It’s a great idea to try take a preventative approach to illness, especially at times like these when we are facing an extraordinary flu season complicated by COVID-19.

At the very least I recommend taking Zinc- 30mg per day and Vitamin C 2000mg a day as preventative measures.

If you are low in Iron please address this deficiency. Iron is vital to immunity and also to helping you get through an infection.

Adding in a tonic of some sort such as Olive leaf extract, Elderberry(Sambuccol) or Echinacea is also a great idea to bolster your immunity.

Good Food!

Eat good simple food. Make nourishing soups. Eat plenty of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, wholefoods, meats and full fat dairy products. Bone broth is an excellent gut-nourishing and immunity food.

If you choose not to eat meat, focus on mushroom broths and seaweed broths as these have great benefits for immunity. Brazil nuts contain selenium which is a great antioxidant nutrient to keep inflammation down. Add ginger, garlic and turmeric and other herbs and spices to your cooking as well – these add many antioxidants.

There has been a rush on pasta and there is none on the shelves. Well don’t panic because pasta is one of the most nutritionally-empty foods known to mankind! It is also high in sugar which increases inflammation and depletes immunity. Focus on good nutrient dense foods instead.

“Try to reduce your news watching to once a day and control your social media engagement”

Reduce Overwhelm!

Stress is a major immune depressant. Can you afford to have your immune system depressed right now? How many times have you listened to the news today? How many times have you checked Facebook, email, Instagram etc?

There is no doubt that this is a major event and it creates a storm of fear and uncertainty and you want to stay informed. But don’t let it overwhelm you and control you. 

Try to reduce your news watching to once a day and control your social media engagement. Remember to do the things you love. Go out and water the garden, look at the birds, walk the dog, pat the cat, play games with your children, read a book, have a cuppa. Breathe!

Would a Naturopathic Appointment be helpful?

Both influenza and COVID-19 viruses can lead to very serious complications and lung damage requiring people to be on a respirator in hospital.

It is important to know that it is not the actual virus itself that causes this damage but the resultant inflammation that overwhelms the body with oxidative damage. Therefore, people that already have an increased amount of inflammation are more vulnerable to this.

I have many medicinal herbs that are immune supporting, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial and antioxidant among other actions.

Being a herbalist means that I have the knowledge to apply the correct herbal remedies at the appropriate stage of the illness. There are herbal tinctures I put together for immune enhancement and reducing the susceptibility to illness and viruses. There are tinctures for the acute stage of illness, and also for illnesses that change in a particular way e.g. an increased inflammatory response or onset of bacterial infection or chesty cough and asthma. Herbs can make a huge difference to the severity of an illness.

This is the beauty of herbal medicine and also it’s strength. Herbal tinctures can be prescribed for the individual depending on their requirements.

Please feel free to contact me for an appointment if you would like a preventative tincture or are acutely ill. All of my appointments are currently phone based, with pick-up of medicines at my front door and payment online.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Natasha