Keep it hot! (to fight cold and flu)

Now that swine flu's been declared a national emergency, and it's still a few weeks until it's available for everyone that wants to be vaccinated, the challenge is to stay healthy until you get the vaccination. (Although healthy habits even after vaccination help it work most effectively, so it's not the time to be cramming Doritos.)

One way to keep cold and flu at bay (or relieve symptoms if you come down with a bug) is to down hot drinks. One way I've found to keep hot drinks handy at home, at any hour, is to use an electric kettle (specifically, the ChefsChoice 677 cordless kettle pictured above). Keeping one in my bedroom (along with a teacup, saucer, and tins of tea) keeps me from having to amble up and down stairs first thing in the morning, or at night, when I want to warm up with a hot cuppa. I've had this kettle a couple of years, and couldn't be more pleased.

The kettle shuts itself off after boiling for a few minutes (with a nice, solid "click"), and has a red light on while it boils, so you know when it's on, a nice safety feature. I also like the handle's shape, and the stainless steel body keeps the water very warm for a nice long time after boiling. Ahhhhhh! That it's a nice heavy construction means that you won't easily knock it over; that the base separates from the rest of the kettle makes pouring easy.

Keeping the kettle in the bedroom also allows it to double as a humidifier, when you open the lid after the water boils and the steam fills the room. (Ahhh again!) It's also safer than a standard humidifier, as it's easy to clean and dry out (the lid opens up quite wide), making it unlikely to develop yucky mold.

Last, but certainly not least, electric kettles are considered very energy efficient, in part because they quickly warm up water.

As part of a cold-busting electric duo, consider getting the cheap luxury of a mug warmer for the office. No, it doesn't heat up your drink (that's what the kettle is for!), but keeps it from getting cold. Because you never know--you might have to leave your desk for an emergency meeting, get back half hour later, and your drink is cold. Bummer.

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While I enjoy the colder months (to a point), sometimes the cold weather gets you down, as Kool and the Gang put it aptly in the 1975 classic, Winter Sadness.

Too close for comfort--the swine flu near you?

I hate how the media is spinning the swine flu situation--it seems the first thing out of commentators' mouths is the antisocial advice to avoid public places, accompanied by frightening video of people in Mexico wearing face masks. Ugh.

However, now that the flu--and fear of flu--is spreading quickly, it's best to remember that basic measures are the best prevention. What are some of these simple things?

Hibernation. Get your eight hours every night as often as possible--your life may depend on it. As researcher Stanley Coren notes in the "Sleep and Health" chapter of his book Sleep Thieves, "Researchers are now gathering a lot of evidence that confirms the idea that sleep is a vital factor in staving off disease and fighting disease organisms that have already started their attack."

Hydration. Drink mostly water, sipped often throughout the day. Occasionally drink 100% Concord grape or cranberry juice, hot (but not boiling hot) tea, or a tisane (lemon balm, honeysuckle petals, ginger, all of which have antiviral properties, mentions James Duke in The Green Pharmacy).

Sanitation. Wash your hands! Take a good twenty seconds under warm running water to lather, rinse, and repeat. (Use regular soap, not that antibacterial stuff which has antibiotics such as triclosan added.)

Nutrition. You know the drill--aim for five fruits and veggies daily, at a minimum. For extra protection, take vitamin D. Foods to consider eating regularly to prevent upper respiratory illnesses like the flu include apples and yogurt, according to Jean Carper (The Food Pharmacy). In Food--Your Miracle Medicine, Carper notes that food with antiviral activity include: barley, black currants, blueberries, chives, coffee, collards, cranberries, ginger, garlic, gooseberries, grapes, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, mushroom (notably shiitake), orange juice, peaches, pineapple juice, plums, plum juice, raspberries, sage, seaweed, spearmint, strawberries, tea, wine (red).

All of the abovementioned actions consist of taking care of ourselves as individuals. However, there is not-so-idle speculation that this flu virus came via a town which has a factory pig farm. Such industrial farm operations implicate us as a society, for our lust for meat at the lowest cost is causing pigs to be raised in sickening conditions which are a breeding ground for pathogens like swine flu. The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production report, "PCIFAP Staff Summary of Occupational and Community Public Health Imports," which focuses on public health consequences of factory farming, makes for frankly frightening reading, particularly pages 13 and 14.

As Republican speechwriter Matthew Scully stated in Dominion, "And no one who has seen how they are treated will ever again dare to use "pig" as a synonym for filth and greed and ugliness."

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In times like this, it's good at times to savor the simple things, such as this song of the same name from the late, great Minnie Riperton.