What are you doing to help with immunity this "illness prone" season that's TF?

[eastkygal]

I just bought some good OJ for Vit C, but we haven't been doing juice as it seems most TFers consider that more like a sweet treat. I'd love some ideas. DD1 spent some time in the hospital last year stomach virus complications, DH and I were both sick a lot last winter (unusual), and we don't vaccinate for flu of any type.
I'm getting ready to start making more chicken stock on a regular basis. I've been having trouble with my yogurt going bad too quick, so I haven't made it in awhile. We can't find full fat yogurt here either, so that is out as well as keifer.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[honeysesame]

bone broth sounds great
warm foods/keep warm
garlic, ginger, etc
plenty of protein and sleep
limit sweets
some vit c (finally found the acerola berry powder)
some astragalus (you could look into other herbal ideas that suit your family too like oregano, thyme, etc)
cod liver and coconut oil
sunshine/liver too
that's all from the top of my head
think positive! wash hands! stimulate acupressure points for immunity!
good luck....

[honeysesame]

apple cider vinegar and honey, too

[sunshinestarr]

sub sub subbin

[mamameliaISback]

i would take/do:

high vitamin cod liver oil ~ aim for 10,000 of vit a
chicken liver x 1 week
beef liver x 1 week
chicken soup with home made chicken broth
take vit c to bowel tolerance once, work out the amount you need and take it everyday
spend as much time in the sun as you can right now


baby is up.. that's all for now

[SuburbanHippie]

Good ideas! I have a sickie right now. So far we've just done bone broth (but man she is not crazy about it). We also do:

vit D supplements
smoothies with cod liver oil
honey for sore throats
wet sock therapy

[LauraLoo]

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie

G
wet sock therapy

I've never heard of that before -- thanks for sharing!


We kind of live like we could come across the plague at any time, so as we incorporate something new in our routine, it's there to stay year round. The only thing that I'm planning on doing that I haven't yet is making sure that I'm stocking up and freezing easy and nutritious meals that anyone can easily defrost and make just in case one or all of us come down with something. Honestly, I think dd and I had swine flu last March before all the hype. We were pretty sick for 2 days and then rebounded.

[vegmom]

All my ferments (sauerkraut, beet kvass, water kefir, milk kefir, yogurt, pickles) bone broths, oil of oregano, garlic, ginger tea, spices (add 3 to each meal), eating liver, CLO, vitamin C, Vitamin E, dulse for iodine, coconut oil, eat anti-inflammatory diet.

Sleep is huge issue here. As people have relationship and behaviour issues with food, I have that with sleep. I get totally stressed out in the evening. Sleep is an amazing immune system booster so it is worth while to get 8hrs a night.

Reducing stress is good too. Stress reduces the gastric juices required for proper digestion and decreases immune function.

Digestion and good immunity are linked. 75%-80% of your immunity is in the gut.

That sounds like a lot of stuff but this is all part of the healing journey that I am on.

[NettleTea]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

I just bought some good OJ for Vit C, but we haven't been doing juice as it seems most TFers consider that more like a sweet treat.

The issue I have with juice is that every bit of store-bought stuff is pasteurized. Even bottled lemon juice. I've never seen this mentioned before so I thought I'd point that out. I was rather disappointed to find that all juices are this way, but I guess that would have to be so for it to sit on store shelves for a year or two. I hope to one day have a juicer so that we can have fresh juices whenever needed.

[CaraboosMama]

That wet sock link was very interesting...may try it!

This week DD & I both have a bit of a cold - mucousy cough and junky nose, achey....part of me hopes that it is a mild case of the flu so we build immunity

Here's what we do:

Lots of bone broth/soup made with bone broth

Congee
I use the recipe and directions for congee from "Healing with Whole Foods" but the directions in the link are close.

Asian Pears - traditional in the sense of traditional in Chinese medicine for cough - also - more TF in my mind than cough "medicine"

Raw honey - even mainstream sources are saying that it is more effective for cough than cough syrup

Kombucha - we do this as a preventative immune booster too.

Kefir/yogurt - I know you said this isn't do able for you right now

Sauerkraut/Kimchi - preventative

Coconut milk/oil/water & meat

essential oils (mainly eucalyptus & spearmint) a few drops of tea tree in the bath.

Herbal teas (esp. with herbs that contain C like rosehips)- but this year I am skipping the echinacea teas & echinacea supplements. I have read things on both sides about H1N1 - some say echinacea is a bad idea (cytokines) and some say it doesn't matter. I feel like we are doing enough other good things that we can skip the echinacea.

I am also in the middle of testing for Celiac Disease. When I started going more hard core with TF (and skipping most grains) my fibromyalgia & GI problems really improved. My acupuncturist suggested going 100% gluten free and geting tested for Celiac. I am hoping as my gut heals this improves my immune system as well!

[Juvysen]

:

[SuburbanHippie]

I really love the wet sock therapy. Whenever I feel that achy, stiff neck, fatigued feeling that I always feel right before I come down with a cold (or worse), I do the wet socks. By morning I feel 100% better. The best part is I can get my kids to do it without a fight. They actually love it.

[Drummer's Wife]

great thread!

[snowbunny]

I loaded up on acerola tablets and elderberry tincture just in case we get sick - but mostly we're relying on vitamin D, fermented CLO and LOADS of probiotics.

[eastkygal]

Originally Posted by Grylliade

The issue I have with juice is that every bit of store-bought stuff is pasteurized. Even bottled lemon juice. I've never seen this mentioned before so I thought I'd point that out. I was rather disappointed to find that all juices are this way, but I guess that would have to be so for it to sit on store shelves for a year or two. I hope to one day have a juicer so that we can have fresh juices whenever needed.

Is this true for even the brands that are kept in refrigeration. The Simply Orange non-concentrated 100% juice sorts?

[applecider]

[dogmom327]

Subbing! I have a list I'll post later

[hummingmom]

With a bunch of little children in the house, cooking is often full of stresses and interruptions. I think this affects the "energy" of the food, for lack of a better word. So I'm working on cultivating a better mental and spiritual outlook while I'm in the kitchen. I guess the TF way to do this would be to have a couple of sisters or neighbor women come over to share in the vegetable prep, and a sage grandmother dispensing advice from her rocking chair... but my life doesn't look much like that. In place of genuine community with fellow adults, I'm making a point of listening to inspiring music and audio books, thinking positive thoughts, and praying while I work. I can really tell the difference, taste- and health-wise, in the food that's been prepared this way. It even seems to stay fresh-tasting for a longer time after cooking.

On a more mundane level, my other goal is to freeze all our extra CSA veggies in ice cube trays or other small containers, to make it easy to add a variety of vitamins and minerals to our broths and stews through the winter.

[henny penny]

[snowbunny]

Originally Posted by eastkygal

Is this true for even the brands that are kept in refrigeration. The Simply Orange non-concentrated 100% juice sorts?

Yeah, isn't it nuts? We can occasionally find fresh, non-pasteurized apple cider here but that's it - everything else is pasteurized!