There are a number of reasons that this may be, but if you are coming down with a sinus infection or already have one, you maybe looking for some fast but natural relief. The article at the bottom of today's blog is from Orthomolecular.org & is about Vitamin C which can be used immediately to help your sinus suffering.
Vitamin C has been bad mouthed by the parts of the Medical and Pharmaceutical Establishments over the last few years(again), but what remains true is that Vitamin C is a remarkable nutrient that most of the animal kingdom makes in abundance. It helps them to both prevent illness and quickly overcome illness when sick.
Somewhere along the way our human ancestors and thus modern man lost the ability to make vitamin C. ( Corey Holly and I jokingly call it "Humanity's Fall from Grace") and now we must consume it to stay healthy. But consuming it in the amount that the rest of the animal kingdom makes naturally would be impossible with out the help of supplementation.
The average adult should have a minimum of 3 grams (That's 3000mg in case you forgot how to convert) daily. Many people need more than that, much more.
The Traditional Approach: Expensive, Ineffective, & Time Consuming
Several years ago I had a sinus infection and did the traditional route...went to the doctor and got a prescription for Zithromax. It had worked well in the past. But this time, while my symptoms cleared, the day after I stopped the medication the symptoms began returning. So back to the pharmacy for another Rx... at $70 dollars a pop. $140 dollars later, plus, the cost of decongestants and tissues-- so upwards of & $150...My symptoms again returned. Desperate, frustrated, & annoyed, I turned to a Vitamin C Flush.
The Royal Vitamin C Flush: Effective, Fast & Cheap
I began to take vitamin C (500-1000mg) hourly the first day( while awake). Every 2 hours the 2nd day , every 3rd hour the 3rd day and every 4 hours the 4th day. My symptoms were reduced by 50% the 2ND day and 98% by day 4. This was not the typical flush, but I gauged it by bowel tolerance as explained in the article and it is easy to remember. I also drank at least 8 glasses (12 oz each of water) & eliminated sugar. ( Today I would add a pinch of sea salt to that water)
Note: There are other flushes on the Internet that follow a different protocol, that require less vitamin C. I had been sick for 3 weeks and felt I was pretty depleted.You may want to look at the others before trying one.
Precautions for Natural Antibiotics and Prescription Antibiotics
I don't use the Flush on a regular basis & I have not used prescription antibiotics since then either. I actually have worked to increase my immune system and root out the cause of the frequent sinus infections. Sometimes I do use natural antibiotics such as olive leaf extract or grapefruit seed extract. These work very well and quickly. But, be sure to treat them as you would an antibiotic-- in other words- ttake them consistently and for a full course, generally a week to 10 days.
Follow them up with a probiotic or a good live culture, no-sugar-added yogurt to replenish the good bacteria killed off in your gut. Take the probiotic or yogurt a minimum of double the number of days you took the natural antibiotic. Staying on the probiotic yogurt or cultured food will only enhance your immune system. So incorporating it into your daily healthy eating and supplementing is even a better idea.
I also have a series of other methods I use when I feel a sinus problem coming on that I think work quite well to nip it in the bud. I would rather prevent the onset of a sinus infection than have to do the flush or antibiotics( natural or otherwise)
Keep a Netti at the Ready!
Using a Netti pot has been a great boon to my sinuses. I boil filtered water in a tea kettle, both to sterilize it and to get rid of chlorine, & then let it cool to room temp. or slightly warmer. I measure out 2 cups of water in a Pyrex pitcher and add 1/4 tsp of regular non-iodized table salt (not sea salt) & 1/4 tsp baking soda. Mix . Pour into Netti Pot and irrigate sinuses.
Basic Solution for Irrigating
1/4 tsp table salt (non iodized)
14 tsp baking soda ( bicarbonate)
2 cups of warm water
Irrigating your nasal passages can take a little getting used to, but it is not hard to do. Directions come with the Netti pot. The fluid is about the same salinity as your nasal passages and the bicarbonate is alkaline, which is good for healing. The fluid will moisten and plump up any cells that are dried out, due to low humidity (your heater provides that) or even dehydration. If your tissues are swollen it will help to decrease that. It cleans out the bacteria, virus or fungi, any of which can cause an infection. Flushing your sinuses also clears out allergens which can mimic some symptoms of infection and set you up for a real infection.
So, you don't have to know what is causing your sinusitis; infection or allergy. Flushing or irrigating your sinuses can provide relief for both.
Also, something else I do that I find easy, inexpensive and effective is that while irrigating my sinus passages with the basic solution, I also frequently add some alternating components:
I will add a drop or 2 of SSKI ( iodide) to the Basic Solution of a full Netti pot and irrigate.
Then a few hours later I will add 1/2 a tsp of Xylitol( which you may find at your local grocery or healthfood store, if not go to Swansons) to the Basic Solution and irrigate. The reason I don't do them together is that the Xylitol causes the cells in your nose to become slick so that the infective agent or irritant cannot stick to them. It's just my theory, but it makes sense that if you use the Xylitol first the iodine may pass right through without connecting to the receptor sites on the cell walls.. I like to get the iodine in first because iodine kills, bacteria ,virus, and fungi.
All cells in the body have receptor sites for iodine, not just the thyroid as was previously thought and is still espoused by mainstream medicine.
Travel Tips to Stay Healthy
You can go out and buy a product called X-clear which contains Xylitol and spray it in your nose, but I feel that irrigating sinus passages reaches a larger area. X-clear is convenient to use before and during travel to help prevent all that bacteria/viral laden recirculated air on airplanes from setting up business in your nose and making you ill on your trip. I would recommend too that you increase your vitamin C and vitamin D prior to, during, and for a few days after your trip.
See videos at left side and read article to learn more about Vitamin D
Okay, now to really learn about Vitamin C don't miss the Orthomolecular.org article that follows.
If you are home from work dealing with sinus problems, read it today because if you did what I do for my sinuses, tomorrow you're going to feel like going to work! :)
If you found this article helpful & would like to show your appreciation, please remember Elimu Africa (read Get Some, Give Some) as a way to continue the circle of giving. Thank you!
To your Good Health,
Barb Kaiser RN, BSN
Holistic Health Consultant
<studio4moms@gmail.com>
Thank you to the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service for the following article:
This article may be reprinted free of charge provided 1) that there is clear attribution to the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, and 2) that both the OMNS free subscription link http://orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html and also the OMNS archive link http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/index.shtml are included.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Orthomolecular Medicine News Service,
December 3, 2009
Vitamin C As An Antiviral:
It's All About Dose
(OMNS, December 3, 2009) One of the most frequent questions from Orthomolecular Medicine News Service readers is, Just how much vitamin C should I take?
Our bodies cannot make vitamin C (ascorbate), although most animals can. We must get it from our food and from supplements. But how much do we really need? Persistent arguments on this question may be settled by looking at how much vitamin C animals manufacture in their bodies. The answer is: quite a lot. Most animals make the human body-weight equivalent of 5,000 to 10,000 milligrams a day. It is unlikely that animals would have evolved to make this much vitamin C if they did not need it and use it. Indeed, cells in many human body tissues concentrate vitamin C by 25-fold or more over blood concentration.
Each person's need for vitamin C differs because of differences in genetics and individual biochemistry [1,2,3]. Further, our bodies undergo different stresses, and we certainly eat different foods. Therefore, the daily need for ascorbate to maintain health for an adult varies between 2,000 - 20,000 mg/day. Linus Pauling personally took 18,000 mg of vitamin C daily. Although he was often ridiculed for this, it is interesting to note that Dr. Pauling had two more Nobel prizes than any of his critics. He died at age 93. Abram Hoffer, MD, a colleague of Pauling's, took megadoses of vitamin C and successfully gave it to thousands of patients over 55 years of medical practice. Dr. Hoffer died at age 91.
Antiviral Function
When we are challenged with a viral infection,
our need for vitamin C can rise dramatically, depending on the body's immune
function, level of injury, infection, or environmental toxicity such as
cigarette smoke [4,5]. Ascorbate at sufficiently high doses can prevent viral
disease and greatly speed recovery from an acute viral infection. Surprising to
some, this was originally observed by physicians in the 1940s and has been
verified and re-verified over the last 60 years by doctors who achieved quick
and complete recovery in their patients with ascorbate mega-doses [5]. The
effective therapeutic dose is based on clinical observation and bowel tolerance.
Clinical observation is essentially "taking enough C to be symptom free,
whatever that amount may be." Bowel tolerance means exactly what you think it
means: the amount that can be absorbed from the gut without causing loose
stools. [5,6]. Very high doses, 30,000 - 200,000 mg, divided up throughout the
day, are remarkably non-toxic and have been documented by physicians as curing
viral diseases as various as the common cold, flu, hepatitis, viral pneumonia,
and even polio. [4,5,7]. On first reading this may sound incredible. We invite
interested persons to read further, starting with the references listed below,
and especially Dr. Frederick R. Klenner's Clinical Guide to the Use of Vitamin
C. This short book is posted in its entirety at http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm
.
Mechanism For Ascorbate Antiviral Effect
Several mechanisms for
vitamin C's antiviral effect are known or suggested from studies [4,8]. The
antioxidant property of ascorbate promotes a reducing environment in the
bloodstream and tissues, enhancing the body's response to oxidative stress from
inflammation [9], thereby helping to fight microbes and viruses that propagate
in stressful conditions [10]. Ascorbate has been shown to have specific
antiviral effects in which it inactivates the RNA or DNA of viruses [11,12,13],
or in the assembly of the virus [14].
Vitamin C is also involved in enhancing several functions of the immune system. Ascorbate can enhance the production of interferon, which helps prevent cells from being infected by a virus [15,16]. Ascorbate stimulates the activity of antibodies [17], and in megadoses seems to have a role in mitochondrial energy production [18] . It can enhance phagocyte function, which is the body's mechanism for removing viral particles and other unwanted debris [4]. White blood cells, involved in the body's defense against infections of all types, concentrate ascorbate up to 80 times plasma levels, which, if you take enough vitamin C, allows them to bring huge amounts of ascorbate to the site of the infection [4]. Many different components of the immune response, B-cells, T-cells, NK cells, and also cytokine production, all with important roles in the immune response, are enhanced by ascorbate [19-23]. Additionally, ascorbate improves the immune response from vaccination [24,25].
Summary
Vitamin C at high doses is effective in preventing viral
infection and enhancing recovery. Several mechanisms are known, including
specific viral anti-replication processes and enhancement of many components of
the body's cellular immune system. When taken at an appropriate dose in a timely
manner, ascorbate is our best tool for curing acute viral illness.
References:
[1] Williams RJ, Deason G (1967) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 57:1638-1641. Individuality in vitamin C needs.
[2] Pauling L (1986) How to Live Longer And Feel Better, by Linus Pauling (Paperback - May 2006) ISBN-13: 9780870710964
[3] Hoffer A, Saul AW (2009) Orthomolecular Medicine for Everyone: Megavitamin Therapeutics for Families and Physicians. ISBN-13: 9781591202264
[4] Levy TE (2002) Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins. ISBN-13: 9781401069636
[5] Hickey S, Saul AW (2008) Vitamin C: The Real Story, the Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor. ISBN-13: 9781591202233
[6] Cathcart RF (1981) Vitamin C, titrating to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and acute induced scurvy. Med Hypotheses. 7:1359-1376.
[7] Klenner FR (1979) The significance of high daily intake of ascorbic acid in preventive medicine, in: Physician's Handbook on Orthomolecular Medicine, Third Edition, 1979, Roger Williams, PhD, ed., p 51-59.
[8] Webb AL, Villamor E (2007) Update: Effects of antioxidant and non-antioxidant vitamin supplementation on immune function. Nutrition Reviews 65:181-217
[9] Wintergerst ES, Maggini S, Hornig DH (2006) Immune-enhancing role of vitamin C and zinc and effect on clinical conditions. Ann Nutr Metab. 50:85-94.
[10] Kastenbauer S, Koedel U, Becker BF, Pfister HW (2002) Oxidative stress in bacterial meningitis in humans. Neurology. 58:186-191.
[11] Murata A, Oyadomari R, Ohashi T, Kitagawa K. (1975) Mechanism of inactivation of bacteriophage deltaA containing single-stranded DNA by ascorbic acid. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 21:261-269.
[12] Harakeh S, Jariwalla RJ, Pauling L (1990) Suppression of human immunodeficiency virus replication by ascorbate in chronically and acutely infected cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 87:7245-7249.
[13] White LA, Freeman CY, Forrester BD, Chappell WA (1986) In vitro effect of ascorbic acid on infectivity of herpesviruses and paramyxoviruses. J Clin Microbiol. 24:527-531.
[14] Furuya A, Uozaki M, Yamasaki H, Arakawa T, Arita M, Koyama AH (2008) Antiviral effects of ascorbic and dehydroascorbic acids in vitro. Int J Mol Med. 22:541-545.
[15] Gerber, WF (1975) Effect of ascorbic acid, sodium salicylate and caffeine on the serum interferon level in response to viral infection. Pharmacology, 13: 228.
[16] Karpinska T, Kawecki Z, Kandefer-Szerszen M (1982) The influence of ultraviolet irradiation, L-ascorbic acid and calcium chloride on the induction of interferon in human embryo fibroblasts. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 30:33-37.
[17] Anderson R, Dittrich OC (1979) Effects of ascorbate on leucocytes: Part IV. Increased neutrophil function and clinical improvement after oral ascorbate in 2 patients with chronic granulomatous disease. S Afr Med J. 1;56476-80.
[18] Gonz lez MJ, Miranda JR, Riordan HD (2005) Vitamin C as an Ergogenic Aid. J Orthomolecular Med 20:100-102.
[19] Kennes B, Dumont I, Brohee D, Hubert C, Neve P (1983) Effect of vitamin C supplements on cell-mediated immunity in old people. Gerontology. 29:305-310.
[20] Siegel BV, Morton JI (1984) Vitamin C and immunity: influence of ascorbate on prostaglandin E2 synthesis and implications for natural killer cell activity. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 54:339-342.
[21] Jeng KC, Yang CS, Siu WY, Tsai YS, Liao WJ, Kuo JS (1996) Supplementation with vitamins C and E enhances cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in healthy adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 64:960-965.
[22] Campbell JD, Cole M, Bunditrutavorn B, Vella AT (1999) Ascorbic acid is a potent inhibitor of various forms of T cell apoptosis. Cell Immunol. 194:1-5.
[23] Schwager J, Schulze J (1997) Influence of ascorbic acid on the response to mitogens and interleukin production of porcine lymphocytes. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 67:10-16.
[24] Banic S (1982) Immunostimulation by vitamin C. Int J Vitam Nutr Res Suppl. 23:49-52.
[25] Wu CC, Dorairajan T, Lin TL (2000) Effect of ascorbic acid supplementation on the immune response of chickens vaccinated and challenged with infectious bursal disease virus. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 74:145-152.
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