Boosting Your Immune System Naturally

Assuming you're in the northern hemisphere, as most of us are, this is the time of year everyone gets sick. There are so many ways to boost your immune system naturally...

Just a few...

Getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night
Eliminating or reducing refined sugar intake (soda, candy, baked goods, snack foods)
Light to moderate exercise
Managing stress level
Vitamin D supplementation (5,000 IU per day, or 1,000 IU per 25 lb. of body weight)
Vitamin C supplementation (2-5 grams per day)
Omega-3 fatty acids (primarily from fatty fish like salmon)
Whey protein concentrate (preferably raw, from pastured cows)
Iodine
Prebiotics and Probiotics
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Hydrogen Peroxide

Feel free to add to the list.

 

Your initial premise is that winter time is when everyone gets sick, you are not talking about all contagions, I presume flu and colds


Is that becuase of low temperatures, temperature changes or becuase in winter time people are more likely to stay indoors or confined spaces with other carriers

 

1) Yes -- colds, the flu, the stomach bug, etc.

2) It has nothing to do with the cold, but yeah people are more confined during the winter months, and the lack of sunlight makes people more susceptible to becoming sick due to low vitamin D in the blood.

 

Thank you Dr. rat. Could you tell us, in medical terms, what is "the stomach bug"?
Also, vinegar being basically acetic acid and water, produced by the acetic fermentation of ethanol, just what is the healthful constituent of apple cider vinegar as opposed to say, vinegar made from molasses?

 

I haven't gotten sick in a couple of years whereas I used to have a lot of respiratory and sinus issues in the winter. I've made some changes to my diet but I think the two things that have really prevented me from getting sick is I eat a salad with various leafy greens and a dressing made with raw apple cider vinegar every single day, and I've introduced kimchi into my diet a couple of times a week.


also, question - how do you use hydrogen peroxide to boost your immune system? Are you referring to using it as a cleaning agent?

 

Leafy greens, yes. Kimchi, yes (best pre and probiotic there is).

But vinegar, it makes a nice dressing but it's just vinegar, there's nothing especially nutritious or healthful about it.

And Rat, Hydrogen peroxide is an oxidizing agent, I thought the new health fad was all about anti-oxidents?

 

Low humidity in homes and office during winter time bad. this allows for sinus to become dry and virus to enter easier..

With higher humidity not only do humans not dry out so easy. the virus becomes heavy with water droplets and isnt as airborne ..

 

filtered apple cider vinegar isn't nutritious but raw apple cider vinegar contains enzymes and good bacteria.

 

I can agree with that (-:

 

What about raw olive oil? It doesn't help boosting the immune system? Just wondering!

And is it really neccesary/worthwile to take supplements when you are already eating foods with vit C and D?

 

I eat raw garlic every day and I put hydrogen peroxide in the saline nasal spray I made.

If I'm feeling like my throat is getting scratchy, or a bit of sinus congestion, I'll take a couple of teaspoons of Vinegar Of The Four Thieves, throughout the day. it's something else I make at home with unpasteurized ACV.

 

i know a few people who are taking hydrogen peroxide, does anyone know more about this?

 

oh and drink lots of water

 

Drink water, eat good food, exercise regularly, sleep enough, and don't drink too much alcohol.

The solution to many health problems. Now if only I can figure out the cure to a lack of willpower and laziness, and I'll make millions.

 

drinking peroxide is a myth.. its good to clean your ears with, maybe a little to brush your teeth with , a little in the bath tub when taking a bath.. but drinking it is the worst thing you can do. someone already mention its an oxidizer. why would you want to drink an oxidizer when they aids in free radical catalyst ?

 

Peroxide is apparently good to make dogs pukr if they eat chocolate.

 

might just be better to leave them digest the chocolate. depends on the size of the dog and how much chocolate they ate. Ive known a few dogs to devour chocolate and nothing happened to them. peroxide could burn a dogs mouth and throat, and certainly make them sicker than the chocolate alone.

 

We tried it when my dog ate some dark chocolate. At 9lbs it wouldn't take much. But we only gave him a tiny amount, and it didn't work anyway.

 

Good interesting thread here! I don't get sick too often, but when I do, it's usually this time of year...and right now even. .

Any tips to kick the bug that's already in your system any faster? Or I assume it's the same things as the list above?

 

Ya know, boosting your immune system might sound like a good thing, but diseases like rheumatoid arthritis,nephritis, thyroiditis, and type I diabetes mellitus are basically the result of an overactive immune system. Many gastrointestinal ailments, allergic and inflammatory conditions are a result of an over-active malfunctioning immune system.
What you want is a healthy balanced immune system. Do you know they've found people with very strong immune systems suffer worse symptoms of colds and flues? Because their immune reaction is greater they suffer more than say, a smoker, who may not get over the cold or flue as fast as the 'healthy' person, but still suffers less sever symptoms because of a weaker immune reaction.