Tips for preventing the flu & my anti-flu drink recipe                                     

When flu season strikes, children are typically the first to catch a cold. Children are at higher risk for the flu because their immune systems are not fully developed. They also play closely together and are still learning hygiene.

Coming down with the flu is never nice, but it feels even worse if you have something important coming up or unbreakable travel plans ahead.

Luckily there are ways to avoid the flu. Here are my tips:

1. Healthy lifestyle: Getting plenty of sleep, eating well, drinking lots of pure water, exercising, and managing stress can go far in keeping your immune system healthy.

After our family started to eat mostly organic, home cooked food, our kids (who used to have the flu many times during the year) have only had the flu once this year. I think that is the best proof that the diet plays a big role in fighting against the viruses.

2. Vitamin D. If you are suffering from vitamin D deficiency, you are more likely to catch the cold. Make sure you are taking the vitamin D 3 supplement, not vitamin D 2!

3. Reduce your sugar intake. Sugar in all its forms takes a heavy toll on your immune system. If I feel even a little bit under the weather, I    cut down on sugar.

4. Washing hands frequently during the day! It is also the most powerful way to prevent spreading flu germs.

Make sure to wash your hands long enough(about the time of singing Happy Birthday song twice). After using the public bathrooms, remember to use a paper towel to turn off the tap. Also use a paper towel to open the door on your way out. If you touch the door handle after washing your hands it will undo your hand washing process completely. This is something I’ve learned the hard way…

When we go grocery shopping with kids, we always disinfect the shopping carts with the hand disinfectant. I always carry one bottle of it in my purse, and slather it on my kids’ hands if they’ve been touching the public places. As soon as washing hands with soap is possible, I make my kids wash their hands properly. We have been traveling a lot with our children, and we’ve noticed that disinfecting our hands has really prevented us from getting sick.

 5. Lemons: I have started my days by drinking hot lemon water for about a year now,  and haven’t gotten sick ever since. Lemons are loaded with vitamin C, which is known to support the body’s natural defenses. Lemons are also reported to decrease the strength of the cold and flu virus in the body and reduce phlegm. Please note that organic lemons are 100 times more effective than a conventional lemon(grown with chemical fertilizers and sprayed with chemicals), so it really pays off to use organic lemons.

If you feel like you’re getting sick, you may want to give my powerful anti-flu drink a shot. 🙂

My powerful anti-flu drink:                                                                                                              

You need:

• 1 Fresh, raw,organic garlic clove
• Fresh, raw, organic ginger (a size of a garlic clove)
• a glass of sparkling water

What to do:

Pour yourself a glass of sparkling water. Peel the skin off of the garlic clove and ginger. Use your garlic presser and squish the garlic and ginger into your water. You can also chop them up into small bites, and mix them in your drink. Gulp it down. The taste is not as bad as you might think 😉

For me, it has worked every time. You have to take it as soon as you start feeling a bit under the weather though.

Ps. I am not a doctor, and the tips on my blog are simply things that have worked for me. 🙂