Natural remedies for the flu and boosting immunity

Look, lady, I don't just sit around snacking on corn kernels. I actually eat proper, gourmet, high-end meals.
I’m talking artisan sourdough bread, or maybe some authentic rye made with a natural starter instead of that industrial yeast junk. I eat fish, seafood, lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, honey, almond butter, sugar-free preserves sweetened with grape juice, rice milk, premium teas sourced from all over the globe, and fresh produce from everywhere—lately, I've been into persimmons and mandarins, mango, pineapple, plantains, rice, hummus, apple cake with honey, sushi, zucchini, eggplant, carrots, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, coconut, prosciutto, and even sugar-free mayo made with honey and lemon juice, etc.
Every single day my cooking changes—Indian, Mexican, African, Italian, you name it.
Honestly, it's such a struggle for me, since I can't exactly survive on donuts and hot dogs every day... 🙂 🙂 🙂

Oh, great. Just perfect.

rustymoose54 said:Oh, yeah. Real smooth.

So, you coming over for dinner? Maybe you can finally try these seeds I've been snacking on.😉

Sandra Hayes88 said:Hey, I'm having Os doc for dinner—you wanna try some of these seeds I've been munching on?😉

Pass... my doctors here in the States have me on this super strict regimen—no experimenting with food if I want to stay on track. Gotta be consistent, you know?... 😉

I don't really touch beef or chicken, for instance, because the stuff here in Canada is honestly pretty terrible (crazy cows, hormones, antibiotics, and all that junk).

Sandra Hayes88 said:Honestly, if we actually want modern medicine to succeed, we really ought to be putting way more focus on prevention.

So, what about diabetes prevention?

😂

Nobody else on this forum has a sense of humor quite like this...

Rachel Brooks63 said:Diabetes prevention, maybe?

😂

I guess we aren't seeing that usual sense of humor people tend to bring to this forum lately...

That’s basically how people laughed back in the Middle Ages when you tried telling them the Earth was actually round. 😉
Well, turns out it is. 👍

Sandra Hayes88 said:People back in the Middle Ages would've laughed their heads off if you told them the Earth was actually round 😉
But hey, turns out it is... 👍

oooooh man, one of those rock-solid arguments you hear in every single debate...

whenever I read stuff like that, I literally start shaking...

Rachel Brooks63 said:What about Type 1 diabetes prevention?

😂

I haven't been keeping up with the latest posts in this thread, but just to jump in for a second. While Type 1 might be out of our hands for now, Type 2—which we see way more often—is definitely something you can take steps to prevent. 🙂

placidfox55 said:I haven't been keeping up with the latest posts on this thread, but just to add a little something here... Type 1 diabetes might be something you can't prevent—at least not yet—but Type 2, which we see way more often, is definitely something that can be successfully prevented. 🙂

rustymoose54 has type 1 diabetes.

placidfox55 said:I haven't been keeping up with the latest posts in this thread, but just to catch everyone up... Type 1 diabetes might be impossible to prevent (at least for now), but Type 2—which we see way more often—can definitely be prevented if you play your cards right. 🙂

🙄
I feel like I’ve said it a thousand times already—I got sick when I was just a kid. Did you seriously not pick up on which type I was talking about from that? 😉

Type 1 is absolutely, 100% non-preventable because it's all caused by some autoimmune process triggered by who-knows-what. We don't even fully get the etiology behind it yet, which is why there isn't a cure—you know, some miracle substance that would force the beta cells in the langerhansov islets to regrow and actually fight back against the body's own T-lymphocytes attacking them again. Plus, there aren't any alternative methods that actually work; the only way to live a normal life is through daily insulin shots.

As for preventing Type 2, which, for crying out loud, in recent years is starting to show up in kids even in developed nations—so yeah, not just in America 😁—Western medicine is actually putting most of its effort into preventing that specific one.

Back when I got sick twenty years ago, Type 2 wasn't happening to children, not even in the USA 😬 honestly, it blows my mind that you don't know all this.

rustymoose54 said:Type 1 definitely can't be prevented.

Well, let me play devil’s advocate for a second. Sure, right now Type 1 feels impossible to prevent, but I really believe that as we get smarter about autoimmune triggers, big pharma will eventually figure out how to spot people who are predisposed to it. They'll probably jump on the first sign of symptoms with some kind of therapy to stop the disease from progressing in kids...

It'll work in wealthy, developed countries, obviously—places where there’s enough money to cover those insanely complex diagnostic tests and those ridiculously expensive antibody panels (I mean, Big Pharma has to make a profit somehow, right? 😎 ).

And let's be real—I don't see "negative energy" or some infinitesimally diluted homeopathic remedy being part of that prevention process.

Look, I’m no expert, but from what I’ve gathered, those insulin-producing cells actually have a chance to regenerate. The real problem is that those occasional—but still totally present—spikes in blood sugar levels. They just... destroy them...

Kyle Nelson2 said:I’m just a layman here, but from what I’ve read, the cells that pump out insulin actually have a tendency to regenerate—it’s just those occasional, naggingly high blood sugar spikes that end up... wrecking them...

Nah, that's not how it works for Type 1. Those cells get wiped out in one massive hit, and then after that, any "new" cells trying to step up to the plate for a little while—which is why people talk about that "honeymoon phase"—might last maybe a year or so, but eventually, they all die off.

People with Type 1 don't usually have high blood sugar if they're managing things right—my own levels stay between 40 and 125 mg/dL every single day because I'm obsessed with what they call "tight control." But honestly? Nothing has regenerated for me, trust me. 😁

What you're talking about is more of a Type 2 thing. With Type 2, the main headache is insulin resistance. The cells are making insulin, sure, but the body can't actually use it effectively—usually because the insulin receptors (those little molecules on the cell membrane that catch the insulin and let it do its job) are basically broken. Because of that inefficiency, you end up with a relative lack of insulin (whereas Type 1 is an absolute lack). To compensate, the pancreas goes into overdrive—because of that feedback loop—so the higher the sugar climbs, the more the pancreas feels like it needs to crank out more insulin. So, yeah, there's plenty of insulin floating around, but what good is it if it can't do its one job... which is letting glucose move from the blood into the tissue cells to feed them...

The harder the pancreas tries to keep up, the more exhausted and burnt out it gets, until finally, it just can't keep up with the high sugar anymore... and so, on top of the resistance, you end up with failing pancreatic function too.

That’s why Type 2 patients are usually prescribed two different kinds of meds: stuff to lower resistance and stuff to nudge the pancreas along to produce more insulin. And look, the big takeaway for Type 2 is that losing weight is huge—the fewer cells we have (especially fat cells), the less insulin we need, so we don't have to constantly torture the poor pancreas.

Hope that makes sense... 🙂

Rachel Brooks63 said:Look, let me play devil's advocate here for a second. You can't just "prevent" Type 1 right now, sure—but I’m betting that as we actually start wrapping our heads around autoimmune stuff and what triggers it, some big-shot pharma companies are gonna figure out how to spot people who are genetically predisposed. Then, they'll jump in with a therapy at the very first sign of trouble to stop it from ever fully developing in kids.

Well, we're kind of already doing something like that by giving micro-doses of insulin to people known—based on those specific genes—to be at risk for Type 1. It's basically trying to predict the onset. But honestly? It’s not nearly good enough, and for the patient, it sucks because it’s super limiting... plus you're constantly looking over your shoulder for unnecessary hypoglycemic episodes.

As for me, nobody ever bothered with genetic testing before I got sick—guess why? Because I don't have a hereditary predisposition to Type 1. I don't have those "signature" genes or whatever... we only did the testing after the fact.

So here's the thing...
From what I understand, we actually have a set number of fat cells in our bodies. They don't just multiply or anything...

If that weren't true, heavy-duty liposuction wouldn't even be worth the effort... because we'd just keep gaining weight indefinitely...

But... those fat cells can release lipids into the bloodstream, which ends up messing with insulin (okay, that last part is probably a pretty clunky way to put it)

Kyle Nelson2 said:So, here's the thing...
from what I've gathered, we actually have a set number of fat cells in our bodies—they don't just multiply or anything...

if that weren't the case, aggressive liposuction wouldn't even be a thing... because we could just keep gaining weight indefinitely...

If that were true, nobody would ever be able to gain weight... 😁

Fat cells can actually swell up to xx times their original size...

That's basically how they store all that fat...

But if you think that's not how it works, then maybe explain this to me: how does someone stop gaining weight once you've cleared out 90% of the fat cells from their abdominal cavity?

Kyle Nelson2 said:fat cells that store lipids can actually swell up to dozens of times their size...

that’s how they hold onto all that fat...

but if you think there's some other magic trick, then explain this to me—how is it that once you strip away 90% of those fat cells from your gut, you aren't just ballooning back up immediately?

yeah, exactly. so, by losing weight, we’re shrinking those cells down, which means the body doesn't need nearly as much insulin.

And since insulin doses (the synthetic stuff) are basically calculated based on your body mass—meaning the bigger you are, the more you need—it all connects.

The thing is, if you manage to clear out those fat cells in your abdomen but you keep eating way more than you're burning off... well, your body just starts building them up somewhere else. 😁

Yeah, I mean...

Losing weight doesn't actually lower their count... you're just shrinking the volume...

And look, they found out those cells are kind of 'leaky' when it comes to the fat they're holding onto, so that probably plays a huge role... it’s not about the number of cells...