Sinusitis - Causes and Natural Remedies

1) Avoid Dairy when sick or at risk for sinusitis.

2) Exercise - Lymph nodes play an important role in fighting infection  "Lymph nodes filter lymphatic fluid, and produce and store white blood cells...Any form of exercise, such as walking, climbing stairs, swimming, running, dancing or playing tennis, will stimulate the lymphatic system and improve the lymphatic circulation" (Link).

3) Drink a fresh juice every morning with infection fighting plants such as lemon, ginger, grapefruit and orange.

4) Eat antibacterial foods such as garlic and onions.

5) Spend lots of time outdoors breathing clean air.

6) Determine if Air Conditioner affects your sinuses. For some reason, my air conditioner seems to negatively affect my sinuses. Use a fan instead, if possible.

7) Move to a less-polluted area if necessary.

8) Visit your doctor if symptoms persist. As much as I hate antibiotics in general, I ended up going on them because my infection had lasted for 10 days and was getting worse. It's difficult living in China, without my usual options. But the antibiotics seem to be working very well, thankfully. I just wish I didn't have to take them! :-\

Right now, in China, I'm living with a horrible, possibly even dangerous case of sinusitis  Basically I caught a cold about 9 days ago. About 5 days later I started feeling better, and I began eating pizza for 3 nights in a row. Then came the sinusitis, which has since spread to my cheek and below my right eye. I'm only typing this now because I found a Chinese medicine that is working wonders with all of the symptoms. Still, I feel like an idiot for eating so unhealthy in China, especially while I am sick. The cold virus mixed with unhealthy eating and air pollution has turned into something extremely painful.

The past couple of days, in addition to taking the Chinese medicine, I have also been eating a raw vegan diet again. I start the morning with lots of orange juice, which loads me up with vitamin C. Yet it is still too early to tell how much this is helping, though I know it is essential for any shred of health.

I have also been feeling the need to sleep outdoors - like, in a tent. I feel like I've been so disconnected from nature lately, and I'm actually craving more nature time.

I also started eating some dark chocolate again, as this has helped my sinuses in the past.

I will update this post later. Hopefully with the raw vegan diet and the Chinese medicine the symptoms will fade. However, I also really want to start sleeping under the stars when I'm this sick. It's just hard in China to find any decent camp site...

What has helped cure your sinusitus?

Vitamin B12 Rich Foods and Bioavailability

Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin that is found in animal foods such as dairy, meat and eggs. B12 helps provide energy, reduce stress and regulate and rebuild your body's DNA. Because B12 is naturally found in animal foods, most vegans will end up needing to take B12 supplement. Vitamin B12 it is also often added in supplement form to many name-brand cereals. 

It is important to remember that, even though a certain food may have a lot of b12 within it, not all of the b12 within that food is bioavailable. For example, "Eggs contain a substance that inhibits absorption in the intestines. Although each egg contains 0.6 micrograms of vitamin B12, it is only 9% available, so the effective dose from eating one egg is only roughly 0.06 micrograms. The vitamin B12 within milk, cheese, and yogurt is only 65% bioavailable. Of the 1.5 micrograms in one cup of yogurt, only .98 micrograms gets absorbed." (Link) Also, "vitamin B12 bioavailability should decrease significantly with increases in the intake of vitamin B12 per meal" (Link).

Free range eggs have much  more B12 than eggs from factory farms (Link). So while a typical egg from a factory farm might have 0.6 micrograms of B12, a free range egg might have 1.3 micrograms.

"Good sources of vitamin B12 for vegetarians are dairy products or free-range eggs...Fermentation in the manufacture of yoghurt destroys much of the B12 present. Boiling milk can also destroy much of the B12" (link).

Note: For most adults, the recommended daily intake of Vitamin B12 is 2.4 micrograms per day (Link)

Food	B12 Content	Bioavailability
Beef Liver 1 slice Chicken Liver 100g 3 oz Salmon 1 large Egg 1 Organic Egg 1 Cup Cottage Cheese 1 Cup Yogurt 1 Cup Plain Yogurt 8 oz. Cup of Milk 1 Oz. Swiss Cheese 3 Oz. Chicken or Turkey	63 micrograms 21 micrograms   2.4 micrograms 0.6 micrograms 1.3 mg - 5 mg (link) 1.6 micrograms 1.5 micrograms 1.4 micrograms 0.9 micrograms 0.9 micrograms 0.3 micrograms	60% (% goes down  for larger servings) 60% (% goes down  for larger servings ) 42% 9% 9% 65% 65% 65% 65% 65% 60%

For a B12 calculator, check out this awesome link Here!

For an extensive B12 bioavailability list, check out this link Here!