Cold And Flu Prevention – What Really Works?

Trying to avoid catching cold and flu this season?

Probably so, if you’re anything like the rest of us. But are there any truly effective cold and flu prevention methods that could keep you well this winter?

Yes, there are – from simple hand washing to taking the right supplement. Here are the general principles most everyone is familiar with:

• Wash your hands often – We all pick up germs and viruses on pencils, doorknobs, computer keyboards, etc. Wash hands often and scrub for at least 30 seconds to wash them away.
• Eat well by eating a balanced diet including plenty of fruits, vegetables, natural fiber and sufficient protein.
• Avoid sweets and processed foods. Eating too many sweets creates imbalances in your body, which make you more succeptible to bugs.
• Stay warm – wear appropriate clothing and shoes to keep warm. Be sure to keep your head and ears covered outdoors.
• Stay fit – exercise to keep your heart and body healthy, in good shape and to burn calories.
• Get enough sleep – your body needs to rest and rejuvenate. Insufficient sleep strains the brain and weakens your immunity.

The above steps are all important and necessary, but they may not be enough. Are there additional steps you can take to increase your chances of avoiding cold and flu? There certainly are. Here are a few:

• When you can’t wash your hands, use a hand purifier. But you don’t want one loaded with chemicals and artificial fragrances that can absorb through your skin. Use a natural product instead. Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier promotes good hygiene without the use of water or toxic ingredients. It’s a great way to get the natural, germ-fighting cleansing power of the antimicrobial essential oil in a handy, carry-with-you-anywhere bottle.
• Bolster your immunity with a nutritional supplement like Inner Defense – the total health system protection that reinforces systemic defenses in the immune system, creates unfriendly terrain for yeast/fungus and promotes healthy respiratory function. Its potent blend of oregano, thyme, and Thieves essential oils are rich in thymol, carvacrol, and eugenol for powerful immune support.
• Diffuse antimicrobial essential oil – Diffusing the right essential oil can not only decrease your exposure to cold and flu bugs in the air, but it can strengthen your immunity to them.

What essential oil is best? Studies conducted at Weber State University show that the Thieves essential oil blend has a 99.96 percent success rate against airborne bacteria. You’ll find more information about Thieves on the diffusing page mentioned above.

There is no need to feel helpless this season – or to spend the season sneezing and coughing. Pay attention to the general principles listed above and try the additional steps for natural and effective cold and flu prevention.

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Debt Consolidation and the Financial Markets

Lehman Brothers, bailouts, government rescue packages – the financial news in America might not seem important to UK citizens in debt, but the state of US markets is sure to affect the availability and price of debt consolidation loans in Britain.

“There is definitely a connection between what’s going on in the US and what goes on in the UK,” said Graham Beale, Nationwide Building Society chief executive, “and it really comes down to market confidence, and we are talking about global market confidence because clearly, with the massive disruption in the US, banks have stopped lending to one another. And we need that fluidity back in the market.”

Normally, the debts which institutions own (i.e. the money which people owe them) count as assets. Each Pound / Dollar of debt is basically seen as being worth a number of pence / cents, depending on how likely that debt is to be repaid. Today, however, no-one knows how much a lot of that debt is worth, so companies can’t sell it. They also can’t use it as collateral – and that makes it hard to borrow money from other companies.

This is one reason it’s difficult for banks and other financial institutions to provide credit, whether it’s a mortgage or a debt consolidation loan, to individuals. For people in need of debt help, this is bad news. Debt consolidation isn’t the only debt solution, others like debt management & IVAs exist, but it’s one which could help many borrowers get their finances in order once more.

So the authorities are trying to resolve the situation. In the US, there’s the proposed $700 billion ‘bailout’. In the UK, there’s the Bank of England’s (BoE’s) Special Liquidity Scheme.

Quoted on CNN, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the $700 billion bailout was necessary “in order to avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets that threaten American families’ financial well-being, the viability of businesses both small and large, and the very health of our economy”.

As for the BoE Special Liquidity Scheme, the BoE website says: ‘Under the Scheme, banks can, for a period, swap illiquid assets of sufficiently high quality for Treasury Bills. Responsibility for losses on their loans, however, stays with the banks. By tackling decisively the overhang of assets in this way, the Scheme aims to improve the liquidity position of the banking system and increase confidence in financial markets’.

The details are very different, but the basic idea is the same – to remove some of the debt which banks and other financial institutions are carrying, ‘unfreezing’ the financial markets and allowing consumers greater access to the credit they need for everything from buying a house to consolidating their debts.

Life And Stuff