Get healthy now to prepare your immune system for bird flu outbreak

Monday, March 14, 2005 by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...) Tags: bird flu, infectious disease, conventional medicine

When taking a look at the potential threat of the bird flu virus, it's difficult to get an accurate perspective. For many people in the United States, Canada or the UK, the bird flu virus is just some other strange disease in Asia that's killing pigs or birds, and the implications don't really hit home. But then there's the World Health Organization, which is raising the alarm over the bird flu virus and becoming increasingly concerned with each passing week. And there's the CDC, which has called the bird flu virus the single greatest threat to humanity. That's a serious statement. And that goes right along with the World Health Organization's advice that countries should literally stockpile vaccines for the virus.

And yet, the vaccines aren't even out of the testing phase yet. So how do you stockpile a vaccine when it hasn't been safety tested or approved? Right now, the only thing that countries can stockpile is antiviral drugs such as Tamiflu. And, by the way, Tamiflu is anti-viral, but even it is not nearly as strong as the combination of antiviral herbs and various nutritional supplements as outlined in my free downloadable book called "How To Beat The Bird Flu Virus." So even though these countries are stockpiling Tamiflu, people would actually be far better protected by acquiring potent antiviral herbs, minerals and supplements as a protection against the bird flu virus.

But knowing the way most people think, few will actually prepare for this. And frankly, they might get away with it. There is a real possibility that the bird flu virus could be a bust. Maybe it will never become a pandemic. But history has taught us that the minute we get too comfortable thinking that all the pandemics are over or that we as modern scientists have conquered nature, then nature will turn around and slap us in the face with a hard lesson that wipes out tens of millions of people around the world. Historically, we've seen this scenario return like clockwork. These pandemics occur on a regular, predictable basis. The bird flu virus is well positioned to be the next chapter in that saga of global epidemics.

A lot of people ask me, "So what should I do to prepare for the bird flu pandemic? What's reasonable versus overreacting?" To answer that, let's take a look at the behavior of the general population. Most people will do nothing to prepare until it becomes a problem in their local area. When USA Today or CNN starts warning people about the virus and people start seeing their friends or coworkers die from it, then they will suddenly realize that they need to take some action. At that point, of course, it will be too late. At that time, the vaccines will be depleted; supplies will be severely restricted and there simply won't be enough to go around.

The World Health Organization has already warned countries about the coming vaccine shortages. By the time people really need the vaccine, it won't be there for them. That means if you're going to prepare for the bird flu pandemic, you have to do so ahead of time. One of the smartest things you can do to prepare is to improve your health right now. A strong immune system will help defend against the bird flu virus. And if you want a strong immune system, you've got to stop poisoning your body right now through foods, prescription drugs, environmental toxins and chronic stress.

If you wait for the virus to hit, it's going to be too late. You can't reform your immune system in 24 hours. You can't just change your diet one day and expect to be healthier the next day or the next week or even the next month. It takes many months of healthy eating and wise lifestyle choices to make strong, lasting changes in your health and immune system function. You'd better start now if you want to be in peak health by the time the bird flu virus comes around. And, in the worst case, if you were wrong, if you prepared for nothing, then you will at least have a healthy immune system even if there's no bird flu virus.

And that could just save you from plenty of other diseases like cancer.

Come to think of it, if the bird flu virus really becomes a pandemic, it could turn out to be a selective killer of millions. With organized medicine basically sidelined by the virus, the people most likely to survive will be those who lead healthy lifestyles to begin with. Let's face it: people who live day to day in an immunosupressed state are basically just asking to be infected or killed by this virus. When a person eats junk food, avoids taking nutritional supplements, refuses to exercise, and keeps popping over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs, they are just as culpable as the bird flu virus itself, in my opinion. I'm tired of hearing people whine about being victims when they won't lift a finger to do a single healthy thing for themselves.

In 1918, during the last major pandemic, at least people had an excuse for being unhealthy. Many lived in extreme poverty. Healthy foods weren't available. Nutrition was poorly understood. But today, it's different: nearly everyone in industrialized nations has access to healthy, nutritious foods and medicinal herbs. And yet many people refuse to make healthy decisions, leaving them no better off than the malnourished victims of 1918. Remember: most Americans today are malnourished -- even as they are obese and diabetic from consuming empty calories. The malnourished, I believe, are going to have a very tough time surviving the bird flu virus if it goes global.

And conventional medicine? Helpless against the bird flu. When the hospital beds fill up, the message to everyone else will be, "Go home and die."