Five Immune Boosters To Get You Through The Holidays

This is the time of year when many of us have lots of things going on – family visiting, travel plans, parties, school holidays – and at the same time, it’s winter here in the Northern Hemisphere, which tends to lend itself more to health issues anyway. I thought I’d share five immune boosters to get you through the holidays – these are my favorites and the ones I use myself. I try to take them consistently through this more busy seasons and periods of lots of travel; at other times of year I might just pull them out if I feel a sniffle coming on, but right now it’s such a busy time that the last thing I want is to be sick and not feeling good to enjoy it.

This can be a really chaotic time of year for many people. And I know that when we don’t eat quite as healthily as we usually do, we don’t get quite as regular sleep as we usually do, and we might have higher stress levels than we usually do, that can all lend itself to lower resistance, challenged immune function and more sickness.

These are my favorite immune boosters:-

1. OnGuard essential oil blend – this is one that I use all the time, because it’s such a great immune strengthener. It can be used either internally for us adults, on the soles of the feet for little ones, and in a diffuser for everyone to benefit from the aromatic mist. For scratchy throats, I use 1-2 drops in water, gargle with it and swallow it. If I want a higher dose, I’ll put 3-4 drops in an empty capsule and swallow it.
2. Transfer factor – transfer factors are targeted immune molecules that help strengthen the immune system and facilitate its attack of any unwanted invaders. Transfer factor can be found either alone in supplement form, or in combination with other immune helpers. My favorite, Transfer Factor Multi-immune, also contains methyl-folate, methyl-B12, zinc, selenium, TMG, beta-glucan, astragalus, shiitake mushroom, maitake mushroom and colostrum. What a great formula! It can be taken in capsule form for adults, or emptied out into a smoothie or food for kiddos.
3. Liposomal vitamin C – vitamin C has always been considered a good immune booster, but I have found the liposomal form to be so much more effective. Being liposomal, it crosses over mucous membranes rather than being “digested” in the gut, so it has enhanced absorption. We can also take higher doses of it without the intestinal upset that comes with some other forms of Vitamin C. The one I like is a liquid by Researched Nutritionals.
4. Lauricidin – a type of monolaurin, Lauricidin is a great immune booster, in particular having good anti-viral capabilities. I love the Lauricidin product as it comes in little granules which are really easy to take, and easy to dose appropriately for smaller kids (who can swallow supplements). I have also blended them into a smoothie for my toddler, which works well so long as you make sure they’re very well blended and don’t have any chunks left. Monolaurin is naturally occurring in mothers milk to help give immune stregth to babies, so it has a long history of being an immune tonic. The supplement form comes from coconut oil.
5. Olive leaf extract – along with Lauricidin, this is one of my favorites to use as an antiviral. It also has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties too, and is a good general immune support. If I feel that my immune system is weakened, I’ll take a couple of doses per day, but even one dose a day as prevention is helpful. The product called Olivirex is one of my favorites for this – it not only has high-potency olive leaf, but also has garlic, goldenseal, milk thistle, St. john’s wort, uva ursi, American ginseng, bladderwrack, cordyceps, dandelion, noni and white willow bark. That’s quite the line up!

These are my favorite tools for staying as healthy as possible. I’ll dose just once daily for prevention, or if I feel a sniffle or cough coming on, I’ll take them 2-3 times daily to try to get on top of it. You can read more about the Transfer Factors, Lipo-C, lauricidin and olivirex here, and order them there too if you like. For the OnGuard, go here, or email me and I’ll help you with that.

If you’d like to read more about essential oils that can help you stay well during your travels, click here.

Whether the holiday season is the most fun time of your year, or whether you find it stressful and depressing, it can still be a more stressful time for your immune system, so consider some preventive immune support to help you get through with the best possible health.