Natural ways to stay healthy in *sv season....

[kthomas629]

Now I don't know about anyone else, but frankly it's not just *sv season that I dread, it's ILLNESS season period. Nobody likes being sick no matter what it is. You don't like being sick, miserable, feeling crappy and for emets, freaking out about the possibility of *v and *n. So it makes logical sense that we want to find ways to help keep ourselves and our families well during the cold/flu/noro. season right!? I mean after all, it's more than just worrying about warding off the *n and *v bugs, but we don't like missing work and schools b/c our families or we are sick with the nasty bugs of all kinds that fly during the cold months!
I have gotten very much into natural and homeopathic methods of boosting my and my family's immunity, done lots of research into the concerns of our food and water supply including chemicals, additives, hormones, etc. Even contemporary medicines can be more harm than good in some cases, so it's always good to look towards natural means of healing yourself and your family when sick. Plus our overall health would improve ten fold if we ate better, drank water regularly, exercised and used the medicines that come from the Earth to boost our natural immunity and ward off those bugs.
I recommend highly everyone start doing this. It really does help. To get started, I found this recipe for a garlic soup that comes high recommended for warding off colds, flus and YES the dreaded Noro. bug too! Granted it has a TON of garlic in it, so if you don't like garlic you might find this hard to get down. But garlic has been known for CENTURIES as a natural antibiotic that is much easier on the system to digest and handle than contemporary antibiotics without the side effects that can come with them! I actually take garlic supplements to help boost my natural immunity, yeah the taste is interesting and your breath will be "kicking" a bit, but it's worth it. Sadly last year money was tight and it was hard for me to keep up my usual use of natural and vitamin supplements to keep my family well and it showed. I'm making a point of putting aside the funds to get us back on that "health" train this year! I hope this helps some of you maybe start take some control of your emet. and find natural means of helping yourself stay healthy and feel less fear when those nasty bugs start making rounds!
Here is the recipe! Good luck! http://www.realfarmacy.com/garlic-so...3fVOlhCtXtM.01

[Aspie Grrrl]

I'm interested in this as well! Been looking up immune boosting methods myself. I know hygiene should be the first line of defense, but immune support is important in case you *do* come into contact with a bug. Your immune system determines how sick you'll be and how long it will last to a large degree.

Here are some things I found:

Vitamins D & C
Garlic
Reishi mushrooms
Probiotics
Selenium (and Zinc to balance it out)

OTHER:
Sleep and relaxation
Exercise and sunlight
Healthy diet

Let's keep this list going! Add your fave immune-enhancing methods!

[Kazzia]

Ooooh that soup sounds amazing! I'm obsessed with garlic - I don't feel like I've had a proper meal without anything garlic-flavoured in it - and I believe in looking to nature first for the answers. Nature provides us with all we need if only we'd look, I think.

I don't have a blender which is a downside, but I can probably have a go at making this soup. I might make some when I'm staying with my mum (who does have a blender) as her health is pretty atrocious, especially with chest infections, and she rarely eats or cooks with garlic.

Agreed on probiotics and the vitamins - I'd throw zinc into the mix as well - I take vitamin D and zinc tablets combined.

Sunlight is my favourite of all - haven't felt even slightly ill once all summer - which incidentally was the warmest and sunniest for a while in the UK. Even in the winter I'm going to make an extra effort to get out on sunny days.