Goodness, gracious, this is a really bad year for the flu! With the onslaught of reports on the news, I began to get a little worried. Honestly, I was ready to cancel all of our outside commitments and just put everyone in the safe bubble inside our home but that’s not at all practical and I think we would just get on each other’s nerves. Instead, I came up with a plan for how I would prevent and treat the flu naturally.

Immune System Tune-up

It’s a fact, a strong immune system can help you ward off the flu but let’s be realistic, whose immune system is that strong? In my family, we have those of us who are super clean eaters and very conscious of how our body is working. We also have those, uh um my husband, who loves to frequent fast food places and get his frequent dose of Sweet Frog. While I’m not pointing fingers, he’s the one who brought the flu home last week and I’ll tell you how I treated the flu naturally in my next post.

I’m not a doctor and can’t prescribe, diagnose or treat but I can share some of the things I’ve been doing for me and the kids to build our immune system.

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberries are a powerhouse immune builder. I make my own and I’ve been dosing out a teaspoon three times a day. You can read more about the benefits of elderberry syrup in my post Making Elderberry Syrup.

Vitamin C

I like to use a buffered Vitamin C so we can take higher doses without intestinal upset. We take a minimum of 1,000 mg and when needed we increase the dose to tolerance.

Vitamin D

I give everyone a minimum of 4,000 IU of vitamin D. Vitamin D helps to fight off infections and regulate immunity.I recently learned that Vitamin D is best taken with Vitamin K. Vitamin D helps you absorb calcium and Vitamin K helps direct that calcium to your bones and not your arteries.

Essential Oils

While I cannot make any claims as to whether or not any essential oils can prevent or treat the flu, I can tell you that I absolutely love applying my Young Living Thieves essential oil on a daily basis. I made a fabulous smelling hand sanitizer using Witch Hazel, Thieves and Christmas Spirit. I keep it in my purse and use it liberally. Interested in purchasing your own quality essential oils, you can do that right here on Young Living. I also found these PubMed reports to be rather interesting and informative.

Protective essential oil attenuates influenza virus infection: An in vitro study in MDCK cells

Antimicrobial efficacy of five essential oils against oral pathogens: An in vitro study

Other helpful supplements are Zinc, Glutathione, and Turmeric

Practical Daily Tips

Water

My kids and I are huge water drinkers. We’re drinking filtered water from our Berkey.  I don’t have to worry about them getting their daily intake but if your kids don’t like drinking water, add in some lemon and little stevia and whala, you have yourself a natural lemonade. Slowly decrease the amount of stevia until they’re drinking plain water. It makes like so much easier when our kids like water because they’ll be able to get a drink anywhere and it’s healthy.

Wholesome Food

Food is the best medicine. If you want to avoid the flu avoid sugar and focus on eating plenty of vegetables, quality protein, and good carbs. Be aware of hidden sugars in your foods. Handing out granola bars is no different then giving them a candy bar. Opt instead for veggies, homemade smoothies, and air popped organic popcorn with a little coconut or avocado oil drizzled on. Our tastes change as we train ourselves to eat food the way it was meant to be eaten and as we eliminate sugar from our diet we crave it less.

Get Plenty of Sleep 

Getting plenty of restful sleep is essential for keeping your immune system strong. Turn electronics off 2 hours before bedtime and create a relaxing evening routine to ensure a good night’s rest. Be sure to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep each night. This is something that I’m really working on.

Get Wet

Wash your hands, take a shower, dunk yourself in a tub. Basically, wash those germs off and do this as often as possible. When my son comes home from church, co-op or anywhere he’s been around other children, I make him get right in the shower. He knows this is the routine and usually does gets a shower on his own.

Cover Your Face

Cover your cough and sneeze and if necessary wear a face mask when you’re out in public. If you’re the one with a cough or sneeze please be considerate about how your germs might affect babies, elderly and those with chronic illness.

What Happens if You Get the Flu?

Everyone is panicking over this flu epidemic and quite honestly, I was too. We choose not to get the flu shot for several reasons. First of all, it’s like taking a shot in the dark hoping that the powers to be figured out the right strain for the year. Secondly, the flu shot contains ingredients that actually deplete the immune system.

I believe that all the media hype about the flu creates fear in us which pushes us to make choices we wouldn’t normally make. I don’t want to make decisions about my health from a place of fear and so I choose to do my research, arm myself with a plan that’s going to truly protect us and work on building our immunity naturally.

Soon, I’ll share with you what I’m doing to treat the flu.