Your immune system is your body's natural defense against illness and disease. Keeping your immune system healthy will ensure that your body will know exactly what to do when you are exposed to a cold, the flu, or other infections. It also knows exactly what to do if you catch that cold. The health of your immune system will determine your overall health, how often you get sick, and how well you handle sickness.

Don't feel trapped this winter with runny noses, sleepiness, and overall fatigue. Use these tips & tricks for keeping your immune system healthy and my top four steps for what to do when that cold attacks!

Immune Boosters: Food

Yep! You can eat your way to a healthy immune system! Remember that saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"? Well, turns out it's true. Eating more organic fruits & veggies on a daily basis will boost your immune system- naturally. Foods that are high in vitamin C and D will help ward off those inevitable germs you encounter. One of my favorite ways to do this is to make a smoothie in my blender-- here's a great recipe:

1 organic Honeycrisp apple
1 organic Bosc pear
2 stalks organic celery
1-2 organic carrots
6-8 leaves of organic romaine lettuce
1 organic green pepper
splash of organic lime juice
sprinkle of organic cayenne pepper

Directions: Blend and enjoy.

These "green drinks" not only taste great, they will increase your energy, decrease mental fog, boost your immunity, and can aid in weight loss. This is one great way to get a ton of immunity support that works for kids & adults!

Other food immunity boosters (loaded with vitamins and minerals):

• Green pepper

• Spinach

• Kale

• Onion

• Garlic

• Apples

• Pears

• Lemon

• Cayenne pepper (add to green drinks, hot lemon water, soups)

• Cinnamon (add to your coffee, tea, soups)

• Raw cacao (powder, nibs)

Immune Boosters: Supplements

We all have a tough time getting in our "green drinks" or fruits & veggies everyday. So, it's a good idea to keep some immunity supplements on hand, especially through cold & flu season. Adding these into your regular supplement regimine will give your immunity a boost.

• Proflavanol C100 (grapeseed extract)

• Booster C (vitamin C packets you can add to water or just take as is)

• Vitamin D

As always with supplements, do your research. All supplements & brands are not equal. Be sure that what’s on the label is in the bottle, the ingredients are pure, the manufacturing practices are pharmaceutical grade, and the supplements are bioavailable. For more information on supplementation, I recommend reading Dr. Lyle MacWilliam’s Book, “The Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.”

What to do when you feel a cold coming on: 

At the first sign of a sniffle, headache, feeling like you are dragging just a little, there are several things to do without grabbing the medicine. I recommend doing them all everyday and your cold will disappear or subside in a couple of days.

Step 1: Hot Water with ½ Organic Squeezed Lemon & Organic Cayenne Pepper

• This jump-starts your entire system - gives it a little kick in the rear & wakes you up! Organic lemon is extremely high in antioxidant properties and aids tremendously in detoxification and digestion. Drink your lemon water daily or even several times per day! This will relieve a soar, scratchy throat, fatigue, and constipation, and acid reflux.

Step 2: Apple Cider Vinegar, straight up.

• There are a million things that apple cider vinegar can fix from sinus congestion to diaper rash. You can dilute it in water if you want, but I find it easier and more effective to just take it in a spoonful. If you do have sinus congestion, drink apple cider vinegar and give yourself apple cider vinegar steam treatment. If you are feeling really fatigued or have achy muscles, add apple cider vinegar to a hot bath.

Step 3: Vitamin C, baby!

• Keep your vitamin C on hand. Take it multiple times per day and especially before bed.

Step 4: Rest. And take your vitamins at night.

• Besides you just getting some rest, your body is actually working like crazy at night. Your body is repairing each cell in your body over night! So the better you take care of your body during the day, the better rest you’ll get overnight. Regardless, rest & relaxation at night is important, especially when you are feeling sick. Feeding your body a surge of pure vitamins & minerals before bed is a major boost to the repair work it’s trying to do :)

What are your top tips to fight off the cold and flu season? 

Tara Hantske