Learn to recognize your body’s signs of being worn down. Before you become sick take these preventative measures:
- Receiving bodywork regularly boosts your body’s immune system.
- Keep well-rested.
- Eat a balanced diet with plenty of vegetables. See the wholistic nutrition page for more information.
- Drink plenty of purified water.
- Dress appropriately for the weather. Wear a scarf and keep your low back covered in cold, windy weather. These areas are susceptible to pathogens.
- Keep immune-boosting supplements on hand to use when you have been exposed or are feeling run-down.
- Vitamins/supplements to keep on hand: Echinacea, Vitamin C, Wellness Formula, Yin Chaio. Ask your practitioner for dosage and what type to take when you are starting to feel ill.
- If you tend toward sinusitis, Neti Pot on a regular basis and especially if you are getting sick. Ask your practitioner for more details on how to do this.
- If you do get sick, stop taking all tonifying herbs—you want to expel the illness not tonify it.
- Don’t rush into taking antibiotics (try Chinese remedies suggested by a qualified practitioner first). In the long run, antibiotics can cause you to be more susceptible to repeat illness because they kill ALL bacteria (including helpful bacteria), not just bacteria causing an imbalance.
- When it is necessary to take antibiotics, replenish your flora and fauna with a probiotic that has multiple types of helpful bacteria. Ask your practitioner for details.
- If you are experiencing a lot of mucus, don’t eat foods that will make it worse such as dairy products, sugary foods, orange juice, and oat meal.
- To clear sinus congestion and to help expel pathogens, try eating onion soup with lots of fresh onions. You can also boil a turnip, mash it (like you would mash a potato), add chives and parsley, and eat it. These foods help drain sinus congestion.
- Avoid eating red meats and other tonifying foods when you are ill.
- When you are ill, stick with eating miso and other vegetable based soups, vegetables, and plenty of liquids for a few days until you begin to feel better.