Cold and Flu season has arrived with a vengeance.
Lets talk prevention:
Basic Hygiene:
Wash your hands, especially before eating & be careful to not touch your nose with unwashed hands. It’s the suds on the soap that break down the bacteria. So suds up and sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Tone deaf? Try one of our safe soaps or Bunny’s Bath foaming soap with Tea Tree oil. Cover your cough. Avoid others coughing near you. Please STAY HOME if your sick.
Sleep – Evenings are dark. Crawl into bed early with a good book and add an hour or two of rest.
Eat Garlic – Yum. 1-2 cloves of cooked garlic per day. I love to roast veggies with a bit of olive oil and loads of garlic cloves. I even bring them to the store to munch on! Garlic is anti-microbial and Anti-inflammatory
Take care of your Terrain! Your intestines are your garden & this garden keeps you healthy. 70% of your immune system is in your digestive tract (your garden). Tend the garden well: Eat active cultured yogurt, kefir, kimchee, kombucha, miso, tempeh and raw sauerkraut, all foods with naturally occurring probiotics. Dr. Guy Devin, PhD, says “if you can only do one thing, take a probiotic”. They are that important to health. Eat a wholefood diet and drink water – in order for the garden to grow, it needs water!
Eat foods that are sources of prebiotics (the food for probiotics): Asparagus, barley, bananas, cabbage, onion, steelcut oats, garlic to name a few.
Avoid Sugar (especially when you are sick). Bacteria loves sugar and sugar slams your immune system. Wonder why so many people get sick over the holidays? Think sugar!
Take D3! The typical adult doseage is between 2,000 & 10,000 IU’s. Remember to take your D3 with fat. Vitamins A,D,E & K are fat soluable. D3 helps with seasonal mood swings, and higher blood levels of D3 help you to avoid colds and flu. Get tested!
Add Vitamin C to your daily supplements: Stimulates antibody production. Take up to bowel tolerance level. Adults 3000-5000mg, children 1000-3000mg. A good daily dose is 500mg. twice daily. Increase if you feel a tickle coming on.
Daily supplements that help boost immune: Garlic, Mushrooms: Stamets 7 and MyCommunity (mushrooms have the closest DNA to humans of all plants), Wellness Formula – 30% off right now, is a favorite. Oregano, Ashwaganda and more.
Just catching a cold? GAIA’s Quick Defense works like a charm. Take the entire bottle over the course of two days. Works wonders.
One of our favorites for flu prevention is a product you can find at your naturopaths, such as Dr. Molly Forces office (now sharing space with Dr. Rienstra, across from the Port Townsend Athletic Club), Mucoccinum. To heal faster from the flu, our Oscillococcinum is great to keep on hand. Mountain Spirits Kick Ass Cold & Flu is another store favorite too!
If you feel like your catching something, or it has gotten you, come talk to us. You CAN get better faster with nutritional support. If you do come in sick, just let us know. We know what to do to keep from catching whatever you have and so appreciate knowing when you are not feeling well.
My own personal recipe for avoiding colds and flu (1.5 years so far), is Mucoccinum, MyCommunity daily, exercise, laughter and good healthy food! The minute I feel ‘off’, even if I’m not sure, I increase my vitamin C intake and if needed, take GAIA’s Quick Defense or take a few doses of Larix or Arabinex for a couple of days. Does the trick every time!
Traveling by plane? Talk to us first! Don’t ruin your trip by catching something in that recirculated air! I have my favorite ‘recipe’ for this too.
Juliet, our newest staff member and licensed as an herbalist in Ireland, is a wiz with herbal remedies and she knows teas as well!
Here’s to a winter of laughter and health!
