Tips For Staying Healthy & Boosting Your Immune System

In the past month, as the weather has changed, friends and family members around me have gotten sick left and right. Aside from the sniffles and a faint sore throat that passes quickly, I have managed to stay healthy, so I thought I would put together my best tips for staying healthy during this season! These are all things that I have done personally, and feel have contributed to supporting my healthy and strong immune system.

1. Apple Cider Vinegar

I take at least a tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) a day, first thing in the morning, usually with warm water and a drop of Young Living Lemon Vitality essential oil. ACV along with lemon is a great daily detox and reset for your body, especially first thing in the morning. The natural minerals, enzymes and vitamins in ACV as well as its antimicrobial and antiseptic properties help ward off illness, balance the body’s PH levels and remove toxins from the body. Already come down with something? In that case I would up the ACV intake as it breaks up mucus throughout the body and cleanses the lymph nodes improving immune system response in no time! Not a fan of the taste? Try diluting more or putting it in some juice or sparkling water.

2. Eat Your Fruits & Veggies

Did you know that 80% of your immune system is located in your gut? Feeding your body nutrient rich foods can help keep your immune system strong. The following are great foods to help boost & strengthen immunity:

Citrus Fruits

Peppers

Broccoli

Ginger

Garlic

Spinach

Turmeric

Almonds

Mushroom

Sweet Potato

3. Kombucha & Probiotics

Drinking Kombucha often can help you maintain peak immune health with its naturally occurring probiotics, vitamins, antioxidants and enzymes. Due to the fermentation process involved in creating kombucha, it contains a large number of healthy bacteria known as probiotics. These bacteria line your digestive tract and support your immune system, as they absorb nutrients and fight infection and illness. Not a fan of kombucha? Make sure you are taking a daily probiotic or getting probiotics from another source (yogurt, sauerkraut, etc.). I love this probiotic by Klaire Labs.

4. Essential Oils

There’s an oil for that! Ya you knew this was comin’! 😉 When people are sick around me, when I feel like I might be coming down with something or if I just want to give my immune system a boost, these are my go to oils/supplements:

Oregano Essential Oil:

Oregano essential oil is known for its healing and immune-boosting properties. It fights infections naturally due to its antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-parasite compounds. A 2016 study published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition found that the main compounds in oregano that are responsible for its antimicrobial activity include carvacrol and thymol. Several scientific studies found that oregano oil exhibited antibacterial activity against a number of bacterial isolates and species, including B. laterosporus and S. saprophyticus. I really dislike the taste of this oil, so I usually put a drop daily in a small amount of juice and throw it back.

Thieves Essential Oil:

Ahh Thieves! I just can’t rave enough about the power of Thieves. Thieves is an essential oil blend with Clove, Cinnamon Bark, Rosemary, Lemon and Eucalyptus. These oils contain powerful antioxidants, cleansing and purifying properties and promote a healthy immune response. Anytime I feel something coming on, I diffuse it, put some on the bottom of my feet in the morning and before bed and ingest it by taking Thieves tea (recipe below).

Why do people put essential oils on the bottom of their feet you ask? Along with the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet are the only part of your body which don’t contain sebaceous glands. Sebum essentially acts as a barrier. For this reason, it can act as a disablement to the essential oils which you want to absorb into your body.

Thieves Tea:

Recipe-

1-2 drops of Thieves essential oil

1-2 drops of Lemon essential oil

Warm Water

Honey to Taste

I personally add good ol’ ACV to this recipe too. And I just learned a trick that if you mix the oils with the honey (put honey on spoon, put oils on honey and mix with a toothpick) and then put the honey oil mix in the warm water, it mixes and tastes better!

Inner Defense Essential Oil Supplement:

Inner Defense supports the body’s natural defenses and healthy immune function through antioxidant support. This supplement is formulated with Eucalyptus radiata, which may help support healthy respiratory function, and infused with Oregano, Thyme, Rosemary and Cinnamon bark essential oils for antioxidant support. I have taken 1 daily for the past month, but you can also take 1 softgel 3-5 times a day when you come down with something.

If you are newbie to essential oils and want to learn more, you can check out my Essential Oils 101 post here.

5. Get Outdoors, Get Moving

Being a work from home mama, it’s easy to just get wrapped up in things and stay cooped up in the comfort our cozy home, but I always feel better when I get outside multiple times a day. Lane really seems to love the outdoors too. I make it a point to do this to get my body moving and get both of us some fresh air and Vitamin D. Vitamin D can modulate the innate and adaptive immune responses and a vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased autoimmunity as well as an increased susceptibility to infection. Research shows that vitamin D works to maintain tolerance and promote protective immunity.

Getting at least 20 to 30 minutes of daily physical activity can support many defenses of the immune system. Exercise gets antibodies and white blood cells moving through the body faster, so they may detect illnesses sooner; plus, an increase in circulation may also trigger the release of hormones that “warn” immune cells of intruding pathogens.

Hope these tips help you stay healthy this season! As always, thanks for reading.

Lots of love and good health,

Tasha, The Non-Toxic Newbie

Resources:

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-3598/7-Reasons-to-Love-Apple-Cider-Vinegar.html

https://draxe.com/how-to-boost-your-immune-system/

https://draxe.com/7-reasons-drink-kombucha-everyday/

https://www.today.com/health/7-easy-ways-boost-your-immune-system-2D80554874

https://www.youngliving.com/en_US