Shigellosis and how to avoid it
I’m going to take this opportunity to remind you of enhanced toilet hygiene practices, so you can avoid bugs such as shigellosis, WVV, colds. flu, and minimise their spread. We’re also going to look at natural ways of staying healthy during the winter season.
1. The practice which has been shown to do most to stop the spread of any bugs is simply to close the toilet lid before you flush it. Here’s more detail on why: http://uk.businessinsider.com/flushing-toilet-seat-up-spray…
2. Wash your hands after using the toilet and before pressing the flush handle if you remember, although just washing your hands every time you go to the toilet will help enormously.
3. Use hand towels once only, especially during an episode of sickness and diarrhoea. It will help if you get little face cloths or flannels for the purpose, such as we have at the Centre. We wash the used cloths once or sometimes even twice a day to make sure you have a clean one to use.
Essential oils can also help. The most anti-viral essential oil is cinnamon, although it isn’t really recommended for use on the body and can cause intense reactions if inhaled. For these reasons I prefer to use Melissa essential oil. Yes it may be expensive but you really only need one drop! It also has the bonus of being an extremely effective anti-depressant, thus fighting the winter blues as well. Result!
The anti-bacterial oils are commonly thought of as being tea tree, pine and lemon, and they are indeed. They are also a bit strong for use if you have small children – and we all know that schools are good breeding grounds for bugs! My recommendations are, therefore, Niaouli (but make sure you get the MQV variety, it will say this on the label) and Ravensara. Both of these are in the same family as Tea tree, but are somewhat gentler in effect while still being powerful. Indeed, I keep Ravensara as a kind of “blaster” oil – if I’m feeling fluey I will have it in my bath or in the diffuser, but if I’ve just got the beginnings of a cold, then I will use Niaouli.
How else can you prevent succumbing to the winter malaises? Well there are two main ways: one internally and one externally. Internally – make sure you eat plenty of fresh fruit and veg. If this is not possible, then take supplements. I especially recommend Vitamin D3 supplementation all winter – from the autumnal equinox to the vernal equinox, at least in the UK , we do not get enough sunshine to make our own Vitamin D3 and so everyone in the UK needs to take supplements of this vital substance. After all, it’s not called the “sunshine vitamin” for nothing! You could also take Echinacea supplements, or it is available as a tea or a tincture. This amazing herb boosts the immune system, and seems to be well tolerated by those with an auto-immune condition as it appears to condition the immune system to attack what it should be attacking.
Externally – and I confess I’ve only discovered this in the last 18 months – get a Himalayan salt crystal lamp and keep it running all day. This works in the following way: it attracts the water droplets in the atmosphere, and these droplets are coated in bacteria and viruses. As the lamp warms up, the water returns to the atmosphere, and the combination of the heat and salt kills the bugs! It is really effective as I prove at the Centre every day. I don’t recommend you keep them running overnight for safety reasons.
Finally, NYR Organic have an oil blend called “Organic Defence” which has been shown to kill 99.9% of all bacteria. It is available in either concentrated form or as a gentle hand disinfectant spray, and is better tolerated than the alcohol gels you can get. My NYR Organic webshop is here: https://uk.nyrorganic.com/shop/TheAmethystCentre
I hope you have a happy and healthy season until the good weather returns!