3 Natural Remedies for Cold & Flu Season

A season is a term used for something that comes around once a year, every year. It has a beginning and an end. There is nothing that can be done to prevent the next season from coming. For these reasons, there is no specific "flu season." The next few months are certainly notorious for flu symptoms and colds, but that does not mean that you are helpless when it comes to protecting yourself from getting sick. Here are three ways you can naturally protect yourself from illness this winter.

1. Eat Well to Be Well-  Making the right choices with your diet is an essential factor in keeping your body and immune system functioning at its best. Vitamin C(oranges, grapefruit, leafy vegetables) will help naturally boost your immune system. Vitamin E (nuts, seeds, broccoli) is a powerful antioxidant that will help you fight off infection. Vitamin B6 (bananas, lean chicken breast, tuna) plays an important role in nearly 200 biochemical reactions within our bodies, and is critical in immune system function. Being adequately hydrated plays a massive role in immunity. The immune system uses lymph to circulate white blood cells and nutrients to all of the body's tissues. Lymph production and function is directly connected to water levels in the body. Lastly, avoid excess sugar during holiday time. Eating or drinking 100 grams of sugar (equivalent to the amount of sugar in two 12-ounce cans of soda) can reduce the ability of white blood cells to kill germs by 40% over a 4-6 hour span. 

2. Boost Natural Immunity Through Chiropractic Care-   The nervous system and immune system are designed to work together in order to encourage the body to adapt and heal. The nervous system (brain, spinal cord, spinal nerves) is housed within and protected by the spine. Neural dysfunctions due to spinal misalignments can lead to a poorly coordinated immune response. A strong link between spinal cord injuries and chronic diseases has led many to investigate the role of the nervous system in immunity. Ronald Pero, Ph.D., chief of research at New York's Preventative Medicine Institute, conducted a long-term study to research the most valid ways to estimate an individual's susceptibility to various illnesses. Pero's team discovered long-term chiropractic care to be one of the strongest correlations in those who get sick less often. One hundred and seven of the study participants reported to have received long-term chiropractic care. Those participants were shown to have 200% greater immune competence than people who had not received chiropractic care. Pero was quoted as saying "chiropractic may optimize whatever genetic abilities you have so that you can fully resist serious disease. I have never seen a group other than this show a 200% increase over normal patients."

3. Get some sleep-  When you're sleeping, your immune system produces infection-fighting antibodies and cells. We use these to fight off foreign substances like bacteria and viruses. The impact of even a short period of sleep deprivation on the immune system can be significant. After just two nights of major sleep deprivation, or four nights of partial sleep deprivation, immune system function can decrease by up to 20%.