Immune Boosting Tips

Immune Boosting Tips

We all know how important it is to have a strong immune system.
It’s easier than you think. Here are a few foods, herbal teas and supplements to help
empower you with the tools needed to stay healthy.

Here’s an easy way to start. Pick one suggestion from each category. If it’s something you haven’t heard of you can get it online or at the health food store.

• Keep yourself hydrated! Keeping hydrated helps your body release toxins.
• Dark leafy greens such as spinach, kale, romaine, arugula and parsley as well as greens powders like barley grass juice, spirulina and wheatgrass can all be added to your smoothies!
• Mushrooms contain medicinal and immune boosting properties. Maitake and Shiitake mushrooms are great for your meals. Add Reishi, Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail, Chaga or Cordyceps powders to smoothies, make them as a tea or take them as a supplement.
• Vitamin D protects against almost all forms of respiratory tract infections. According to 25 randomized controlled trials from around the world, supplementation of vitamin D on a daily or weekly basis reduced the risk of respiratory infection by more than 50 percent for individuals with low levels of baseline Vitamin D.
• Zinc boosts your immune system and kills viral cells. Eat raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds, sprouts, collard greens, artichokes, nettle leaf, parsley, onions, and raw honey.
• Glutathione is an antioxidant produced by our body to protect against oxidative stress and is important for immunity. The nutrients Vitamin C Vitamin D and N-acetyl L-cysteine (NAC) are all important contributors to glutathione production. So is a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, especially sulfur-rich foods like garlic and onions. Have vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussel sprouts and other foods high in the precursors to glutathione including asparagus, potatoes, avocadoes, carrots, squash, and spinach.
• Fruit is chock full of vitamins and minerals needed to boost your immune system and is hydrating. Remember, have fresh fruit every day. 
• Some of my favorite herbal teas are rosehip, mullein, lemon balm, cat’s claw, marshmallow root, slippery elm, elderberry, astragalus, oregon grapes and dandelion.
• Add fresh ginger and thyme to your tea.
• Practice yoga and deep breathing. Learn to embrace your downtime!