Cough & Cold Tips
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Are you prepared to combat this cold & flu season?
3 easy tips to beat the bugs this year
Every year, the cold and flu season falls right around November to April, bringing with it fatigue, runny noses, sore throats and for those with influenza, body aches and pains. With missed work days and school projects, everyone
Everyday preventative actions such as frequent proper handwashing with soap and water or alcohol sanitizer, covering your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and staying home while sick until at least 24 hours after the fever has gone can help stop the spread of germs that cause upper respiratory illnesses like the common cold and flu. Beyond reducing stress levels, eating healthy and getting enough sleep, how can we safely navigate this time of year and give our bodies the best chance of staying healthy? Here are three easy things you can do this cold and flu season:
Fire cider – Hippocrates said, “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”, and fire cider is a perfect example of this statement. It is made up of ten synergistic ingredients including apple cider vinegar, oranges, lemons, onions, horseradish, ginger, habanero/chili pepper, garlic, turmeric and honey. Beyond providing anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, antifungal and antibacterial qualities, fire cider supports immune function, digestion and detoxification. You can take one teaspoon of this concoction every hour at the first sign of the common cold or flu or as a daily dose for prevention as an immune and circulatory tonic.
Probiotics – interacting with immune cells in the gut, these beneficial bacteria may be able to shorten the duration of the common cold. The Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains were identified to have shorter illness episodes than placebo, reducing the duration of the cold by an average of one day.
Medicinal mushrooms – shittake (Lentinula edodes), maitake (Grifola fondosa) and reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) are a few of the immune boosting mushrooms containing polysaccharides that support the functioning and regulation of the immune system. Reishi, also known as the Herb of Immortality is a deep immune tonic or immunomodulator helping with a number of conditions among them bacterial and viral infections. Add in some of these medicinal mushrooms when you make your next bone broth to enjoy benefits such as tissue repair and healing, hormone and energy production and immune balance.
Be sure to check with your naturopathic physician or primary healthcare provider before adding in any new supplement, herb, nutraceutical, etc to your treatment regimen. Try these tips before the cold and flu season creeps up on all of us and you’ll be sure to stave off those unwanted symptoms and stay healthy all year round!
References:
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