{Homegrown Garlic. Picture originally from this post.}
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Naturally, while I've been recovering from the flu this week, my thoughts have turned to boosting immunity. It's still so early in the season for getting sick (I know you can get sick anytime of year, but I always associate the flu with winter) and I want to boost our family's immune system in preparation for the colder season (and for always.) I turned open the page in Natasha Campbell-McBride's book, GAPS, about immunity and felt like sharing it here. You'll notice some of her ideas on this list (and many in her book) are not mainstream (though I hope someday they will be.) Mainstream would say to avoid animal fats, cholesterol and the sun (as a few examples), but she thoughtfully explains why our bodies need those things. I highly recommend reading her book if you would like to learn more. Within this post I won't be getting into explanations behind her ideas, but I'll be touching on how we incorporate these immune boosting things in our life.
Top Ten Influences which Boost Immunity
1) Fresh animal fats (from meats and dairy) and cholesterol-rich foods (particularly raw egg yolk.)
2) Cold-pressed oils: olive oil, fish oils, nut and seed oils.
3) Onions and garlic.
4) Freshly pressed vegetable and fruit juices.
5) Regular consumption of greens: parsley, dill, coriander, spring onion and garlic, etc.
6) Probiotic supplementation and fermented foods.
7) Contact with animals: horses, dogs, etc. Having a pet in the family can do a lot for children's immune status.
8) Swimming in unpolluted natural waters: lakes, rivers and sea.
9) Physical activity in the fresh air.
10) Exposure to sunlight and sensible sunbathing.
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Here are some of my comments about her list.
1) The main animal fat we eat is lard that we render from local, pastured pork. We cook everything in it (ground beef, vegetables, scrambled eggs, etc.) It makes everything taste incredible. I'm looking forward to eating more eggs as our chickens lay more. We eat beef and chicken regularly, so that's another source of animal fats for us. I'd love to find a good, local source for duck fat
Years ago, I used to put some raw yolks in our smoothies, but I haven't done that in a very long time.
2) The most important oil for our family is cod liver oil. My sister is just the sweetest thing and when she found out we ran out of cod liver oil last week, she surprised us and sent some. She sent my favorite kind, that we've only bought a few times because it's pricey. The best quality cod liver oil that I've found is the fermented cod liver oil from Green Pastures. Taking cod liver oil regularly helps our immunity and improves mood. It also greatly reduced my cramps during my moon time. I've written more about cod liver oil in this post.
We love olive oil and have it on our salads. We use it sparingly because it's spendy.
3) It's a good thing that onions and garlic are so tasty because it makes for a very enjoyable way to boost immunity! We would happily consume sauteed onions with every single meal, but usually eat onions a few times a week. Jeff recently told me about this article by Dr. Mercola, talking about garlic needing to be consumed raw to have the benefits. We like to use our garlic press and squeeze one to two cloves on top of our meals. We usually do that for breakfast and sometimes for dinner as well. We love the taste so we enjoy adding it that way.
I should mention that my body used to have a hard time with garlic, but over time that has changed. Now a few cloves at a time is a good amount for me.
4) Jeff makes raw vegetable juices here and there. We love them. (I should mention that Natasha does not advocate the consumption of pasteurized juice at all, only fresh raw juices.) We love juice with nettles, cucumber, parsley, ginger, celery, apple, mint, lemon, beets etc. We use whatever is in the garden at the time.
5) The greens we eat the most are kale and chard. We also love nettles, collards and add green herbs to our meals here and there. Lately our greens have been slowing down in the garden and I need to increase our greens consumption again. We were eating greens every day and I want to keep that going.
6) We eat something fermented with every meal. Sauerkraut is the fermented food that we eat most often. Lately we've been eating raw, fermented pickles as well.
The best probiotics I've found are Bio-Kult. If we could afford it, I'd like our family to take them regularly.
7) Do our chickens help boost our immunity? If so, yet another wonderful benefit of having chickens!
8) Well, we went swimming once this summer. I'd like to make that a more regular occurrence.
9) My favorite physical activity in the fresh air is gardening, walking, and yard work. Walking along the ocean is wonderful. It's been super rainy and my visits to the garden lately have been brief, so I have not been getting as much physical activity and need more.
10) We soaked up all the sun we could during the summer. Now, in the midst of storms, our sunny season seems like a distant dream. Winters in the Pacific Northwest don't have ample opportunities for soaking up the sun. We take cod liver oil for the Vitamin D (and eat Vitamin D rich foods), which is especially important for us in the wintertime.
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I should mention that my body used to have a hard time with garlic, but over time that has changed. Now a few cloves at a time is a good amount for me.
4) Jeff makes raw vegetable juices here and there. We love them. (I should mention that Natasha does not advocate the consumption of pasteurized juice at all, only fresh raw juices.) We love juice with nettles, cucumber, parsley, ginger, celery, apple, mint, lemon, beets etc. We use whatever is in the garden at the time.
5) The greens we eat the most are kale and chard. We also love nettles, collards and add green herbs to our meals here and there. Lately our greens have been slowing down in the garden and I need to increase our greens consumption again. We were eating greens every day and I want to keep that going.
6) We eat something fermented with every meal. Sauerkraut is the fermented food that we eat most often. Lately we've been eating raw, fermented pickles as well.
The best probiotics I've found are Bio-Kult. If we could afford it, I'd like our family to take them regularly.
7) Do our chickens help boost our immunity? If so, yet another wonderful benefit of having chickens!
8) Well, we went swimming once this summer. I'd like to make that a more regular occurrence.
9) My favorite physical activity in the fresh air is gardening, walking, and yard work. Walking along the ocean is wonderful. It's been super rainy and my visits to the garden lately have been brief, so I have not been getting as much physical activity and need more.
10) We soaked up all the sun we could during the summer. Now, in the midst of storms, our sunny season seems like a distant dream. Winters in the Pacific Northwest don't have ample opportunities for soaking up the sun. We take cod liver oil for the Vitamin D (and eat Vitamin D rich foods), which is especially important for us in the wintertime.
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We do the best we can within our budget. There's always room for improvement. I'd like to add another thing we do for our immune systems: we buy powdered elderberries from Mountain Rose Herbs and make tea with it regularly. I'd like to learn more about medicinal mushrooms that boost immunity and would like to consume echinacea more.
{Just a note: the power just went out, then came back on. We're having storms here. If Gratitude Sunday is a little delayed in the morning, know it's because our electricity went out.}
{Just a note: the power just went out, then came back on. We're having storms here. If Gratitude Sunday is a little delayed in the morning, know it's because our electricity went out.}
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How about you?
What do you do to boost your immune system?
Do share!
