Taking optimal care of our health and following some simple steps can help us stay healthy during cold and flu season. The key is to boost our immune system and keep it strong... here are a few simple guidelines:
*Wash your hands. This will decrease the chance of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth and other people. Avoid antibacterial soap, which actually does more harm than good, and use a pure, chemical-free soap.
*Eliminate sugar and processed foods from your diet. Sugar consumption has an immediate, debilitating effect on our immune system and can be hiding in places we may not expect like ketchup, fruit juice, jelly, etc. Read the labels and be conservative during the upcoming Halloween season.
*Optimize your vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked as a likely cause of seasonal flu viruses. Getting an optimal level of vitamin D in your diet and supplements will help you fight infections of all kinds.
*Boost your immune system naturally. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables every day and supplementing our diets by taking a natural whole food multi-vitamin for adults and children, and other immune building vitamins can reduce the chance of getting sick and shorten the duration when we do.
*Use Natural Antibiotics. Garlic is known for it's natural antibiotic properties and works like broad-spectrum antibiotics against bacteria and viruses in our body. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, garlic does not appear to lead to resistance and will not depleat the good bacteria in our digestive tract. For children too young to swallow pills, you can crush the garlic and add it to applesauce or other soft food.
*Add Probiotics for their immune building benefits. Our immune system begins in our colon and requires a higher percentage of good vs. bad bacteria. We can increase food sources of probiotics by eating yogurt, sourkraut, buttermilk, kefir and supplement by taking a high quality, guaranteed delivery probiotic supplement.
*Exercise. Your immune system needs good circulation in order to perform at its best for you and exercise also reduces stress.
*Deal with stress effectively. When we are overwhelmed by stress, our bodies are less able to fight infection.
*Get plenty of good quality sleep.
Following these simple guidelines will keep our immune system in optimal working order so that we are far less likely to get the infection to begin with. However, if we do, our immune system will be able to fight and recover from the infection or virus more effectively.
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