I can’t help but think of germs when I am riding a crowded city bus in the winter — people crammed together in the aisles, windows closed due to the increasingly colder temperatures, and the last time I checked they weren’t filtering the air. This is the season to take extra precautions and boost your immunity to ward off unwanted bacterial and viral “guests”.
My favorite immune boosting food is garlic. Garlic has been used as a medicine and health-promoter for 5,000 years. And, there have been at least 1,200 pharmacological studies done on garlic’s health giving properties. Doubling the amount called for in a recipe is a sure way to up your garlic intake. And eating a little bit of crushed, raw garlic can be an immune stimulant too — but your loved ones might think otherwise.
Eating more vegetables and fruits is extremely important. Doing so will give your body extra nutrients, especially vitamin C. Although most people think of citrus foods as the highest vitamin C sources, many vegetables are superior to citrus including peppers, broccoli, kale, spinach and red cabbage. Fruits high in vitamin C include guavas, persimmons, strawberries, papayas, and of course —citrus.
I suggest adding extra vitamin C to your supplement plan this time of year. C+BioFizz is a vitamin C powder, available in my online store, and provides 2,500 mg of Vitamin C per teaspoon as well as the bioflavonoids quercetin, hesperidin, and rutin. These bioflavonoids help the vitamin C work better at the cell level, and they also serve as antioxidants. This powder really flavors water nicely, so I suggest adding it to your daily water intake, which in turn helps you stay hydrated, which is another tip!
Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water or herbal tea per day. For your body’s immune system to work properly, you have to be hydrated. Even a mild dehydration can be seen as a stress on the body, and thereby compromises your immune system. If you want a more exact amount of water to drink based more specifically to you, then half your weight in ounces is a good rule of thumb. So if you weigh 160 pounds, that would be 80 ounces of water.
Get a full eight hours of sleep. Okay, you probably know this one but don’t do it. Am I right? If it is a challenge for you to get a full night’s rest, make a habit of getting ready for bed 1/2 hour early. Start with this little step, and gradually you will make it a priority to get the rest you need. Why is rest so important? Your body “regenerates” itself at night, and it is a primary time for the immune system to fight off infections.
Avoid sugar! Did you know that an intake of 100g of sugar is enough to suppress your white blood cells? With the holidays fast approaching, sugar can be everywhere. Make sure to limit your intake and replace extra sugar with Xylitol, a sugar alcohol that does not spike your blood sugar, and is actually good for you! Also, don’t forget to keep your protein intake up — your immune system depends on it. This is because your immune fighting cells are made of protein, and one of the first things to go downhill in a protein deficient diet is the immune system. Try to eat a serving of protein with each meal.
Lastly, take your daily multi vitamins to support your body and bolster your immune system. You probably know by now how immune protective Vitamin D is, and you need more in the winter. Shoot for 2,000 – 5,000IU per day. Another excellent nutraceutical product is Immunitone Plus. It is an immune supportive formula that combines herbs, mushroom extract and nutraceutical compounds that have anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. The ingredients have been standardized to contain optimal and consistent amounts of the most active ingredients, so you are assured of taking a high quality product.
I hope you found some ideas here to help bolster your immune system, so you can stay germ-free all winter long! If you enjoyed this post, please share with family and friends.
