5 Tips for Staying Healthy as the Season Changes

1. Modify your eating habits. The big takeaways here are minimizing or eliminating your sugar and dairy intake. Dairy produces mucous, and bacteria loves mucous, so staying away from milk, cheese, and ice cream can be a simple way to prevent illness, especially if you are prone to congestion. Sugar greatly depletes your immune system as well, so it’s definitely something to cut out if you can avoid it.

2. Eat pumpkin seeds for zinc. Many people are deficient in zinc, which is essential for a healthy immune system. To get more zinc, you can eat one or two handfuls of pumpkin seeds a day, or take a zinc supplement.

3. Boost your immune system Vitamin C. Getting daily Vitamin C is a lovely way to boost your immune system. Orange juice is loaded with sugar, so that’s not the best way to get it. For adults 500 mg – 1 gram a day is a good preventative, for kids 250 – 500 mg with meals. Make sure you get the good stuff! Lyposomal Vitamin C is very absorbable form, as well as buffered ascorbic acid.

4. Keep your gut healthy with fermented foods. Your immune system starts with your gut. One way to get goodbacteria into your system is to eat fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchee, miso, or natto. These foods should not be pasteurized, as that kills the bacteria and defeats our purpose. A tablespoon a day of one of these is a great way to keep your gut-friendly bacteria!

5. Take herbs for the immune system. The Rainforest Remedies ‘Immune Boost’ blend is a highly effective blend for preventative health. With Billy Webb Bark, Jackass Bitters, and John Charles, Echinacea, and Andrographis, your body will get the herbal support it needs to stay healthy. Ask me for some at your next appointment!