Cochrane’s Healthy Hut owner, Lucy Miller, wants to let everyone know the best way to fight the flu is with common sense.

She will be giving her annual Fighting the Flu — Building Immunity for Winter talk Nov.  24 at 7 p.m. at the Nan Boothby Library.

While she plans to address H1N1 in her talk, she feels the fear surrounding the new strain of influenza is actually causing more problems.

“I am modifying my talk a little bit,” said Miller. “But it’s not new. I do it every year.”

She said while H1N1 is a strain some people have never been exposed to before, especially younger sections of the population, it doesn’t change the protocol on how to deal with a flu.

The biggest piece of advice she  has is to be vigilant and take care of yourself, whether you’re sick or recovering.

One of her employees at the Healthy Hut, Sue Alter, came down with the flu but recovered quickly after she slept, ate well, drank lots of fluids, and stayed away from sugar, which can inhibit the recovery of your immune system.

The basic health practices of washing your hands, not touching your mouth or eyes, getting enough rest, eating nutritious meals and exercising apply.

“Especially for the 20-something generation,” said Miller. “You can’t go out for a pizza and beer and expect to feel better the next day if you’re sick. . . . Children these days are growing up living out of a box, and  don’t know what a good chicken noodle soup is . . . You can’t live on dead food.”

But there are also more things to take into  account — and everyone is different.

“There is no one magic pill,” she said.

Miller said people should consider genetic structure, the environment which they live and work in (whether it be toxic, like working with chemicals), and their overall immunity — including factors like stress.

Miller said the hype surrounding H1N1 can lead to fear, which stresses out people and makes it harder for them to recover if they are sick.

As for the H1N1 vaccine, Miller said she is wary that those receiving the vaccine have to sign a waiver dissolving all responsibility of the government and pharmaceutical company, but it is a personal decision people have to make.

“There has been so much confusion surrounding the vaccination,” said Miller. “Who’s a priority? But some people will be affected more than others.”

She said H1N1 does have a more aggressive attack on the respiratory system, but if this poses a problem to an individual they should be trying to find long term solutions and not just when they are sick.

She said she has seen a lot of worried people come into the Healthy Hut. One person had used so much hand sanitizer that their hands were damaged from dryness.

She said aromatherapy and essential oils are also good tools. For information on the talk, phone the library at 403-932-4354.

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