Healthy Family Flu Prevention Tips

Looks like there are two sets of flu viruses taking families out left and right around my town. One that is a 24-hr stomach bug. The other more of a week-long fever, chills, and total yuckiness. 

One of us already got the overnight throw-up thing, but the rest of us are home-free. What we do to help boost our immune system:

1) Healthy Gut. A healthy gut helps to kill any viruses that enter into our gut. We try to take a daily good probiotic supplement. My youngest (3-years) always gets a little runny in the poo department so she skips this. We also try to add more fermented and probiotic foods, like kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, and my latest favorite, fermented beat/ginger juice (sounds gross right. Nope, so good!) 

2) Vitamin C. Did you know your body can only absorb 19% of regular vitamin C? The balance of the Vit C remains in the gastrointestinal tract to attract water and loosen the bowels. We have this awesome recipe that infuses soy lecithin into absorbic acid (vit c) using a jewelry cleaner. Don't worry the jewelry cleaning only is used to make vit c. And the body can absorb something like 93%!  

3) Phlegm-Free. We are cutting back on dairy and wheat or anything that makes us more snotty/phlegmy. Virus/bacteria thrive in mucus! This may be why my mom always said, any time I buy ice cream in the winter the boys (my younger bros) always ended up sick by the end of the week. 

Gluten is a super-inflammatory. I am mostly wheat-free, and now when I cheat and eat wheat, the next day I am so snotty!

We take quercetin/bromelain natural supplements which are my personal miracle pills. Dries up upper respiration like a charm.

4) Don't touch your eyes! We all know about hand-washing. Duh. But your eyes are windows and is a way for germs to get into your body. This one is tricky for me. I had to train myself not to touch them when I am out in pubilc. At least during flu-season. I wear contacts and my eyes are always dry, so I am always touching them. 

5) Get moving. Simple. But making sure everyone in your family is getting their exercise can be tricky. So make it fun. Go bundle up and chase each other in the snow. You'll also soak up some vit D! There are so many health benefits to exercise (or if you prefer the term "increasing your heart rate by play"). So make it a priority for your family.

What else do you do to keep your immune system up this flu season? Tell me!

Namaste

DY