a totally personal preference. If you are taking care of your body, making sure you’re eating right, taking vitamin D, drinking enough water and getting adjusted regularly, you should have no need for the flu shot. If you choose to not take care of your body, don’t get regular adjustments, and over-indulge then you might want to consider it.

The biggest take away is that you need to make your health a priority in order to stay healthy. During this holiday season if you know that you’re going to be eating sweets, pies, and cakes, moderate your intake a taste of each dessert will do. You don’t have to consume the whole pie!

Make sure that if you’re going to eat sweets you are drinking more water, getting more sleep and try to get some exercise in. Also, try to schedule an adjustment with your CBP doctor and get your spine right for the holidays.

For more information ask Dr. B at [email protected]