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Rebecca Aldag

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Skip the Starbucks – Choose Wellness Drinks Instead!

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy an occasional Starbucks, I’m currently loving the Peach Green Tea Infusion (sans sweetener please)! However, it does get pricey, and I love the option of being able to make a tasty, and healthy drink at home! Check out my top favorites below. They are easy to prepare, taste delish, and make for a refreshing treat on a hot summer day.

White Wine Look-a-Like

You can choose any high quality, loose leaf tea that contains flavors are found in real white wine. My current go-to is the Melon/Pear white tea by Octavia.

I make a hot tea concentrate (use 4 ounces water instead of 8 ounces), let it cool a bit, and then pour it over a glass filled with ice cubes, top it off with a small amount of water if necessary.  To add a little sweetness, I use a few drops of liquid stevia.

Kombucha or Fizzy, Natural Soda

Kombucha offers us a diverse spectrum of good bacteria or probiotics. The science is clear that gut health is related to immunity, mood, weight loss & digestion.  You don’t need to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes to find Kombucha.  It is readily available at your local grocer’s.  If you are in the Wisconsin, Minnesota area, Festival carries a great selection.  If you are environmentally conscious, would like to reduce your carbon footprint, look into making your own. See my previous blog here for a more in-depth read about Kombucha, and how to make it.

Iced Herbal Teas

Most high quality, loose leaf herbal teas are caffeine free, high in antioxidants and many other medical properties.  Basically, any herbal tea can be made iced following directions above.  Add lemon or lime for an extra boost, as well as garden herbs like mint, sage, lavender, rosemary and lemon thyme.

Iced Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Green tea comes from dried, unfermented tea leaves (C. Sinensis), and Oolong tea leaves are partially fermented.  My tummy and I personally prefer the Oolong tea leaves.  Both offer a nice dose of flavonoids such as catechins & polyphenols, that act as antioxidants in the body and are thought to support cardiovascular and immune health, among other things.  The unfermented Green tea is purported to increase metabolism and weight loss.  Prepare as above.

Butter Coffee

Yes, popularized by the Bulletproof Exec, butter coffee tastes great hot or iced!  Choose a fair-trade, shade grown homozygous variety and prepare as normal with no salt, grass-fed butter, and MCT oil.  Cool, sweeten with stevia, and pour over ice.  Consumers of butter coffee observe increased mental & physical energy, better cognitive function, and fewer cravings.  Watch this YouTube video to learn how to prepare butter coffee, Bulletproof style.

Special Offer!  Get a $25 Gift Card toward a Personalized Bioenergetic Health Assessment ($50 Value)!  Find out the supplements your body is asking for, and what areas of your body are stressed! Be smarter about your health and wellness. Enter the code GIFT25 during purchase.  Go Now!

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Thoughts on Recent Paper; Infectious Virus in Exhaled Breath of Symptomatic Influenza Cases…

by Rebecca Aldag, MBA, MS, CNS

The headlines in a recent social media post caught my attention, and I immediately dug through the post to get more details.  Yes, this was the conclusion of a recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, January, 18, 2018 ahead of print.

Yes, it’s a valid study, not hearsay, and not based on fake news.  I read the study three times, and found it to be solid.  Let me explain the findings in this very relevant research.

Currently, we know little about how much of the influenza virus is shed in the breath, and how infectious this may be, if at all.  This study concluded that, neither sneezing nor coughing, is important in the aerosolization of the influenza virus, in infected individuals.  The breath alone, or simply the act of exhaling, emits a significant amount of influenza viral particles, contained in the aerosol created by the breath. The study goes on to say that the breath aerosol of influenza infected persons, who had been vaccinated that current year and the year prior, contains 6.3 times the amount of the shedded virus!  Let me say that another way.  Individuals who were actively infected with the influenza virus, and who had been vaccinated that year and the previous year, were found to shed 6.3 times the number of viral particles in the breath, as individuals who were actively infected, and had not been vaccinated for the influenza virus.  What I believe is implied here, is that vaccinated individuals, especially those who vaccinate every year, have the potential to transmit a much higher amount of the influenza virus, than someone who has not been vaccinated.

This needs to be further studied, in order to better understand the mechanism for transmission of such a highly infective virus.  I think most of us were under the impression, it was a sneeze or cough that was more likely to transmit the virus.

If you would like to read the paper, go to www.pnas.org and search “Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community”.

I’m not writing this to elicit a debate on whether we should, or should not vaccinate.  Rather, I wish to explore if implementation of other measures, may act to significantly reduce the transmission of the influenza infection.  Here are two that I propose:

  1. An infected person, or one who feels they are coming down with a cold, SHOULD NOT GO OUT IN PUBLIC!  This means, no school, no work, no events, no shopping, and anywhere else that larger numbers of people would be present.  
  2. When infected, put on a mask.  Masks should be readily available in public places, (just as we see hand sanitizer and wipes).  This is specifically for the sick individual who ventures into a public place, and for the elderly, young or immunocompromised, where getting sick could be life threatening.

I understand the implications of not going into work when one is sick.  When I worked in corporate America, I was told by my manager, that unless I was in the hospital, I was to report to work.  Thus, I went to work with an active case of strep throat, and numerous other upper respiratory ailments (I was young at the time, I would not do that now).  We have much greater control over choosing to put on a mask when sick.  I traveled to Japan years ago, and observed people on the streets, riding bikes and in the stores, wearing a mask because they were sick!  We put on a mask at the doctor’s office. Why not make it standard and customary to do so in every public place, if one is sick?  I am so curious how these two actions would effect the transmission rate of infectious respiratory viruses, such as influenza.  My guess is it would have immediate and significant impact.

So there you have it.  My take on an eye opening study.

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Stay Healthy Now; 10 Tips to Boost Your Immune System

  1. Get 7 1/2 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Be sure to dim the lights and avoid bluelight devices at least an hour before bedtime to encourage melatonin secretion (our sleep hormone).
  2. Drink 1/2 your body weight in fluid ounces of non-caffeinated beverages, preferably water per day.  We are about 67-70% water and our body needs it to function properly.
  3. Consume fresh vegetables and some fruit on a daily basis.  Plants are full of phytonutrients that support our immune system.
  4. Avoid sugar and processed foods.  These foods are inflammatory, and will distract our immune system from killing off pathogens.
  5. Minimize excess caffeine and alcohol.  Too much caffeine puts undo stress on our body.  The metabolites of alcohol are toxic, and require valuable resources to eliminate.
  6. Manage stress.  Stress, especially chronic, creates inflammation in the body and impairs our immune system.  Check out the Inner Balance system at www.heartmath.com for tools to help with managing stress.
  7. Don’t overschedule yourself and family.  Overscheduling leads to stress, anxiety and lack of sleep.  Follow nature’s example in winter; allow for quiet and stillness within your day.
  8. Move your body daily, whether through exercise or a brisk walk in the cold.  Movement helps the lymph system detoxify, and get rid of waste products.  Mild to moderate exercise has also been shown to boost the immune system. Do not over exercise, this is taxing to the immune system!
  9. Take a minimum of 2,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day. You may need more if you are testing low (below 40 ng/dl).  I carry a wonderful liquid Vitamin D3 that tastes great, and can be given to children.
  10. Take a high quality probiotic, and/or eat fermented foods daily.  About 80% of your immune system resides in the gut tissue.  A healthy microbiome will support a healthy immune system.

BONUS TIP:  WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY! We may have forgotten this little nugget from childhood.  Washing your hands has been proven effective at reducing pathogens.  You do not need an antimicrobial soap.  It is the mechanical action of washing (sing Happy Birthday, so you do it long enough), that removes germs.  Do this immediately after being in a public place, such as the grocery store or gym.