With cold and flu season right around the corner, it is essential to ensure your immune system is operating at the highest level possible. Whether you decided to get the flu shot or not, boosting your immune system naturally will help protect you from getting sick or at the very least, lessen the length of time you are sick.
EAT A HEALTHY WELL-BALANCED DIET
The best way to stay healthy during cold and flu season is to eat a healthy diet. Diets rich in vegetables containing essential vitamins and minerals will help your body perform at optimum levels, and that includes your immune system. You should avoid excess sugar, alcohol, or nicotine.
GET ENOUGH SLEEP
This suggestion tends to be one of the most difficult for stressed out and overworked Americans. We have so many things to do and our fast-paced lifestyle leads to a racing mind at night. But if you want to avoid being sick, you’ll want to get enough sleep. Your body repairs itself at night as you sleep and if you are sick, the extra rest is only going to shorten the length of your cold. If you have trouble sleeping, try to look into ways to calm down before bed, such as drinking the aforementioned tea or exhausting yourself with exercise. Try to avoid alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine in the few hours before you go to bed. These vices all play a role in our sleeping habits, and not in a positive way. Caffeine and coffee can be amazing for the body, however, it definitely should be avoided before bed, unless you drink decaf.
GET MORE SUNLIGHT
Sunlight triggers the skin’s production of vitamin D. In the summer, a 10-15 minute exposure (minus sunscreen) is enough. However, above 42 degrees latitude (Boston) from November through February, sunlight is too weak and very few foods contain adequate levels of this essential vitamin. Low vitamin D levels correlate with a greater risk of respiratory infection. A 2010 study in kids showed that 1200 IU a day of supplemental vitamin D reduced the risk of influenza A. This vitamin is essential to managing stress, which too much of can also impact your immune system.
GET MORE VITAMIN C
Vitamin C is important to keep the immune system in cold and flu “fight mode.” The normal “FDA Recommended Daily Allowance” is 60 mg per person per day. It is hard to “overdose” from Vitamin C, as it is a water-soluble vitamin. What this means is that any excess of it not utilized by the body’s metabolism is excreted in the urine. It’s easy to get some extra vitamin C too. Grab some oranges, lemons, or limes and squeeze the fresh (unpasteurized) juice into your water. This is how I get my dose of this amazing vitamin.
Hopefully, you will be able to use some of these tips to boost your immune system this fall as we enter the cold and flu season. Part of a well-balanced approach to preparing is also an understanding of the seasons and the risks involved. Take care of yourself this winter!
no comments for the past two days ?
what’s up with that ?
where did everybody go ?
🙁
and into moderation I went 🙁
Used to get a flu shot every year. Got a flu shot at the VA 2 years ago. They said it was a stronger dose because of my age. Now I can no longer eat eggs or egg products, because of extreme diarrea. And I mean extreme. On the side of the road right now extreme.
What happened to all our commentors??
No comments for 2 days??
Angry Beaver, the site appears to be messed up pretty good. Have to frequently hit the refresh button. Before I open an article and before I look for newer posts. And after I post.
Is this thing on?
Where the hell is everyone?
Everyone is in purgatory for at minimum 1 day before moderation clears, weekends is 2 days. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. The final death blow, nice knowing you, take care…..
The part about vitamin C is critical, and if you want more than just the benefits of that one vitamin, there is a little vit. called ZINC, that will triple protect you in cold and flu season.
For men, it has the added benefit of putting lead in your pencil, provided you have a pencil big enough for lead to begin with.
Also, Optivida Silver Solution is a plus.
My wife keeps us in essential oils and lemon in our water is what we use the.
Ah well the moderation gulag for me since it doesn’t recognize me even though I’ve been using the same name and address for a few years now. Ain’t no wonder this site has become a ghost town.
There is a cure for the common cold and it’s ColdEeze zinc lozenges.
At the first symptoms take a half every three hours, the bed time dose is the most important.
Now the fly in the ointment, they only work for the common cold. They have no affect if you get the flu, and are only of minor help with an adenovirus, and if it’s bacterial they act as an irritant and make it worse, you’ll know by the end of day two.