“Get up…’cause Mickey loves you.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC6sMFbL288&feature=related[/youtube]

Classic Rocky.  Indeed, “nature is smarter than people think.” Much smarter.

Here we are, in the heart of cold and flu season. The Man (aka big pharma and the medical establishment) is endlessly beating us down with reminders to poke ourselves with needles. Why? Because they’re smarter than nature?

How have we survived for thousands, nay millions, of years without their needles?

Because nature is smarter than people think. Thank you Mickey.

As you may guess, the Dude is not a fan of the flu shot. Here, give yourself the flu so you won’t get the flu. Uh, OK?

How about I let nature take its course and see where it goes?

I’m sure there are times where vaccines make sense, and I’m not afraid to eat my words, but let’s not be in a rush to get there. Let’s not be so eager to find the next epidemic so big pharma can poke us.

Just chill. And take some precautions.

Here are some good tips from around the intertubes to fight off cold and flu season. But first, a couple reminders that The Man is not your friend…and the flu/cold season is not as dangerous as they’d like you to believe.

Thanks for sharing the love Lew…

• Why is everyone so hysterical about getting the flu?
• Big Flu’s Chosen Six – “Even a ‘pro-vaccine guy’ has told the New York Times that flu shot vaccines are oversold and research shows they are not as effective as the propaganda surrounding them.”

Think for yourself. Don’t let The Man (aka – big media, big government, big business, big pharma, big medical establishment, yada, yada, yada) do your thinking.

Now, with that reminder out of the way, some Dude tips from the webosphere to perform a little Rocky Balboa on cold and flu season’s arse…

•  Cold Remedy from The Art of Less Doing: Colds happen. That’s life. When you get one, it would be nice to fight it off as quickly as possible. Here’s an interesting remedy from The Art of Less Doing – zinc & lime…

[T]he idea is to boost our immune system as much as possible and sooth our symptoms. My solution involves two very common ingredients, Zinc and Lime.

As soon as you start to feel something nasty coming on, follow this protocol:

100mg of Zinc first thing in the morning (I usually take Zinc Gluconate but you can try Chelated Zinc or other forms to see which you tolerate best)

4 Eight Ounce glasses of fresh water with one whole lime squeezed into it

50mg of Zinc right before bed.

I find that this keeps me at 90% or better and I continue this protocol until I feel better. Zinc is a super immune booster as is Lime. Even though lime is a citric acid it has an alkalizing effect in our body and is very cleansing to our systems.

• 5 steps to staying healthy during cold & flu season from Chris Kresser: Chris is a pretty smart dude. There are some good tips here, but my favorite point – “75% of our immune system is found in the gut.”

  I’m realizing more and more that the gut plays a huge role in our daily lives, and major role in many diseases that plague our society. I’m still learning about the gut, but I have a feeling the Dude will have more to say about the gut down the road.

  By the way, Chris has a killer 6 part series about acupuncture…well worth the read.