13 Immune System Boosters

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This time of year is notorious for the sickies. The weather can’t decide if it wants to be warm or cool and germs are flying around everywhere. All the extra sugar that kids {and adults} indulge in this time of year also contributes to a compromised immune system. Ick.

immune boosters

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I’m not a doctor, nurse or herbalist. I’m just a mom who has learned a lot about natural medicine over the last ten years.  These 13 immune boosting tips are things we use and do regularly to build up our immune systems. Be sure to talk to your physician to determine what is right for you and your family. 🙂  Now that the disclaimer is outta the way, here we go…

13 Immune System Boosters

1.  Avoid refined sugar and processed foods.

If you do nothing else, do your body a favor and don’t eat junky sweets because they suppress immunity thus making you more susceptible to catching something. 🙂

2. Raw foods – lots of raw fruits & veggies

Eating a balanced diet full of raw fruits and veggies is a great way to make your body’s pH more alkaline than acidic which will help keep you well. Nasty germs don’t like an alkaline environment. We love to down our fruits and veggies in green smoothies. Yummo!  I’ve read that the 80/20 balance is ideal, so here’s a list of alkaline/acidic foods.

3.  Drink plenty of water

Avoid drinking anything with dyes, HFCS and artificial sweeteners as they suppress the immune system.  Good ol’ “Adam’s ale” {as my Dad calls water} is the very best for health!  Drink at least 64 ounces a day…I try to drink at least 100 ounces myself. I love adding a drop of Lemon essential oil to my water. Delish!

4. Garlic or garlic oil

If garlic breath doesn’t bother you or your family, chop up fresh garlic cloves and down them with a glass of water.  You can also purchase odorless garlic tablets if you don’t want to smell like an Italian restaurant. Ha!  Garlic oil is a great option for soothing and protecting yours and your childrens’ ears if prone to ear infections.

5. VS-C by Nature’s Sunshine

I always keep both liquid and capsuled VS-C in my medicine cabinet. It is amazing for fighting viruses.  There are directions on how to take VS-C in the above link. 🙂

6.  CBG by Nature’s Sunshine

For my ear-infection-prone child, I keep liquid CBG on hand all the time.  I give Ridley a few drops of CBG every day to keep his ears strong and healthy.  In the rare occasion that he complains about his ears, I will put a few drops in to soothe.  Again, dosage directions are in the above link.

7. Elderberry Syrup

Elderberries have been used throughout history for a multitude of different things including colds and flu, fevers, and even burns and cuts.  Today, elderberries are used to boost the immune system against viruses. Check out my Elderberry Syrup recipe!

8. Vitamin C and/or Emergen-C

Everyone probably knows this already, but taking a Vitamin C supplement is always good for building immunity.  We love Emergen-C – a wonderfully fizzy drink. I’ve also hidden it in yogurt for Ridley. 🙂

9.  Lysine

Lysine isn’t just for getting rid of cold sores. It’s also is the best strep-fighter. If I start feeling like I was hit by a truck in my head and throat, I take Lysine and lots of it.  Be sure to purchase the capsules…not the gigantic horse-pill-like-tablets. 🙂  I give Ridley this fabulous liquid lysine.

10.  Vitamin D3

If you’re not taking liquid vitamin D3, go buy some right now. Seriously. Most Americans are vitamin D3 deficient thanks to lack of sunshine and sun blocking agents.  I love this article on D3 and the dosage chart as well!

11. Probiotics

Everyone needs a healthy gut and most of us don’t have one thanks to processed food and antibiotics.  One of the best ways to boost a healthy immune system is to build a healthy gut with good bacteria!  I know that sounds funny. 🙂  Capsuled or tablet probiotics are great as well as homemade yogurt or kombucha.  Ridley loves his “candy” as he calls his chewable probiotics.

12. Rebounding/Exercise

I like to move it, move it! Haha!

Exercise is key to good health and a working lymph system which filters garbage out of our bodies.  The lymph system doesn’t have a pump to move the fluid through, so cardio workouts are really important.  I love to rebound on a small trampoline. It gives me a quick energy boost, gets my lymph system moving and is a great workout. The benefits of rebounding are endless!

13. Sleep!

Raise your hand if you don’t get enough rest. Ahem. {raises hand}  I’m working on it, but I know I need more.  Our bodies need rest to restore and rejuvenate.  Try to get an extra hour or two of rest each night especially if you’re fighting a bug of some sort.

That’s a wrap, y’all!  I hope you learned a little bit here or there on supporting your body’s natural immunity.  Like I said, I’m not a doctor, so be sure to talk with your physician or naturopath/herbalist about a specific immune supporting plan that is right for you! 🙂

What do you do to naturally boost your body’s immune system?

XO

*****

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Disclosure: I did include a few Amazon affiliate links in this post.

39 Comments

  1. I love this compilations!! Another immune system booster I like to use if I’m starting to get sick is very high quality, unprocessed (or as little processing as possible) coconut oil. It is very high in lauric acid which is great for the immune system. When I’m getting a sore throat, one of my quick-relief remedies is a mug of hot 100% pineapple juice with a pinch each of ginger, nutmeg and crushed rosemary, and a dallop of coconut oil (which melts). You can also use the CO on toast, etc. like butter. I know there’s some controversy out there about CO, but I like what I’ve read and know about it. Since we have cut back on our processed food intake and leaned seriously towards all natural, some organic and less processed foods, if/when we do get sick we aren’t sick for nearly as long. Funny enough, I am on day 2 of fighting a bad head cold 😛 But now, instead of taking weeks to get completely over a cold (b/c it traveled to my chest, etc.) I am usually back to normal in about a week or less, and it doesn’t often get down into my chest anymore.
    Miriam´s last blog post ..Wordless Wednesday {Buy Stock In Puffs Plus}

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  3. Thanks for a few new ideas! I like to use oil of oregano at the first sign of a a cold/even the flu and I increase my zinc intake.

    Reply

  4. Thank you for posting this. It has reminded me to get back to my healthy eating plan. It’s so easy to get sidetracked with all the summer/fall get togethers. I was recently diagnosed with diverticulosis, so I appreciate all the links. They were very informative.
    Peggy´s last blog post ..SHE

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  5. I think one of the best ways to ward of the sickies, is to wash your hands. My children rarely get sick, and I noticed that during the flu season, we tend to be home bodies. I do not believe in antibacterial soap, but just a little regular soap and water can go a long way. As a healthcare provider, I would not recommend taking vitamin D unless your levels have been checked and they are actually low. Why take something if you do not need it. I have never heard of the elderberry. I am interested in reading up on some of these. My children are 8,6, and 3 and the two oldest have only been on abx once, and I have been able thankgoodness to keep the baby from getting anything but the common cold.

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  6. Thanks for the great tips on how to stay healthy during the fall/winter. We use a lot of the items on your list and will be adding a few new ones. Another great item that I use for my girls (4,3,and 6months) is vitamin D drops especially in the extremely cold months when we are stuck in the house a lot!! Also you mentioned the probiotics and they are AWESOME!! I found (at Whole Foods) a powder form and I hide it in my girls fruit smoothies and my 6 months old cereal and they have no clue!!

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  7. Thank you for taking the time to put this list together! While I take a multi-vitamin every day, that’s about it for my health inspired habits. I really should consider at least vitamin C and D! And I need to get the boyfriend on a multi-vitamin…

    Reply

  9. Whenever I’m feeling down, I am drawn to leafy greens. It’s like my body just knows I need them.

    I usually either make my “Taste-Alike” recipe of Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana – which has kale in it…

    Or, I stop at the local soul food restaurant for some greens. (Yeah, I’m pretty blessed to have a soul food restaurant in the neighborhood.)

    Great list!
    Dana @ Cooking At Cafe D´s last blog post ..31 Days To a More Organized Life: Day 22 – Do you need THIS over THERE! (Part 2)

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  10. Excellent! Thanks for the list! I’ve made Elderberry syrup for years and we swear by it in the winter. We love the VS-C also! Another thing we’ve added to the list in the past couple of years is Theives oil. It is amazing for keeping colds and flu away.

    I’ve never used D3, but I will take your advice and go now. An thanks, by the way, for getting me stuck on the move it song. It will be in my head all day. 🙂 Lisa~

    Reply

  11. Well, GREAT post!!! I’ll have to pin it so I remember to refer back to it!! We are getting quite serious (at least in my mind anyway) about approaching medicine a little differently, so this has a lot of info I’ve absorbed in one place…awesome! I think we really are separated sistas!
    🙂
    xoxo
    shaunna
    Shaunna´s last blog post ..holiday decorating inspiration

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  12. This is such great info! I’m so glad I you found you. I have long wanted to get into doing all of this, but wasn’t sure where to start. Your post gives me lots of ideas. I’m going to poke around your site for more. Thanks!!

    Reply

  14. Can I send you a personal message on Facebook? I have a few personal questions about some of the things you posted. Thank you so much!!

    ~Kristi

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  17. hi my name is sophie and like you I am a mom, a little different as I was in a serious car accident and almost lost my life. After several years on medications beyond any safe limits I realized I would die if I didnt take matters into my own hands. I looked into herbs as it was a familiar thing to me and began to study on my own time. Against all the doctors and all of the odds i managed to heal myself to a point where I live alone with a few of my children the rest are grown I have eight children lol and bought my first house. This is a passion for me and recently I started a blog with herbs and information. I would love to learn new things from you and very much enjoyed your site I would like to add a link to yours from my blog if you dont mind so others can too benifit from your knowledge. Please let me know if you dont mind and feel free to check it out. thanks sophie

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  18. Myra,
    I’m so excited to find someone who agrees with the importance of these supplements! When I start preaching garlic & lysine most folks checkout on me 😉 I grew up with my Mom using lots of natural health & wellness treatments, so I’m not skeptical in the least! Great list!!

    Reply

  21. “One of the most broad-spectrum antimicrobial compounds in the world; propolis is also the richest source of caffeic acid and apigenin, two very important compounds that aid in immune response and even fight cancer. ” — Dr. Mercola

    Seriously this stuff works. I used to get sick all the time and since I started using Bee Potion I’ve been in amazing shape.

    Reply

  23. Hi!
    I was reading about the CBG by nature’s sunshine, but the link doesn’t take me to anything. How does this help with ears? Have you ever used colloidal silver in ears?

    Reply

  24. @Myra Hope

    I used to take garlic oil and I found it very helpful, Your post about “Immune System Boosters” contains helpful tips to improve Immunity system.

    Regards
    Sanjana

    Reply

  25. This article provides some very useful information. We all need to pay more attention to the health of our immune systems. We are doing regular livecasts interviewing amazing experts who talk about natural health care including natural immune system boosting. We were just in the news around the world announcing our livecasts. See the article here -https://alternative-health-concepts.com/immune-system-expertise-news/
    Wayne´s last blog post ..Top 5 Alternative Health Sites of the Week Issue # 24

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  26. Hey, Buddy!

    What’s Up? Hope you are doing great.Most often I come across your blog and read your articles. Every time, I get impressed by the way you justify your blog. All of your blogs are informative and useful at the same time.

    Recently I come across your post and find that this is bit interesting As far as immune system boosters, they are the substances that stimulate the immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity of any of its components.

    The immune system boosters you have explained in the post are helpful at several situations.

    The one that I like the most and I personally follows to keep myself fit is drinking a lot of water. It is helpful in several ways. All the boosters explained by you are effective.

    I would like you thank you for sharing such an informative post.
    Have a nice day! 🙂

    Reply

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  33. In terms of the consistency, if the soup is too thick you can just thin it out with extra broth or water until it’s perfect. Sometimes too much liquid can boil off when you’re cooking it resulting in a thicker soup. Did you keep the pot covered?tea tree essential oil

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  35. I’m glad that you emphasized how eating a balanced diet of fruits and veggies can help in boosting our immune system. Still, I also think that exploring immunization options can also help, especially now that we’re against a different type of flu. It might be a good idea to check nearby centers and inquire about their available treatment options for people around my age.

    Reply

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