Tayspiration

As a Naturopathic Medical Student, I love cold and flu season! No, it’s not because I love getting sick. I love that Naturopathic Medicine has so many treatment options to help prevent infection, support the immune system, and decrease the course of illness. I believe in the body’s innate healing ability to overcome common colds and certain viral illnesses. However, many naturopathic modalities help to promote the body’s natural healing abilities. As a Naturopathic Medical Student, I discuss actions patients can take to prevent illness as well as tools we can use to support the immune system and speed recovery.

Prevention Tips for Cold and Flu Season:

• Wash your hands! The best way to prevent transmission of disease is to wash your hands with soap and warm water. This helps to protect yourself and prevent spreading illnesses to others. Wash hands after sneezing or coughing and before touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
• Clean commonly used surfaces. Viruses can live on surfaces for hours to days! We shed viruses through respiratory droplets, such as coughing and sneezing, and in stool. Making sure to clean door handles, counter tops, bathrooms, and even shared couch blankets can help prevent spread within your family unit.
• Eat seasonal fruits and vegetables: Fall/Winter seasonal produce includes apples, avocados, oranges, grapefruit, beets, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kiwi, pears, sweet potato and yams, Swiss chard, and winter squash.
• Exercise and sauna: Daily, consistent exercise helps promote a robust and resilient immune system. Exercise also promotes sweating which is an important way our body facilitates detoxification. Doing additional sauna therapy to induce more sweating can stimulate our body’s immune system.
• Optimal Vitamin D levels: Having optimal Vitamin D levels prior to onset of a cold and flu can help decrease the length of illness. Believe it or not, most people are deficient or below optimal. However, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning that excess vitamin D is stored in our fat cells. Therefore, it’s important to test your vitamin D levels and discuss with your provider a safe and effective dosing strategy to meet your individual needs.

Naturopathic Immune Support for Cold and Flu Season:

• Herbal therapies: There are so many herbs that can stimulate or modulate the immune system! Herbs can be taken as teas, tinctures, capsules, syrups, and throat sprays. Echinacea is a great immune stimulating herb, Elderberry is a great anti-viral, and Astragalus is a great lung tonic and immune system modulator.
• Garlic: Garlic is antiviral and antibacterial. Eat 1-2 cloves of raw garlic at the onset of illness. This can be quite pungent if taken alone or on an empty stomach! Alternatively, you may consider preparing a chopped garlic and local honey infusion as a daily immune tonic.
• Steam inhalations: This is a great way to deliver antimicrobial herbs to the lungs. Add boiling water to a bowl with 3-5 drops of essential oils such as thyme, eucalyptus, or rosemary. Place your face over the bowl and cover head with a towel.
• Wet Sock Treatment: This can be done at the onset of illness or when you start to feel run down! You will need a pair of cotton socks and a pair of wool socks. Start by making sure your feet are warm, consider soaking them in warm water. Soak the cotton socks in cold water. Put the cold wet cotton socks on your feet, and then put the dry wool socks over them. Immediately lie down in bed under the covers with feet covered. It usually takes about 4 hours for the socks to dry, but only minutes for your feet to warm up. This can help to relieve congestion and improve sleep.

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Disclaimer: I am currently not a licensed medical professional. My advice comes from personal experience and my own research. Any health and wellness related changes should be consulted with your doctor first. Thanks!