table of contents:
I. preface
II. gut health regiment (pre/pro-biotics, walking exercise, sunlight, regular sleep, avoid sugar)
III. knowing your triggers and avoiding them
IV. remedies (small chunk of ginger in your mouth, nasal saline flush)
V. tips to stay comfortable while having the flu (soar throat, fever, colds, etc ...)
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I. preface
a while back there was a house construction going on near my house. i can hear the construction workers talking and laughing all day despite the heat and their intense physical labor. on the other hand, i was always sick despite always eating healthy, exercising, and having zero stress in my life. i was astounded when i saw one of the construction workers jogging very early in the morning before going to work, as if the 40 hours a week of grueling labor was not enough for him.
if i work in construction even for just 2 hours, i will get very fatigued. if i work for 4 hours, i will get sick. yet construction workers do it for 40 hours a week until they are old. on the weekends, i can hear them getting drunk until the wee hours of the morning. unbelievable !!! i wanted to get their autographs but they might think i'm crazy. if i ever get married, i would impregnate my wife with their sperm instead of mine because my biggest fear is that i will have a child who will have to suffer their entire life like me.
ever since i was kid, i was frequently suffering from flu. it always starts as if my throat is being pricked with needles. it hurts a lot when i swallow my saliva or food. the next day i get sinusitis, then fever and body aches, then asthma. it usually lasts 3-5 days. after i recover i get 2-3 weeks of immunity and reprieve. but then it starts again like clockwork.
when i was a kid, i simply took the medicines that doctors prescribed but none of them helped. in college, i started to find natural remedies like drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruits rich in vitamin C. they made my illness a little less painful and allowed me to function and attend classes. but the frequency of my illness did not improve. i started recording my symptoms in my diary so i can monitor if my remedies and regiments had any effect or not. the following is a link to the sample pages of my diary in college 33 years ago: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1R25Jnb3VLEVxI3GRK3i3hhD2pEYdrKXE?usp=sharing
what drives me crazy is every time i go to the doctor to get a physical check up, the doctor would always tell me i'm very healthy.
my ultimate goal in life is to be like a construction worker, traffic cop or jeepney driver who can toil in pollution and extreme heat everyday and never fall ill. i'm pretty sure i will never reach that dream, but at least i finally found the regiment and remedies that improved my quality of life. i wouldn't trade my discoveries for a billion dollars. it's as if i won a billion dollars worth of quality of life. i only get sick twice a year. and when i do get sick, i don't suffer. i still need to rest when i get sick, but i feel comfortable and don't suffer any pain and loss of appetite.
in this article, i will share the health regiments and remedies that i learned from various scientists, experts, and doctors. this article is 30 years in the making.
there are illnesses that cannot be cured or improved by any diet, exercise, or medicine. that is why despite all my sufferings, i'm still thankful and grateful. i was never bitter or angry. instead, i was motivated and sometimes even excited to find the solution to my sufferings.
one of my mistakes all these years was i was trying to find the cure or silver bullet to end my sufferings. turns out there is NO SINGLE BULLET. it's more of a military industrial complex or an arsenal of healthy diet, exercise, sunlight, knowing and staying away from my triggers, remedies that help prevent the illness, and stuff i need to do to keep me comfortable when i do fall ill.
II. gut health regiment (pre/pro-biotics, walking exercise, sunlight, regular sleep, avoid sugar)
my gut health regiment is in the following article: https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2020/10/make-filipinos-healthy-again.html
III. knowing your triggers and avoiding them
if you know what causes an illness, of course it's better to just avoid them. even if there is medicine for your illness, there will still be a certain amount of suffering or SIDE EFFECTS. example, allergy relief medications gives me dry mouth and head aches, which to me is worse than the allergies.
too much medication can also HARM your KIDNEYS.
different people can have DIFFERENT triggers for the same illness. sometimes they are even opposite. example, for some asthmatics, cold weather causes asthma while for some, cold weather prevents asthma and hot weather gives them asthma.
you must exert a lot of time and effort to find out your triggers. whenever you have an episode of your chronic illness, RECORD everything you ate, the weather, the smells, and your activities a few hours or days before the illness. a doctor can also assist your experiments become more efficient and targeted.
avoiding triggers can involve DIFFICULT DECISION making. you need to weigh the pros and cons and take into account your priorities.
example, i'm allergic to POLLEN and fungal spores, but i also enjoy playing golf. so i wear an n98 surgical mask when playing golf. but the pollen and spores can still enter through my eyes. so i wear a carpenter's protective goggles over my glasses. but the goggles will distract me when i'm hitting the golf ball. so i need to remove the goggles every time i'm hitting the golf ball. luckily, the amount of pollen and spores that enter my eyes during the short periods of time i need to remove the goggles are insignificant. when it's raining or the grass and trees are wet, i don't need to wear a mask or goggles because the pollen and spores can't go airborn. i also play indoor golf most of the time and only play on the golf course 1-2 times a month.
if you are a digital nomad like me and your pollen and fungal spore allergies are severe, you can live in a place where there is SNOW. you can enjoy winter sports such as snowboarding as a hobby. then when spring approaches, just migrate to the opposite hemisphere where winter is starting. in the northern hemisphere, kiev ukraine is suppose to be the best place to live for me because it has a small ski resort, golf driving range which is open even during winter, and everything is cheap due to their insanely weak currency. but of course you should only go there when there is no more war. the reason why God allowed russia to invade ukraine is so that i will be forced to live in the philippines and help make fillipinos healthy again.
IV. remedies (small chunk of ginger in your mouth, nasal saline flush)
whenever i feel a slight IRRITATION on my throat, which is usually how my soar throat and flu illness starts, i immediately put a small chunk of ginger on my mouth. i don't chew or swallow it. i simply bite slightly on the ginger just enough to release the spice and kill the bacteria that can cause me to have a full blown soar throat and flu. i keep the small chunks of of ginger in a small bottle and bring it with me wherever i go.
(shout out to my dear friend manster quijano for introducing me to this life changing ginger remedy)
GARLIC is more effective but it gives you bad breath, while ginger actually makes your breath smell good.
garlic and ginger is scientifically PROVEN to kill viruses and bacteria, but it is not scientifically proven to prevent any illness or disease. my guess is that they can kill some types of bacteria and viruses, but not all types. or maybe their effectiveness depends on the quantity of the bacteria or virus.
if garlic and ginger is not helping, try to gargle and FLUSH your sinus with SALINE every 10 minutes. to make the saline, mix 2 table spoons of salt in 500 ml bottle of water and shake the bottle vigorously. to flush your sinus, fill the bottle cap with saline and snort it, one bottle cap per nostril. you should feel the saline travel through your sinus and reach your throat. you should be able to easily snort the saline through both your nostrils even if you have colds or flu because the ginger or garlic will prevent a stuffy nose. then take a sip of the saline and gargle it around your throat. you only need to snort ONCE per nostril. there is no difference if you snort more than once.
the saline flush can hurt a little bit and you will feel a slight IRRITATION in your sinus and throat afterwards. but in a short while, you will be REWARDED with a soothing feeling. if the saline solution is too strong for you, just decrease the amount of salt.
you can take the saline bottle with you ANYWHERE. example, when i'm in the mall and i feel a slight irritation in my throat, i go to the restroom and flush my sinus on the sink. when i'm playing golf, i go in the trees to flush my sinus. if you are worried about etiquette, it's common for golfers to urinate in the trees while playing golf and flushing your nose is no different. keep a handkerchief or old shirt beside you all the time so you don't have to keep going to the restroom to blow your nose.
i found out about this nasal saline flush by ACCIDENT. one day, i played golf without wearing goggles. i was wearing a surgical mask, but lots of pollen can still enter my body through my eyes if i am not wearing goggles. it is supposed to give me severe allergies. after the round of golf, i was swimming in the ocean and accidently snorted sea water through my nostrils and through my sinus. i noticed my allergies were very mild afterwards.
i suspected it was the sea water flushing my sinus that prevented the severe allergies. so i did some experiments to confirm. after i confirmed it was the sea water, i googled it and found out that nasal saline flush is COMMONLY recommended by doctors as a relief to sufferers of colds, flu and sinusitis. turns out it can help thin mucus and give you less postnasal drip. postnasal drip can cause an irritated sore throat and your tonsils and other tissues in your throat may swell up, leading to discomfort. nasal saline flush can also cleanse your nasal passages of pollen and other allergens.
even when i'm not exposed to pollen, my THROAT can sometimes feel IRRITATED in the middle of the NIGHT. it hurts a little when i swallow saliva. to prevent this, i simply do a saline flush before going to bed.
it also helps to keep drinking WATER. instead of a hydro flask, i put an iced bottle of water in a laptop bag (without the laptop of course). most laptop bags are lined with foam, which provides good insulation. it also refrigerates my bottle of ginger chunks. the following are the usual contents of my bag (in addition to my backup glasses, pen, and reusable grocery bag). i take it with me wherever i go.
i used to have very painful MIGRAINE i even almost committed suicide. i tried the suggestions by doctors and articles i found on the internet but none worked. one day, while having a severe migraine episode, the migraine suddenly disappeared after i ate a PINEAPPLE. since then, whenever i feel a migraine coming, i immediately eat lots of pineapple or drink pure pineapple juice and the migraine always goes away. i never suffered from migraine or headache ever since. make sure to buy the pineapple juice with no sugar added because sugar is very bad for you.
as it turns out, pineapple is scientifically proven to help soothe your headache woes. the natural enzyme BROMELAIN has been linked for centuries as a form of natural pain relief. it also boasts anti-inflammatory properties that can help get your head right as well. pineapple also make the juices in a human's reproductive parts smell and taste good :-)
V. tips to stay comfortable while having a flu (soar throat, fever, colds, etc ...)
it's easy for me to know if it's just allergies or if it's a virus. if it's just ALLERGIES, my throat feels irritated, my eyes feel itchy, i sneeze a lot, and i get a bit of runny nose. i can still do physical activities, although i feel more tired than usual.
if it's a VIRUS, i feel as if a NEEDLE is stuck in my throat and it feels painful whenever i swallow food or saliva. at this point, the virus is already in my system and there is nothing i can do to eliminate it. all i can do is try to be comfortable until the virus leaves.
there is no cure for the flu virus. but there are things i can do to make me feel more COMFORTABLE until the virus leaves my body, which is usually 3-5 days. i use the word comfortable because:
1) i can still swallow without pain.
2) i will feel a slight fever, but i won't lose my appetite to eat.
3) i will not be coughing.
4) sinus and chest congestion will be minimal. i can breath perfectly well. the only difference is i easily run out of breath and get fatigued with just a small amount of physical activity. but i can still work on the computer.
the following are my TECHNIQUES to feel more comfortable while having a flu:
i EAT a small amount of food and DRINK water every hour. for you it may require every 30 minutes or every 2 hours depending on your metabolism. just experiment to find out. i never allow my stomach to be empty. if my stomach is empty, i am more susceptible to high fever, loss of appetite, severe body aches, and even pneumonia. the food should have a balanced amount of protein and carbohydrates. the proteins i recommend are in the make-filipinos-healthy-again article.
the best remedy for GASSY STOMACH is extra virgin olive oil and/or avocado. if you can't afford them, eat canned sardines. when buying extra virgin olive oil, choose the one with "north american olive oil association (NAOOA), or california olive oil council (COOC) label. if there are none with such label, it's most likely just regular (processed) olive oil. it still contains lots of fatty acids, but it contains less antioxidants.
make sure you are not gluten intolerant before consuming any food with wheat (flour) or gluten. examples of foods with gluten are bread, biscuits, crackers, shiomai, shiopao, tempura, breaded chicken, noodles (except vermicilli/bihon/pho), and gravy. when it doubt, AVOID GLUTEN or do a quick search on the internet. read the section about gluten in the "make-filipinos-health-again" article.
you can order chicken and rice from mcdonalds or jollibee but be sure to AVOID the GRAVY and REMOVE the BREADED SKIN if you are gluten intolerant. i usually order burger steak from jollibee without the gravy.
i avoid foods that are difficult to digest. example, when preparing sardines, i do NOT use OIL. i just heat the sardines in a pan and add slices of raw onion.
i also AVOID extra or processed SUGAR because it will destroy my beneficial gut bacteria which are vital to my immune system.
i continue the gut health REGIMENT in the make-filipinos-health-again article. the only difference is that when doing a walking exercise, i stop and rest in bed as soon as i feel tired.
i always have a small chunk of GARLIC or GINGER in my mouth even when i'm sleeping. i alternate between both the garlic and ginger. they minimize the infection in my throat and sinus because of their antiviral and antibacterial properties.
i frequently gargle and flush my sinus with SALINE. the frequency depends on the severity of my sinus and throat infection. if it's very severe, i do it every 30 minutes. if the infection has subsided (usually after 1 day), i do it every 2 hours.
if i get a headache, i make the HEADACHE go away by eating PINEAPPLE or drinking a glass of unsweetened (no sugar added) pineapple juice every hour. pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that is a natural pain killer.
even if i have an office job, i should not report to work unless my work allows me to SLEEP anytime i feel sleepy. the reason is that, anytime i feel sleepy, i should immediately do the following. if i fail to do the following, the flu will progress to painful high fever which could last for 2 days.
1) even if i am not that hungry, i EAT as much as i can and drink water or pineapple juice before going to sleep (refer to the make-filipinos-healthy-again article for my recommended foods). the virus will launch a full scale attack while i am sleeping. i need to make sure i have enough fuel or energy in my system to fight the virus while i am sleeping.
2) i go to SLEEP. my antibodies become better fighters if i am sleeping. if i am awake, my antibodies perform less. so sleep is very important for quicker healing. the more i sleep, the better. walking exercise makes me sleep more. but i make sure i do walking exercise in a pleasant or airconditioned environment. i walk around my airconditioned room. walking in a hot and humid environment (even at night) will weaken my body's ability to fight the virus.
3) when i WAKE up, i eat as much as i can and drink water immediately.
if the virus succeeds in giving me high fever and LOSS of APPETITE, there is now a higher chance the fever and severe body aches can last longer and even progress to pneumonia. but i think it's because i have no appetite to eat. so i won't eat and my body won't have the energy to fight the virus. to combat this, i FORCE myself to eat more FREQUENTLY. i eat 1-2 spoons every 15 minutes.
nachos, tacos and TORTILLA chips, which are also gluten free, helps me eat more frequently even if i have no appetite. in cebu, you can order nachos and tacos from red lizard. avoid burrito because the wrapper might contain gluten. in the philippines, only the high end grocery stores sell tortilla chips so your helper might need to do some hunting. make sure the brand is TOSTITOS because it's the only brand i know that is has no artificial flavors, no msg, and no flavoring. in the states, my favorite is mission round tortillas. avoid doritos because the high salt and msg content will lower the amount of precious fluids in your body.
noodle soup also helps me eat more frequently when i have no appetite. if you are gluten intolerant, avoid ramen because the noodles are made of wheat. try vietnamese PHO instead because the noodles are made of rice. in cebu, you can order pho from phat pho.
if you are in financial hardship and no one can take care of you while you are sick, your best weapon is SARDINES or TUNA. buy the easy open cans. no need to heat it up. just eat it straight from the can. it's better if it's not spicy to lessen the chances it will upset your stomach. the non spicy sardines usually come in green cans, and the spicy ones are the red cans. eat it with a small amount of rice. eat 1 spoon every 15 minutes.
you can eat FUITS when having high fever, but make sure it's only to complement the carbohydrate and protein food you are eating. although fruits contain lots of vitamins and minerals, they are NOT a good source of ENERGY compared to carbohydrates and protein. what you need the most when you have fever is high energy foods. the fruits i recommend while having fever are low acidic such as banana and avocado. avoid high acidic fruits such as grapes and citrus. however, i recommend PINEAPPLE even if it's acidic because it contains bromelain that helps with pain and headache. but make sure your stomach is full of carbohydrates and protein before you eat or drink pineapple.
i avoid stressful work or activity when i'm sick. i avoid reading. i just watch videos to keep me entertained. but the best way to RELAX and ENTERTAIN myself is to close my eyes and listen to a podcast, ebook, or stand up comedy. i also listen to them while doing my walking exercise. i avoid educational and technical ebooks or podcasts because they are less relaxing. i stick to wonderful and entertaining stories.
most people think that if you are sick, you should stay away from people so you won't infect them. actually you should stay away from people so they won't infect you. strong people can be bacteria carriers and not get sick because they are strong. if you are sick, your immunity is weak, so the carrier can infect you with the bacteria and give you PNEUMONIA.
(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)
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