Ways to boost my winter immunity

As you know, I was feeling somewhat seedy yesterday, with a very sore throat. Luckily there are a variety of ways of boosting winter immunity and tackling a sore throat.

Vitamins

• Cod liver oil is a good source of vitamins A & D, so I take that regularly through the year, but especially in winter
• Humans are amongst only four mammals that cannot make their own vitamin C, so we need it in our food. But in winter I often supplement as well. Some comes from food based vitamin C mixes and some comes from Liposomal C, which is good for larger doses. That’s because it’s encapsulated in lipids (fats) so gets absorbed in the small intestine, instead of the stomach, where there are more vitamin C receptors. Yesterday I increased my daily dose.

Hot Drinks

• Ginger tea with fresh lemon juice and manuka honey, or just the lemon and honey in hot water
• Beef or chicken broth, by itself
• OR made into Warming winter vegetable soup maybe with some ginger, garlic or turmeric added
• OR made into an eggnog by beating it up with a couple of raw free range eggs (pic below is of yesterday’s breakfast)

Something topical for the throat

• I like to gargle with some colloidal silver to address some of the bad bacteria present. You can swallow it afterwards, but I’ve been swishing then spitting it out.
• Another way to get rid of some of the bad bacteria in your mouth is oil pulling with coconut oil. This involves putting a large spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth, letting it dissolve, then swishing it around your mouth for about 10 minutes. The bad bacteria are absorbed into the coconut oil. You then spit it out, and rinse your mouth well with warm water. I’d still gargle with colloidal silver afterwards though, as the oil pulling doesn’t really get into the throat.
• After the colloidal silver gargle, I’ve been sucking on a lozenge made from manuka honey, to sooth my throat.
• At different times of the day, I’ve been introducing good bacteria. You can open a multi strain probiotic capsule and sprinkle it at the back of your throat, and then not eat or drink anything for a while. This adds back a range of good bugs.
• But I also like to use BLIS Throat Guard lozenges, which give you a good dose of the bugs that usually live in the mouth.

R & R

• Number 1 – stay warm! Not easy to do yesterday, but we did our best.
• Number 2 – rest. Bed rest. Snuggling in front of the fire rest. Reading a book or watching a movie rest. Not sitting in front of the computer answering 3 days worth of Steemit comments. I didn’t do so well on that rule yesterday!

There is one member of our household who understands the importance of rest on a cold winter’s day. As you can see, the weather is still a bit rough.

Other therapeutics

• Herbs like echinacea or astragalus
• There are usually a few suitable remedies in a homeopathic first aid kit, but you need to talk to someone who knows how to choose the right one
• EDIT - I forgot about essential oils! Think of eucalyptus for sprinkling on a basinful full of hot water, to inhale. Or maybe lemon topically (in an organic carrier oil). Visit Mr Google for more info on how to use essential oils safely, and which ones to use.

Emotional Freedom Technique

Unless you’ve already learnt some EFT, you will need to read my two previous posts on EFT before trying this ~ Emotional Freedom Technique Part 1 ~ EFT Part 2 – Getting started.

This is a three round tapping routine, from Gwenn Bonnell, to improve immunity.

What level in percent is your immunity functioning at right now? Let a number come to you or simply guess (which is one way of allowing your unconscious mind to tell you what it actually is). You don't have to be completely accurate here. We're only looking for a start point.

Do three rounds of tapping:

1. Setup: "Even though my immunity is running at only XX percent, I fully and deeply love and accept myself and my body"
   Reminder: ["Immunity running at XX percent"]

1. Setup: "Even though my immunity is still running under 100%, I release anything and everything that lowers my immunity, as I fully and deeply love and accept myself and my body "
   Reminder: ["Release everything that lowers my immunity "]

1. Setup: "Even though my immunity is not used to running at 100% all the time, I now repair everything that lowers my immunity, as I fully and deeply love and accept myself and my body,"
   Reminder: ["Repair everything that lowers my immunity "]

Then tap on individual symptoms, such as “sore throat” or “runny nose”.

Notice that we do NOT tap for our immunity increasing to 100%. It's best to let your body, with its own innate intelligence, increase your immunity at a healthy rate.

I managed a fair number of these remedies yesterday and I’m feeling a bit better today. But more rest is required. So if I don’t answer comments straight away, it’s because today I really did go a for a nice lie down.

Thanks for reading, and if it’s winter where you are – keep wrapped up.

Top pic from Pixabay, rest by me.

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Contact me in SteemitChat to ask about one on one nutritional coaching or EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) sessions by Skype. (But don’t just say Hello. Tell me straight away why you’re messaging, without waiting for me to say Hello back.) Steem, other altcoins or Paypal accepted.

Some of my previous posts on HEALTH & LIFESTYLE:

• Sleep like a kitten Part 1 – 3 tips
• Sleep Well Part 2 – What’s your sleeping style?
• Sleep Well Part 3 – Resetting your body clock
• Thoughts about Breast Health
• I’ve got a cold & how to handle it
• Overcoming my fears
• Positivity Challenge 4 – Emotional Freedom Technique Part 1
• EFT Part 2 – Getting started
• Six days training in a new natural therapy
• Quick & Easy calming tip
• EFT Tapping videos for Xmas stress
• Seated exercise – legs
• Seated exercise – head & shoulders