December 18, 2022

Natural remedies for cold and flu

December 18, 2022/ Kelly Pemberton

This year, with COVID, RSV and common cold and flu viruses running rampant, it's more important than ever to protect yourself against illness. While wearing a mask indoors in public places can help, and vaccinations (especially against COVID) can keep you out of the hospital (whether or not you have a pre-existing underlying condition), they may not be enough to keep you from getting sick. If you come down with the cold or flu, there are clinically proven ways to keep it from setting in or, if already set in, from becoming severe.

March 11, 2019

Why You Should Avoid Taking Antibiotics Whenever Possible

March 11, 2019/ Kelly Pemberton

Ok, at least here in the US, we’re nearing the end of cold and flu season (or so I thought!), yet there are still plenty of people around me getting sick. Several of my students had emailed in sick these past 2 weeks, and others came in to class anyway, even though they clearly should have stayed at home in bed!

So I thought it was time to write a post about not resorting to antibiotics to cure yourself from many of the sicknesses that will resolve on their own, or that can be cured by other means.

Let me say one thing from the start, though. This is NOT an anti-vac post or anything like that. Even though we do not take the flu vaccine in my household (and never get sick, even when we are exposed to the flu), we have all our required shots. Whether or not you take antibiotics is ultimately up to you, and there are definitely times when you absolutely should take them. The problem with antibiotics is that many people take them when they should not, and that is ultimately what this post is about: why you should avoid the unnecessary use of antibiotics.

Here are 4 reasons to avoid antibiotics when they are not absolutely necessary:

February 02, 2018

Can seasonal eating keep you from getting the cold or flu?

February 02, 2018/ Kelly Pemberton

The news out there is pretty bad: the flu is worse this year in the US, and the flu vaccine is only up to 30% effective. Strangely (to me), doctors and health care workers are making blanket recommendations that everyone should get the flu shot. As for me, I’ve taken the flu shot exactly once in my lifetime, when I was pregnant with my second child, and only at the insistence of my Chinese medicine doctor (who helped me overcome secondary infertility to achieve a healthy pregnancy at the age of 41). And yet, we rarely get the flu in my household, even when we’ve been exposed to many people who are clearly sick with it. In fact, my 7-year old is the only one in our household who ever gets a cold or flu, and it's always a mild version that she's able to overcome in a day or two.

October 01, 2016

Cold prevention and treatment without the harmful chemicals

October 01, 2016/ Kelly Pemberton

It’s official: summer is over and fall is underway! Kids are back in school and (hopefully) settled into their daily routines. If your family is anything like mine, you’ve already had to deal with the fallout from cold and flu season. Without fail, each time the season changes, the sniffles begin and (if we’re not careful), someone comes down with a cold or flu.

It’s not the temperature changes that cause colds and flu; it’s that certain viruses thrive in the cooler temperatures. Rhinovirus and coronavirus are the most common culprits that cause illness this time of year.

If you have realized that the fall season ushers in the first bouts of cold and flu in your household, there is something you can do to prevent illness from getting your kids (and you too!) off track this season.