With the cold autumn and winter months upon us, I wanted to share my go-tos for boosting the immune system and also remedies for after you’re already sick!
KEEPING YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM STRONG –
1 – Eating a nutrient dense diet is probably the most important thing you can do if you don’t want to get sick all time. Greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries, nuts & seeds should be the majority of your diet. There is no substitution for this – not a supplement, not a superfood, not an essential oil. Filling your plate with nutrient dense foods will ensure your gut is nourished (60 percent of the volume of the immune system and some 80 percent of the work done by the immune system is done in your gut lining!!) and that you are getting plenty micronutrients and phytochemicals to keep your body functioning the way it should! Eating these foods will ensure you are getting adequate vitamin C and zinc and enough fiber to nourish your microbiome. Read more about gut health and immune function here.
2 – Get adequate sleep! Have you ever noticed that when you are sleep deprived you tend to get sick more? Our body repairs itself and keeps our immune system strong while we are sleeping. It seems like a no brainer but it can be hard especially if you have young children who wake multiple times per night. Do whatever you can to make sure you get as much sleep as you need. Take naps, ask for support, don’t make yourself busier than you have to be.
3 – Drinking the immune broth (recipe below) WITH astragalus root will help strengthen your immune system and the body’s performance in its current state. You don’t want to strengthen the body to exist with the disease, you want the body to eliminate the disease, so only use the astragalus root if you are healthy. The broth is delicious with some miso or you can use it as a base for soup or to cook rice/quinoa.
4 – Take a vitamin D3 supplement daily. Get your levels tested so you can gauge how much to take. Adults should be taking at least 1,000 IU daily. I have needed to take 5,000 IU daily to keep my levels in a desirable range. Everyone is different so it’s best to have your levels tested a couple times per year.
5 – Exercise! Staying active improves circulation which boosts the ability of your immune cells to be where they are most effective. Any kind of regular activity is good, just get moving! If you don’t normally exercise, start out slow and work your way up to something with a little higher intensity.
6 – Avoid heavy alcohol consumption. Drinking excessive alcohol can cause a sudden stop in immune function because it alters the cells and molecules in the body for up to 24 hours afterward.
7 – Manage chronic stress! Continuous stress over months and years has a negative effect on immune function, disrupts hormones and interferes with the body’s ability to fight infection.
AS SOON AS YOU FEEL A SORE THROAT OR HEAD COLD COMING ON – Echinacea! I swear by this herb. My parents used to make us take it in its liquid form when we were kids and it was literally the worst. Now, I take it in a capsule and also drink this echinacea elderberry tea AS SOON AS I feel any bit of a sore throat coming on. I want to stress that this won’t work if you are already sick, you have to take it BEFORE you have a full blown illness.
STREP THROAT – First off, if you are one of those people who get strep throat all the time, you need to ask yourself why your immune system is so weak. Are you sleeping enough? Eating nutrient dense foods like greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds daily? Exercising? Do you have chronic stress? Have you been on antibiotics lately? I used to be one of those people who got strep all. the. time. After I changed my diet and cut out the processed food and sugar I haven’t gotten it since.
INFANTS/CHILDREN – For infants the best thing you can do is give your baby breastmilk to grow their immune system. I have a whole post on infant’s digestive and immune systems. If you have for whatever reason had to give your child antibiotics, make sure you focus on feeding them a variety of whole plant foods to allow their microbiome to rebuild itself. Also, if you are pregnant and know you need to have a cesarian, ask your doctor about a vaginal swab applied to the baby’s skin right after birth as well as a good probiotic. I talk more about this here. For older children I love elderberry! It is a great way to boost their immune system and works well as a cough syrup too. I have always bought it but you can make it yourself at home too if you buy dry elderberries online. All of the points in the “keeping your immune system strong” section also apply to children!
Below is the recipe for an amazing immune/potassium broth you can make at home and listed here are some of the benefits of the specific ingredients. Potassium is a key electrolyte that supports the healing process as well as the nervous system, muscle function, heart function, headaches, and metabolism of protein and carbohydrate. As I mention above, the broth is delicious with some organic miso (one tablespoon of miso paste per 16 ounces of broth), organic tamari or coconut aminos or you can use it as a base for soup or to cook rice/quinoa. My 16 month old will drink it out of a shot glass! My 3 year old is not into “soup” or “broth” so I just cook grains in it for him.
Shiitake mushroom – High in potassium, as mushrooms tend to be, and with powerful immune benefits.
Reishi mushroom – High in potassium and has powerful immune benefits.
Maitake mushroom – High in potassium and has powerful immune benefits.
Astragalus root – Great immune strengthener.
Kombu seaweed – The highest potassium sea vegetable, and rich with many other nutrients. (6 mg potassium per 100 mg)
Carrots – High in potassium.
Parsley – Very high in potassium. Parsley tea has been used to make potassium tea as a help to healing.
immune broth recipe
recipe from Teresa Boardwine, founder of Green Comfort School Of Herbal Medicine
ingredients
6 shiitake mushrooms (available in most grocery stores)
1 dried reishi mushroom (optional, available at Mountain Rose Herbs)
1 ounce maitake mushroom (optional, I have found at Whole Foods)
6 pieces astragalus root (optional, and only if you are healthy, available at Mountain Rose Herbs)
1 piece kombu seaweed (available at health food shops or Whole Foods)
4 carrots
1 large yellow onion (skin and all)
1 bunch parsley
dark leafy greens like spinach, beet greens, chard or kale or any other vegetable scraps (optional)
1 gallon distilled water (important to use distilled water, not tap or filtered or bottled water, in order to get the full benefit of the high potassium in the broth)
directions
place all ingredients in large pot and simmer for 2 hours. strain and store in refrigerator for up to a week – week and a half. (if you pour it into mason jars and tighten down the lid while still very hot, a vacuum seal will form as it cools that helps preserve it for longer periods, though we still keep it all in the refrigerator.) you can also freeze any extra.
*If you are wondering do I ever add animal bones to my broth, the answer is no. Bones are incredibly good at soaking up lead and when bones are boiled, the lead comes out into the broth. The study I am referring to was done on broth from organic chickens. In case you are unaware, lead is a neurotoxin and also causes adverse effects on the nervous system, circulatory system, reproductive system and hormones (miscarriage & infertility), digestive tract, bone marrow, and mood just to scratch the surface. Watch this informative video if you want to learn more.
