Other than consistently washing your hands, the trick to avoiding Winter Crud is keeping your Immune System STRONG. You want to be an inhospitable host. Some tips.
First, little viral creatures feast on sugar. Avoiding the flu may be good incentive to finally get honest about sugar consumption. Like all that corn syrup in everything from juices to chocolates to canned fruit. SUGAR. Remember that certain foods convert fairly quickly to glucose, like potatoes, corn, grains, dairy, and fruit. The ubiquitous breakfast of oats, milk, and dried fruit is a lot of quick glucose. Consider moderating that with some steamed spinach or kale and high quality protein.
Moderate exercise will help move lymphatic fluid, which drains waste products– and build bones, which produce white blood cells, which is the immune system. Got it?
SUPERCHARGE your diet. Avoid rancid fats like old peanut butter and old oil in plastic. TOSS THEM. Avoid foods you know cause sensitive and allergic reactions. Eat lots of COLOR. Specifically your immune system needs iron, zinc, calcium, and vitamins A, C, and E. Most nutrition websites don’t mention seaweed for calcium, which you can easily add to beans and stews. Consistent foods across these lists include dark leafy greens, sardines, beans, fresh nuts, and squash, including the seeds. Be careful over-supplementing calcium. Eat plenty of garlic to help destroy pathogens.
Be aware that stress weakens your immune system and cultivating relationships strengthens it. Immune system cells have more receptors, so they are more susceptible to emotional fluctuations. Be aware that over-eating stresses all systems.
Taking Elderberry, or Sambucus, every day creates a cellular viral wall. Fall is the time to harvest. Pluck your purple UMBRELS, remove berries from the stems, and decide how to preserve them. You can make a syrup (use honey), freeze them, or make a tincture by infusing in vodka for 3 weeks. Note that raw berries are an emetic, meaning they induce vomiting. So if you take them raw, eat only 1 or 2 at a time.
From the Forest offers fresh tincture, and you can find Sambucus products in drugstores. Here is a good blog on Elderberries, including a syrup recipe.
If you are chronically prone to any kind of winter crud, call me for a consultation. Be well!