Eating to Help Prevent Swine Flu

I have complete confidence that you've heard about the possible swine flu pandemic that might have started in Mexico and as of this writing, has entered Canada, USA, Spain and more places. It has caused 86 deaths and many more people have caught it and survived.


But don't take a chance; read this article (http://colorado-preppers.blogspot.com/2009/04/swine-flu-pandemic-possibility.html). Then take charge of your life to minimize your chances of getting this swine flu. Supercharge your immune system by making some changes today!

1. Healthful fresh foods and nutritional supplements.
2. Sensible daily exercise.
3. Stress reduction.
4. Heartfelt daily prayers or meditations.
5. Regular loving intimacies with your mate.

Let's concentrate on number 1: eating healthy foods and taking supplements. I've been reading, and based on independent research, many people believe that eating as close to Nature's Buffet will help boost your immune system. That means:

• Take a multi-vitamin daily
• Add to your supplements: echinacea, goldenseal, zinc, vitamin c, vitamin d, and peppermint
• Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and beans
• Don't overcook your food, eating as much raw as possible
• Add lots of garlic to your diet - it helps to clean out your blood and boost your immune system
• Eliminate all meats (animal products) and dairy products (cheese, yogurt, etc.) no matter how hard it is
• Eliminate all sugar, white flour, and any and ALL processed foods, especially any with words that don't naturally occur (like maltodextrin, dyes, enriched anything, etc.)
• Stock up on dehydrated (without sulphur) fruits and vegetables
• Start your garden, if you haven't already. Even if you have only a little bit of space in a tiny apartment, you can have a grow light and couple of pots growing fresh greens, carrots, tomatoes and peppers
• Grow and eat sprouts on a regular basis: beans, alfalfa, clover, etc.

We are pretty ready, considering VHTS (Very Hungry Tween Son) has adverse reactions to many foods, including corn, soybean, wheat, peanuts, seeds and nuts. We could have rice, millet or certified-gluten-free-oats daily, along with lots of rice crackers, homemade rice brownies. He also loves dried peas, blackberries, blueberries and mango so he could have those daily. We have lots of apples and pears - enough for a couple of weeks minimum. He loves canned baked beans so we have plenty of those. He will take fish oil in applesauce (to get more amino acids in him). He's a very picky eater, but I'm working on a flourless brownie that has lots of flax seeds (again, more amino acides) to hide certain bits of produce in it... like spinach, zucchini and carrots. I might be able to hide herbs in there too!

Our garden will soon produce carrots, radishes and greens/lettuce, although VHTS won't eat salads without ranch dressing. Our seedlings for tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, okra, etc. are comiing along well.

We have lots of herbs and medicines stocked up. Besides having lots of fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds and beans, be sure to have lots of herbs and supplements too. Peppermint to settle stomachs. Echinacea and elderberry for lung health. Goldenseal. Zinc. Vitamins C (strawberries!) and D. Grow the garlic. Step out into the sun for 15 minutes a day (that includes your gardening time!).

As you may know, we are starting to prepare to sell our house. We rented a storage unit this past weekend and plan to pack and add to it weekly. Meanwhile, in doing this, I seem to have misplaced much of our prep items, including the night-time cold medicine and cough syrup. That means, I need to get more, dag-nab-it! At least I know where all of the food is!


I already have a cough but have had this for the past couple of weeks so I'm pretty sure it's not the swine flu. But today... besides getting more cough medicine (and celebrating my birthday), VHTS and I have lots to do today:

• I just placed another order for dried fruits and veggies from my fav place (http://www.justtomatoes.com/)
• Ordered more N-95 respirator masks - hope they still have some in stock!
• Health food store for more herbs, rice crackers and puffed rice
• Sam's Club for more honey, peeled garlic, dog food and socks
• Wal-Mart for more water, chocolate chips, eggs
• Dollar Store for disposable gloves, goggles and plain masks

Unbelievably, though, I awoke to 4 inches of very heavy wet snow on my car! What the heck? I can't drive in this stuff any more. Argh!

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Disclaimer:

This website and specifically this article does not intend to replace professional assistance, either medical or legal. Please consult your physician for additional information.

Food Preparation for an Expected Power Outage

We had a blizzard this week. The weather people told us to expect it, but because we really haven't had bad weather this Winter, most people ignore the warnings. As they did this time. We didn't. We had prepared.

This picture shows our backyard as seen through our back door. Poor Sparky-the-puppy wanted to get in but I made him wait so I could take this picture. We got about 15 inches in 24 hours. By the time it was done, those pots in the back (last year's tomatoes) were in a 3-foot snow drift.

If you know there's a possibility of losing power, think about these:

• Many fruits and vegetables will hold their quality at room temperature, so keep some of them on hand always.
• Apples, bananas, tomatoes, grapes, heads of lettuce, squash, onions, potatoes, celery, peppers, and other produce will store well as long as they are stored in a cool and dark place.

We were ready. We had been stocking up for a while: rice, beans, honey, salt, dried fruits and vegetables, powdered milk, case of soy milk and bags of cereal for Tween. But...I went to Sam's Warehouse last weekend to stock up for my raw foods diet experiment. Spread on the dining room table are bags of pears, oranges and apples, bunches of bananas, onions and potatoes. We have even more potatoes (sweet and baking) plus onions in the basement, along with squashes and pumpkins left from our last year's harvest. The carrots from the fridge could have been moved to the basement.

We have sterno and a chafing dish for warming diced potatoes and onions. We have small cast iron skillets that will work with a little stove we made from a canned-ham-can and tea-lights.

Our power stayed on, but still, we were ready!