Home remedies for a Healthy Immune System this Winter
Now that we are in winter, this is the ultimate time to strengthen your Immune System to prevent colds and flus this season. With approximately 70% of our immune system being localised in our gastrointestinal tract, a healthy gut keeps our immune system in balance.
Consuming a variety of colorful nutritious foods daily with a balanced intake of proteins, healthy fats and carbohydrates to helps support your digestion and gut health. Avoiding processed foods as as these can be relatively inflammatory to the gut and deplete our immunity.
Some of the best homemade remedies will be so effective in helping your gut health and keeping your immune system strong and healthy this winter. These are some easy suggestions you can prepare in minutes providing a range of immune supportive actions, taste delicious plus are an inexpensive addition to any diet.
I remember my grandma making the very well known, traditional Bone Broth and once again is an extremely popular food used for its magical healing properties.
My family just loves Bone Broth plus I even feed it to my puppy.
This Superfood contains high concentrations of minerals that support the immune system – iron, calcium, magnesium with vitamin plus healing compounds like collagen, glutamine, glycine, and proline. Such a nutritious food Bone Broth will not only strengthen your immunity but also help heal the gut lining and reduce inflammation.
Simply put any bones you like in boiling water, add vegetables like onion, celery, kale, carrot, celery, broccoli, spinach, leek, parsnips, garlic or whatever veges you have in the fridge. Add 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider vinegar plus some herbs and spices to suit your individual tastes.
The longer it cooks, the more nutritious flavors your broth will have. Enjoy and make bone broth a regular part of maintaining your health this winter.
Drinking immune building teas on a daily basis is a good idea throughout the winter season too. My favorite herbal is fresh slices of ginger root, turmeric powder with half a squeezed lemon in hot water.
Ginger a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and antioxidant. Ginger is an excellent preventative for flus and colds.
Turmeric is also a well known for reducing inflammation too and also has anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.
Fresh lemon is high in Vitamin C, an anti-inflammatory plus enhances our immunity.
Drink to taste the essence of the herbs or add a teaspoon of manuka honey to enhance taste and the therapeutic value of your herbal experience.
Herbal Teas having superior nutritional value with plenty of immune stimulating properties are a great alternative to caffeinated hot drinks.
Enjoy your Winter this year in Optimal Health!
Remembering a Healthy Gut = Healthy Immune System.
By Bianca Richardson – Naturopath @ Life Synergy Acupuncture & Natural Medicine Clinic