Sickness & Viruses

My Favorite Ways To Stay Healthy

Keeping ourselves healthy these days takes a bit more than just eating well and getting good sleep. Knowing the state of your immune system is very important so you can learn what might work specifically for your body versus just taking the products most stores put front and center. Below is a list of some of my favorite herbs and nutrients that will help with either immediate or long-term immune system strength.

*Immediate Intervention –

At the very first feeling of “ickiness” or aches, runny nose, sneezing, headaches, eye sensitivity, or fever, it is super important to have your go-to items stashed each season for when it hits. The basic vitamins for lifting your immunity are Vitamin C, and Vitamin D3. Vitamin C is water soluble usually, and therefore most people can take extra amounts, up to bowel tolerance. Vitamin D3 is best as an oil capsule, and as an oil, one dose a day is usually all that is needed, but get your bloodwork to know if you tend to be low in Vitamin D3, so you can adjust your dose. Some people take multivitamins, some don’t. Know your bloodwork, and know what your body needs. To be honest, it will all depend on your diet, and what you put in your body. Foods such as ginger, garlic, onions, green tea, peppermint tea, and hot peppers can help your body fight off viruses and infections better than most other foods. Dairy and sugary foods may seem like comfort foods, but are best to be avoided while you are sick, because they work against your body trying to cleanse and detox the virus.

Here are some other immune boosting herbs that I have specifically used over the course of 30 years in the Health & Wellness industry. Also, as an Herbalist, I am quite used to tasting herbal liquid extracts. If you can’t stand the taste of an extract, or know you are sensitive to tastes, but not capsules, then get the product in a capsule form, as long as it is an EXTRACT! On the flip side, many people have the aversion to taking so many capsules or pills. That is when the liquid extracts will be necessary.

Here are some of my favorite extracts:

1. Elderberry extract (Capsules or liquid)

 2. Echinacea extract (Capsules or liquid)

 3. Andrographis extract (Capsules or liquid)

 4. Sage Leaf Tea or extract (Capsules or liquid)

 5. Wild Cherry Bark extract (Capsules or liquid)

 6. Mullein tea or extract (Capsules or liquid)

 7. Usnea extract (Capsules or liquid)

 8. Oil of Oregano extract  (Capsules or liquid)

 Knowing what you want or need when you start shopping for these items is important, because even if you walk into a store to buy some items, most likely, there won’t be anyone to help you that really knows the products. Below is a list of name brands and specific products that my family and I have used for years:

1.     Planetary Herbals, Old Indian Wild Cherry Bark Syrup 4oz or 8oz

2.     Natura Health Products, Throat & Gland Spray 2oz

3.     Herbs Etc., Lymphatonic formula, 1 or 2oz

4.     Natural Factors, Anti-V Formula, liquid or capsules

5.     Gaia Herbs, Oil of Oregano capsules 60’s (I still do not like the liquid!)

6.     Kick-Ass Formulas, Sinus or Immune, 1oz or 2oz (these seem to have a better (easier) taste for sensitive souls.)

Thanks for reading, and have a Healthy Day!