Category: Immune Health
An All-In-One Immunity Soup
This recipe taken from Dr. Mao and is a lovely addition to your diet.
Cook up a broth of shiitake mushrooms, any kind of seaweed, cabbage, any type of squash, carrots, fresh ginger, oregano, and onion in chicken or vegetable stock.
Shiitake mushrooms contain polysaccharides, sterols, and coumarin, as well as vitamins and minerals that increase your immune function. Seaweed cleanses the body, cabbage has ability to increase your body’s ability to fight infection, ginger supports healthy digestion, and the remaining ingredients promote general health and well-being.
Eat this soup every other day to build a strong and healthy immune system.
Simple.
Continue reading »Immune Health During Pregnancy
Mamas, the key to maintaining your health is to boost your immune system. I’m a big believer in the theory that getting sick if a healthy response and a way to build your immune system so it can better handle serious illness like pneumonia and cancer.
Below are some basic tips to help you through this cold season:
Sleep
Try to get at least 8 hours of quality sleep every night. When you are rested, everything works better, including your immune system. If you are feeling tired during the day, try to lay down and rest for 20 minutes. Even if you can’t sleep, at least you are relaxing.
Hydration
Drinking clean water will provide your body with the tools for proper functioning, increase your energy and if you’re pregnant, it will keep your baby swimming in ample amniotic fluid. Drinking half your body weight in ounces every day is a good guideline.
Wash Those Hands
Before eating, when you get home, after the bathroom and before touching your face are key times to wash your hands with soap and water. Singing happy birthday in your head is a guideline for how long you should be soaping up and rinsing off.
Eat Fresh
Skip the frozen or fast food meals and eat fresh veggie and protein. Try to buy organic when possible. There are lots of simple and fast meals that will support your health during the cold and flu season.
Vitamin D3
This is my new favorite immune boosting tool this season. Vitamin D3 is the trendy talk of the supplement town as a deficiency of D has been linked to everything from the common cold, depression and cancer. If you live in the Pacific Northwest than you probably don’t get enough. Spending time outside with your face and hands exposed to the sun (without sunscreen) for 15 minutes every day will provide a maintenance dose. For the cold season, you need more. 2,000 – 4,000 IU daily is a great place to start, pregnant moms can take up to 6,000 IU daily.
Probiotics
Midwifery Today mentioned that 70% of our immune system is located in our colon. That’s an interesting key to immune health and flora balance. Think yogurt, keifer, kombucha and anything fermented you like to eat.
