WORDS BY LEE TEUSNER
GO VITA TANUNDA
Health & Wellbeing
Wouldn’t you love to say “I haven’t had a cold in years?” The truth is a strong immune system is your best defence again disease.
Why just survive this winter season when you can thrive! We recommend getting a step ahead with a few simple strategies to support your immune system.
You can build up your resistance by supporting your immune system through healthy eating, exercise, rest and drinking plenty of water, as well as giving yourself an extra boost with a health management plan of natural supplements.
As Benjamin Franklin noted, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Stress less
Stress can leave you susceptible to sickness. Peter Balogh, Naturopath says “My clients often fall ill after overwork or emotional upsets. Managing stress by keeping a sane schedule including relaxation and social interaction eases immune system strain.”
Exercise waste away
Moving your body flushes toxins through the lymphatics, pumping immune cells to needy areas. Consistent, correct exercise helps to reduce colds. Activity also stimulates the respiratory system to expel mucus and bowels to excrete waste.
Defense downers
When your body’s busy battling toxins like alcohol, cigarettes, chemicals and sugar it has less energy to eliminate infections. Toxins breed bugs like maggots on festering garbage. Banish bugs by eating fresh unprocessed foods, drinking filtered water, regular cleansing and washing hands.
Immune armoury
Astragalus. Not only supports immune function, but also improves resistance to stress and enhances vitality and stamina
Elderberry. It’s antioxidant flavonoids enhance immune function and reduce mucus. Several studies have shown its effectiveness against flu strains, reducing the duration and severity. It also combats sinusitis, sore throats, tonsillitis and bronchitis.
Echinacea. A top selling herb, popular as a preventative against colds and flu. Echinacea is an effective lymphatic cleanser reducing tonsillitis and glandular fever. It’s safe to take as a daily immune enhancer and may reduce cold symptoms their duration by days.
Garlic cloves contain antibiotic allicin which is antiseptic, anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal. Some people prefer a supplement containing garlic’s infection fighting compounds rather than the eating the cloves. Research reveals garlic prevents and treats colds, coughs, candida and septic wounds.
Vitamin C and zinc An oldie but a goodie, vitamin C is long been known to ward off infection by supporting the immune system. But when combined with zinc, you get a powerful team of bug fighters. Zinc is essential for the immune system and without it; your immune system doesn’t work properly.
Vitamin D3 produces antimicrobial peptides that kill bacteria, viruses and fungi. Vitamin D deficiency makes us susceptible to infections. The best sources for vitamin D are sun, egg yolks, salmon and mushrooms.
Probiotics Besides from keeping your gut in good health, probiotics can also help your immunity. According to the Harvard Medical School there is a link between the bacteria in the gut whereby certain gut bacteria can correct deficiencies in the immune system.
Probiotics before bed increase immunity overnight.
Help! My kids keep coming home from pre-school sick!
If you think your kids have been catching more colds since they’ve been at kindy or day care, you’re probably right.
This occurs because children’s immune systems are still developing.
When you encounter a cold virus as an adult, your immune system often recognises it as an enemy that it’s tackled before and fights it again before it can take hold.
Without those years of history to draw on, your child’s immune system recognises relatively few viruses, and is less capable of fending them off.
To exacerbate matters, colds are spread by being exposed to droplets from sneezes, coughs and runny noses, so viruses can spread at childcare centres, where many little ones haven’t yet learned the fine arts of washing hands properly, blowing noses or covering mouths when coughing.
So how can you boost your child’s resistance before winter hits?
Probiotics: In babies, toddlers and preschoolers, a probiotic specifically for children support the developing immune system and may reduce the risk of upper respiratory infections.
Immune tonics: Immune tonics such as Vitamin C, Echinacea or Olive leaf extract may be beneficial for children who are prone to recurrent colds, flu and sore throats, or who are slow to recover after they get sick.
Symptom relief: There are herbal remedies suitable for the relief of sinus congestion and other cold and flu symptoms in children as well as adults, and some are available in liquid tonics that are more easily administered than tablets.
Always check the label and follow the manufacturer’s dosage instructions, and if you have any concerns, talk to the team or Naturopath, Peter Balogh, at Go Vita Tanunda.
For more information or to get in touch click here
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*Disclaimer: Some information as mentioned above has been extracted from the Go Mag.
