Health Intensive #9

Having a healthy winter is something that I get to talk to people about every single year! This is when I get phone calls from my adult children and get notes and calls from others too. 😁 We don't need to go into the details of why germs proliferate at certain times of the year, but it is certainly clear that we are in the season where some find themselves with colds and flu….or the Wuhan 🤔

And every time we get sick, without proper healing processes, it weakens us a bit and makes us more vulnerable to the effects of stress factors. Let's say we stop it before it gets anywhere!! This is being proven out with even the very latest studies on Vitamin D and its effect on the current virus! ☀

I am going to give you what we do for the general health of our family to ward off sickness, with a few extras this year. We are RARELY sick, and the “virus” went through our house and it was very MILD. I did not display symptoms aside from a

headache. I don't even remember the last time I had a cold. Earlier this year, I had a couple of days where I “felt bad”, but other than that I have been very well.

Whenever anyone starts to complain that their throat is feeling funny or other mild symptomatic complaints, I have a regimen that I begin to do along with some regular practices that keep us healthy. Take it or leave it. I'm not claiming you will never get sick, but natural health care is always so worth the try, right?

1. Garlic 🧄
   I really believe that garlic can stop stuff in its tracks. This is our first line of defense. Take a clove of garlic, chop it into tiny pieces and take it with a glass of water just like you would take some vitamins. I have had Joe tell me that he actually felt better one time within a few minutes of doing this. If you continue to feel ill, do it twice a day until feeling better.

Anti-bacterial, anti-viral, anti-fungal and also a vermifuge, garlic is an incredible defense. If you followed any of my facebook pages, there were whole posts on garlic. I will make sure and post that sometime soon on this page!

1. Vitamin D. ☀
   Once it his the end of September, there is D3 around our home and taken on a semi-regular basis. When the sun is not out as much, and we are not out as much, we just are not getting the Vitamin D that we need to keep our immune systems strong. And, as I said, there have been even MORE studies this year proving the effectiveness of vitamin D. (But be careful, it is a fat soluble rather than water soluble vitamin)

2. Vitamin C. 🍊
   We always have liquid vitamin C around. We don't take it on a regular basis, but if someone starts feeling unwell, it is one of the first things we grab. The current brand we use is Eniva liquid vitamin C.

3. Green Tea. 🍵
   This one I learned years ago from a friend's elderly grandma Do a two bag cup of green tea. Powerful stuff. I have no idea how to explain to you why this helps because I have never done the research, but it does. We also like to use the green tea with pomegranate from Bigelow, but I think that Republic of Tea has an organic version.

4. Pineapple. 🍍
   If the sore throat actually develops into something, fresh pineapple is a great help. The L-Bromelain in it is an enzyme that is very helpful for the throat. Singers use it sometimes before they sing. The most fun way to do it is to put some fresh pineapple into the blender with some ice and make pineapple slushie. I have been known to bring a pitcher of this over to the home of sick friends

5. Bone broth/Chicken Soup. 🥣
   I am including some info/instructions for this in one of the food posts, so stay tuned. I think everyone know that chicken soup is good for you. Definitely helps with the gut and so many other things. Look it up.

6. Oregano Oil 🌿
   This is our bazooka tool. I use this for the big stuff or if someone actually develops a real cold/sickness. And it works particularly well when rubbed, with a carrier oil, right onto the neck and/or lung area.

7. Cranberry juice 🥤
   I made a short post talking about the value of cranberry juice earlier in December ( #cranberry in the search box) but this has become an actual part of our regimen this year and is particularly important for the current virus.

8. Gut health ❤️

   I think that if you have seen my posts on this before you understand the importance of the gut being healthy. If your poor gut is constantly under attack and is weak, it is unlikely to be able to ward off additional unhealthy things that enter the system in the first place!! But if it IS healthy, your body can be like it was created to work and can ward off much more I will be posting a few days’ worth of info on the gut soon!!

A couple of last things are that if someone has a fever and it is low grade, don't worry. That is the body fighting off the germs! And don't give people acetaminophen and ibuprofen. So bad for the body!! And please avoid all sugar while your body is fighting off something. I won't go into that fully, but it will hinder your body's fight against the germs.

And I suppose I should say something about Elderberry as so many seem to be in love with it. It just really isn’t part of our regimen. We have taken the pills and have some syrup, but I have not made the syrup....I am sure that it is fabulous for the winter ❄️❄️❄️

So, those are the main lines of defense for us. I know that attitude about it plays a huge part. Why don't you try some of these the next time you go in the sick direction and let me know how it goes 🙂

Do you have anything that you use to ward off sickness?