Thinking about Cold & Flu Season

Health and cheerfulness are brothers.
~William Hardcastle Browne

Yipes, here we are, heading into cold and flu season and it's hard to be cheerful with [insert your own statement about that horrible man, his enablers, and his nutjob fans]. Stress can make people prone to get sick, so we need to see what we can do to cope and ward off illness.

* Key things: getting good sleep, moving around (exercise), eating well/getting your nutrients, keeping hydrated. These are all things we hear a lot, but they're the foundation. How's your foundation doing? Our bodies often can tell what they need and try to communicate it. Try not to do that thing where you're tired and instead of paying attention and getting some rest, you just drink a bunch of energy drinks. If you can get some rest when you first feel an illness coming on, you might be able to ward it off. Don't wait until you are feeling miserable to lie down!

* I can't remember whether I've mentioned making elderberry syrup before. Here are a few recipes in case you would like to try it: Plain (3 ingredient) Elderberry Syrup, Spiced Elderberry Syrup, and Elderberry lemon ginger syrup. I am a fan of the taste of elderberry, your mileage may vary. Having elderberry syrup often in the early stages of an illness can help shorten its duration. (My kids think that homemade tastes better than storebought, but feel free to buy some. A lot of pharmacies/grocery stores are selling it these days and you can get it on Amazon, too.)

* Another syrup you can make: Ginger & Lemon Balm Cold & Flu Syrup. Lemon balm is very relaxing -- if you haven't tried it and you're feeling stressed out, you might want to seek it out.

* I also like turmeric tea and golden milk when I'm feeling under the weather, although I will drink them any old time. (True confession: I am lazy enough to mostly just have the tea and not make the milk. I like when someone else makes me the milk.)



* Apple cider vinegar is great for cutting through phlegm and a host of other things. I have talked about fire cider before, and recently I made a rose hibiscus oxymel (rose hibiscus vinegar with honey) that is a beautiful shade of fuschia, in addition to having vitamin c and being a nice stomach settler. Here's info about making oxymels.

* Stress Reducing Recipes from Fit Foodie Finds

* I almost finished without harping on having beef, chicken, or veggie stock, but I couldn't quite make it. Sorry, guys! Have some stock.

What else would you like to add? Do you have a special thing you make to help stay healthy?