When a new year begins, a colder and drier season arrives (especially where I am, NY). People around you start talking about how sick they feel... Yes, this is the season of cold & flu!
Want to avoid the week(s) of being in bed with fever and dealing with endless coughs, a sore throat, and a runny nose? Why don't we prepare ourselves (for the season) to prevent onsets?
Building the immunity is the key here. That helps not only preventing you from cold & flu in the virus-active season, but also vitalizing your physical and mental foundation and coping with external bacterial + virus attacks and stress factors.
WInter is definitely a time to eat warm and condensed foods. Not cold and raw foods! Here are some regimens to toinfy your immunity in winter.
◊ EAT MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS!
Shiitake, Maitake, Turkeytail (Kawaratake), and Reishi are known as medicinal mushrooms. Turkeytail and Reishi are for decoction. Shiitake and Maitake are available in supermarkets! So it's easy to consume them as tasty dishes while building your immunity. (Oyster and Enoki mushrooms are also immune tonic. Available in supermarkets as well)
Dosage: Eat them for 90 days
Tip: Shiitake is a great source of Vitamin D (vital for immunity, brain system, and bone health). To maximize the property, place them under the sun with caps turned back for 30~60 mins before cooking. D increases enormously. When sit under the sun, all the nutritions in shiitake boosts up.
◊ COOK AND EAT SEASONAL & ROOT VEGETABLES
Kale, Collard, Dandelion, Beet greens: Seasonal vegetables have the most ideal nutrition, energetics, actions, and tastes in a year. (see BENEFIT TO EAT FOODS IN SEASON) Do not forget to cook them to take the most benefits.
Daikons, Burdocks, Japanese taros (里芋), Beets, Turnips, Parsnips, Carrots, Potatoes, Lotus roots: Winter root veggies have an action to warm up our body. Lotus roots helps clear phlegm from lungs.
◊ GARLICS & ONIONS
Healing and protective for lung. Destroying infection-causing viruses & bacteria. Alliums (scallion family) is known to have properties: anti-cancer, hypotensive, and reducing the risk of blood clots.
◊ HORSERADISH
Healing for sinus
◊ HONEY
Honey is super medicinal. Has properties, antibacterial, antiseptic and soothing a throat and ease coughs. Pick raw and unrefined ones.
◊ HEALTHY FATS
Avocado oil, Coconut oil, Tallow, Lard, Ghee, Butter, Egg yolk, Fish eggs, Liver, Nut butters, Fat from Animal foods (Blue fishes and Meat) and... Cod liver oil!
Good fats are necessary to maintain optimal health physically and mentally. *Quality matters here. Pick good quality products.
Super Food – Fermented Cod Liver Oil: Very high in Omg-3 EFA, vitamin A, D and E. Vitamin D is very vital for immunity, brain system, and bone health. Especially in a winter season, supplementing CLO is very helpful to speed up a healing process during infections and reduce a winter depression (less sun-light during the winter affects remarkably).
◊ BONE BROTHS
Bone broths have highly nutritive and therapeutic for infinite conditions. Great all year around, still warming soup definitely supports us to get through a cold season.
Bone broths give you...
• minerals in easy to assimilate form
• nutrients that help build healthy cartilage and tendons
• amino acids that help the body dotoxify
• gelatin to help digestion and heal the gut lining
◊ PROBIOTIC FOODS
Fermented and cultured foods + drinks are known probiotic foods, which nurture gut-flora. 80% of our immune system is located in our gastrointestinal track. Meaning enriching gut-flora leads our immunity to be strong.
This is the reason we have to be careful with taking antibiotics.
Bring those foods into your dairy life and beat cold & flu!