Think you can’t avoid a stomach virus after being exposed? Think again! I did it–and I think you can, too!
The month of March is always full of surprises.
Where I live in North Carolina, one day it’s 75 degrees F, and the next day it’s sleeting. It’s the month when you leave your home in the morning wearing a coat and scarf and are donning a pair of flip flops by the afternoon.
It’s also the season when you fool yourself into thinking that you’ve made it all winter without getting sick. You’ve avoided the flu, colds and the horrible, no-good stomach virus.
It hit the girls first–one-by-one they began throwing up.
Then, in the middle of the night, it overtook my poor husband.
All night long, I listened to the bug biting my family. I cleaned up their messes and soothed them as best I could, and I prayed I wouldn’t get sick as well.
But I knew it was coming. I just knew it! How could I avoid such a highly-contagious illness when every single person in my home was affected by it?
But I did! Oh, I did!
And not only that–but I used natural means to avoid a stomach virus!
My plan of attack was simple: I did not want to get sick! With sheer determination, I scoured my natural medicine arsenal.
Here is what I came up with that helped me avoid a stomach virus after being exposed:
A few days before the stomach virus hit our house, I had felt the very first signs of a cold (my first in two years!). My first symptom of a cold is usually a scratchy throat. Wanting to stave off the cold before it really started, I began loading up on elderberry, vitamin C, echinacea and garlic.
Without knowing it, I was strengthening my immune system to fight off another bug!
Thankfully, having heard that activated charcoal can work wonders for tummy ailments, I already had this stashed away in our natural medicine cabinet. But because our family hadn’t been ill for the past two years, I had never really used it!
Hands down, if you do not heed anything else in this post, please, please, please stock your natural medicine cabinet with activated charcoal!
In a nutshell, activated charcoal adsorbs most toxins in your body before they can harm you (source). Some emergency rooms even give activated charcoal to patients with food poisoning!
I was a bit skeptical to take it at first because I assumed this was a stomach virus, and I had heard that activated charcoal only works with stomach problems caused by bacteria.
But then I found this post by my friend Kimberly at The Nourishing Gourmet. (And yes, I actually found it in a Google search in the middle of the night!) In the post, Kimberly recounts how her family beat the stomach virus with the use of activated charcoal as well!
I took Kimberly’s advice, and I am so glad I did. I truly feel that the activated charcoal took care of the virus that was most likely already inside of my body.
I took two capsules with water every few hours. Read Kimberly’s post for more details on dosing. Also, keep in mind that the activated charcoal may also adsorb all the good nutrients in your body as well, so do not take it at the same time as your other supplements.
I continued to take 1-2 capsules of activated charcoal for a few days after the stomach virus left our house.
Note: If you child is actively throwing up, it may not be a good idea to give them charcoal unless there is a bucket near by. One of our kids threw up charcoal all over the carpet. Talk about a mess to clean up.
3. Digestion Essential Oil Blend
Essential oils are a big part of my family’s natural medicine cabinet. Many bloggers love them so much that they decide to sell them. I love them so much that I will sing their praises without selling them–because I hate selling things! Ha!
I rubbed a couple drops of the oil blend, diluted with a carrier oil, on my stomach every few hours while my household had the stomach virus.
4. Immune-Boosting Essential Oil Blend
When my family became ill, I did not hesitate to begin rubbing a diluted immune-boosting oil blend on my feet and the feet of my family members. I also added it to a diffuser where my husband, who was the most ill, was sleeping.
This happened to be the only ginger tea I had on hand (and I was completely out of ginger, so I couldn’t make my own!). I drank it the morning after the long night of my family’s illness, and it definitely had a nice calming effect!
6. A Strong Probiotic
I typically give my girls the Garden of Life Raw probiotic, which I get from Vitacost.com, but my husband and I usually take a cheaper Vitacost brand probiotic for our daily dose. However, I had recently purchased a super probiotic supplement from my girls’ integrative pediatrician–HMF Neuro Powder. I will say this stuff is PRICEY. I had it on hand for such a time as this.
When a stomach virus hits, I believe it’s the time to pull out the best of the best probiotics.
In addition to taking the probiotic powder, I also ate some coconut milk yogurt, which we also happened to have on hand that day.
Redmond Clay is helpful for an assortment of ailments, including stomach issues.
I did not take much of this, as I felt really confident in the activated charcoal, but I did take a little bit.
It is supposed to adsorb the toxins and flush them out of your system as well. I just didn’t feel like I needed both the activated charcoal and the clay at the same time.
This is the first winter we have owned an air purifier, and you better believe I had it running during this illness! In fact, I moved it from room to room.
Interestingly enough? The air purifier we use turns red when there are contaminants in the air. It turned the reddest when I put my natural cleaners aside and pulled out the Lysol! Now if that doesn’t tell you something about the toxins in conventional cleaners…
It’s been two and a half weeks since the stomach virus hit our house, and I never got it!
This was a new one to me after I wrote the original post. Someone at church told us about it, and it’s been our go-to ever since. Supposedly, grape juice coats the stomach and helps you avoid the stomach virus!
This is one of the easiest to get on the spur of the moment (although we make sure to always keep the other supplies on hand!). I dissolve activated charcoalin grape juice for my kids. This has helped us so much!
Note: Again, if you child is actively throwing up, I would not recommend giving them grape juice. Dark purple spots do not look good on carpet (ask me how I know.)
What are your tips for how to avoid a stomach virus after being exposed? Did you get the stomach virus this year?
Disclaimer: Although I am passionate about nutrition, natural living and alternative health issues, I am not a certified nutritionist, medical doctor, or practitioner of any kind. I am not licensed to counsel anyone in medical matters nor may I be held responsible for any course of action that you choose in regards to your own health or that of your family. Please remember that what I are sharing is the result of my own experiences, but may not necessarily be the right course of action for you. I am an advocate of becoming informed, knowledgeable and responsible for one’s own health, but my desire is not to be an authority on any matters of health for you, nor would I presume to have sufficient knowledge to do so. My hope is that what I share may encourage you and start you on the road to doing your own research, and seeking out the opinions of professionals or others that you trust.
Original article and pictures take thehumbledhomemaker.com site
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