I am sure you'd agree with me, that this year nobody wants to have symptoms of a cold or even the flu!
Since Covid-19 has spread around the world, everyone is more cautious about their health and this is understandable!
Here are some must-have's we recommend to ensure you have healthy and natural remedies always at hand:
• Ginger
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chilli
• Herbs like Thyme, Peppermint and Sage
• Lemon
• Honey
There are various ways to use these items as medication, so therefore we'd like to show you some really easy ways to use these ingredients to boost your immune system this winter!
The Power Drink
One of our go-to remedy is our Power Drink.
We call it like this as it is indeed very powerful and can improve our health when we have cold-like symptoms.
All you need is:
1 Onion
1 piece of Ginger
1 glove of Garlic
1 Chilli
Some fresh thyme
1 piece of fresh Tumeric or 1 tsp of Tumeric powder
1 Lemon juiced
Some honey (optional)
Cut all ingredients in big pieces and place these in a pot beside the lemon juice and honey.
Add some cold water and bring to a boil slowly on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes.
Let it sit for a few more minutes.
Then pour it in a mug, add the lemon juice and honey and drink it.
When having symptoms we recommend for adults three mugs a day.
This combination is very powerful as it is full of antioxidants and reduces inflammation.
Onions
Onions are full of antioxidants and components that fight inflammation.
Other health benefits of onion are a decrease in triglycerides, improvement with the gallbladder, management of appetite - including helping against an upset stomach, helping with chest pain - including prevention of high blood pressure and prevention from the hardening of the arteries.
Ginger
Ginger has antiviral effects on the body and can prevent viruses from entering host cells, also can be used for nausea or pain management like ibuprofen.
Garlic
Garlic has been used for centuries in the treatment of various ills and relieving symptoms.
It can help in preventing colds or flu, but it also can help with a fast recovery and reduce the severity of the symptoms.
Garlic also has been used for many other ills like blood pressure-related ills, certain cancers, infections, and it also can prevent tick bites.
Chilli
Chilli can be a great remedy as well. Chilli's contain capsaicin which helps breaking down mucus and relieve coughing and a sore throat. It also has anti-viral capacities which can help to prevent a virus but also help to relieve symptoms.
We want to point out that the use of chilli as a medication is very different from eating spicy food as spicy food can weaken the immune system.
We recommend to use it in a tea like the Power Drink mentioned in this article or in a paste. If you have specific questions regarding how to use chilli in your circumstances, please feel free to contact us.
Thyme
Thyme is a great herb to strengthen the immune system as it contains antiseptic, antiviral and antibacterial properties. It also has carminative properties which means that it helps to relieve gas and abdominal pain. It also can help to stimulate sweat as it is diaphoretic. This is an important factor when fighting illness as the sweating forces bacteria and toxins to exit the body through the skin.
Fresh thyme is very nice as a tea and if you like you can add some honey or stevia as a sweetener. We also like to include thyme in our Power Drink as it makes a good combination to strengthen the immune system and fight cold, flu and other bacterial infections or viruses.
Tumeric
Tumeric is a very powerful root and has become well known in the last years for its wide variety of use.
Here are some great benefits of using turmeric:
It is fighting inflammation
It is antioxidant
It can improve sleep
It can increase sex drive and can be great for a postpartum woman who has a lower sex drive
It lowers blood pressure
Helps to improve and lower blood sugar
It can improve arthritis
It can prevent heart disease
It can prevent Alzheimer’s
It can prevent cancer
It can improve the symptoms of depression as well
Although it has so many health benefits, too much turmeric can lead to other health issues. Therefore it is important to keep moderate use and use it only when needed.
As there are various reasons to use turmeric, there are various ways to take it as medication as well. Therefore we would recommend a consultation before recommending you how to use it. If you are interested in a consultation, please don't hesitate to contact us.
If you are having a cold or flu-like symptoms, feel free to try the Power drink with a moderate amount of turmeric (a big slice of a fresh piece or 1 teaspoon powdered turmeric).
Lemon
Lemon is widely used as a remedy and is even used in traditional pharmaceutical products.
It is very powerful and has a wide variety of uses, from seasoning a tasty salad all the way to help to reduce flu-like symptoms.
It is rich on vitamin C and has antiviral and antibacterial properties.
Lemon also helps with nausea in pregnancy, tinnitus, kidney stones, Meniere’s disease and more.
The use of lemon is also a gentle way to strengthen the immune system for children as it is not too strong but very efficient.
There are many ways to use lemon as a remedy as you can use it in the diet, for external use e.g healing packages and wraps and simply as tea with honey or just in some water.
Fresh air and sunlight
Being on the fresh air and catching sunlight is very beneficial to our body as it helps our body to distribute oxygen throughout our body better and helps with a good and healthy circulation - which then, in turn, supports a strong and healthy immune system.
Sunlight is very important for our body as it promotes the production of vitamin D, which is a crucial ingredient for overall health.
It also helps to protect against inflammation, lowers high blood pressure, helps the muscles to function well, improves our brain function and it also can protect against cancer.
When being in the sun, it is important to not get too much of it as well as it can burn our skin, which then is not healthy at all. Therefore we recommend going outside in the morning or afternoon but to avoid the sun at noon as especially in the summer as it can be very strong.
A good combination to strengthen the immune system is to go for a walk in nature and daytime, for about 30 minutes or more as the combination of gentle exercise, fresh air and sunlight will boost our overall health and immune system.
Hot and cold showers
We highly recommend to include hot and cold showers within your daily shower routine. To do hot and cold showers come with therapeutic benefits and are great for a strong immune system. Doing this will help to release harmful toxins and promote healthy circulation.
It also can help against cellulitis and it will make you feel refreshed and rejuvenated in the morning - you might not even need a coffee or tea to start your day (if you are used to drinking coffee in the morning).
You always start with hot/ warm water on your right leg, you move all the way up to your hip and go down on the inside of your leg. Then you do the same with cold water and on the other leg.
After you have completed the legs you continue with the right arm and then the left arm.
repeat this for at least three times.
Important Note: Always start on the right side and finish on the left and start with hot water and finish with cold water.
If it is challenging for you, start slow, on less hot/cold temperatures or just go to the knee or elbow and build up slowly.
Activated charcoal
Activated charcoal can be very beneficial for detoxifying the body, especially the gut. As activated charcoal is naturally charged with the negative electrical charge it will absorb positively charged molecules like toxins and gasses.
It is also great if you suffer from food poisoning to help your body to get balanced again, but it is important to drink plenty of fluids as charcoal can lead to constipation.
Activated charcoal has antifungal, antioxidants and antibacterial properties and therefore is a real natural remedy.
We have good experiences using charcoal in various situations like fighting colds/ flu, digestive issues e.g. food poisoning, reducing symptoms od acute tonsilitis and more.
We also like to use it for external use to take toxins out through the skin.
If you like to know how to use activated charcoal for your ills, please feel free to contact us. We are also offering consultations in which we can help you step by step to a healthier you - just drop us a message.
Diet
Believe it or not, the way we eat is impacting our health on a large scale.
Having a well-balanced diet can not only help our health on a physical level but also on a mental level as they go hand in hand.
We recommend a vegetarian/ vegan diet as eating fresh fruits and vegetables can help our body to be more alkaline.
The human body in naturally on an alkaline level and if we give acidic foods to our body, we will be out of balance and more susceptible to infections, viruses and other ills.
What are acidic foods that we should avoid?
Anything that is processed, fatty, dairy, meat and fish are on anreducing acidic level.
If you are not vegetarian or vegan, we recommend to reduce your meat intake to twice a week or less.
Also, dairy should not be taken in large quantities as dairy can be harmful to the body in the long term and lead to serious ills e.g. heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, various allergies and even different types of cancers.
Dairy is also promoting a higher build-up from mucus and therefore a longer recovery time when being unwell.
Now, you might wonder where you get your protein and calcium from?
In fact, there are really good, natural, plant-based sources we can get protein and calcium from. Like lentils, beans, nuts, quinoa, seeds, spirulina, tofu and many more are great protein sources. To get calcium is not a hard task as well, as a well-balanced diet can give you plenty of calcium. You find calcium in leafy green vegetables, broccoli, tofu, tahini, beans, oranges seeds, blackstrap molasses and plant-based milk.
What might surprise you is the fact that some of these plant-based products have more protein and calcium than that which you find in meat and dairy. Plus the body is absorbing the plant-based protein, minerals, and vitamins much easier.
Water
One more recommendation we have for a strong immune system is to drink plenty of water. This will help you to flush out toxins and promote an alkaline balanced you. If you like to know more about how much water to drink and other important factors click here, as we wrote a full article on the importance of water.
But diet is a big topic and therefore we are offering seminars on this topic and we also offer a one on one session, in which we can focus on your personal needs and questions. Please drop us a message, if you are interested in a one on one session.
We hope this article has given you some more information on what you can use to stay healthy this winter and we are looking forward to seeing you in our seminars.
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