Are you having a harder time staying healthy? Easy home remedies for your immune system to the rescue.
The last couple of years has put a strain on everyone’s immune system and it’s showing up more and more. People who never used to get sick are getting hit. Others who used to get sick a few days have illnesses that linger.
Rather than recounting all the new stressors we have been exposed to more recently, I would like to give you additional tools to use at home to support your body. Read on to learn how to assist your immune system and have the tools to support your body at home should you get sick.
Healing Baths
My number one at-home immune system support is a bath. It is something you can do with basic ingredients you probably already have in the house. There are all sorts of baths to chose from.
Single Ingredient Baths – Below is an example of different ingredients you can use in a bath to help your immune system. You can find many recipes online, but typically you would use one half to one full cup of a particular ingredient depending on the amount of water in the tub.
- Epsom salt baths help relieve muscle and joint strain as well as symptoms from oxalate dumping.
- Baking soda baths can help with swollen glands and other “under-the-weather” symptoms. (Combining sea salt and baking soda in a bath helps with exposure to x-rays, traveling, and cell phone use.)
- Apple cider vinegar baths can help with muscle aches and pains but is also good for drawing out access uric acid (think gout).
- Hydrogen peroxide in a bath can help supply additional oxygen to your bloodstream through your skin.
Generally, when taking a healing bath, you should make the bath as hot as you can stand. If you find it difficult to get in a hot bath, you can add more hot water after you get in. Then stay in the bath for 20 to 30 minutes. If you are new to taking baths, you may want to take it slower, making it less hot and staying in for less time. (If unsure, consult with your healthcare practitioner.)
Favorite Detox Bath – My favorite bath the last couple years uses a combination of four ingredients: Epsom salt, Himalayan salt, baking soda (aluminum free), and Borax. (For an adult you typically use one cup of each.) This bath helps to both detox and nourish the body at the same time. Epsom salt is high in magnesium, Himalayan salt is high in minerals, baking soda helps alkalize the body, and Borax is high in boron. (More about boron here.) All of the ingredients help pull unwanted toxicants from the body.
Some people like to rinse off after getting out of a healing bath, but usually it is best to wrap yourself up in a blanket or comfy clothes and let yourself continue to perspire until your body cools down on its own.
All that perspiring will eliminate toxins from the body so be sure to wash the towels, blanket/sheets, and clothes you sweated in before using them again. Also, if you are not feeling well before taking the bath, make sure someone is home to help you out of the bath if necessary. If you are on your own, drain the bath before getting out and let yourself cool off some before attempting to get out.
NOTE: If you take many baths it is worth investing in a “bath ball” water filter to purify the water as much as possible while filling the tub.
Boosting Natural Energies
If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) from electronics and wireless radiation from cell phones and Wi-Fi systems can also deplete your body and knock down your immune system. Physiologically, these frequencies can open your blood brain barrier, disrupt your calcium stores, lower fertility, create oxidative stress, and much more.
It is important to counteract some of this damage. You may not notice the changes in your body but the man-made frequencies interfere with your organs, cells, and even your DNA. So, in addition to limiting your exposures to EMFs, you also want to expose yourself to as many positive frequencies as possible.
Replenish Positive Frequencies – Our bodies are electromagnetic. In fact, every organ in your body has its own natural frequency. Your various microbiomes are also full of frequencies. These frequencies work together in harmony with the energy fields in and around your body, even affecting other people and things around you.
Adding positive frequencies to your body can come from a variety of sources. Being in nature is as much as possible is huge and can include:
- going barefoot in the grass, allowing you to “ground” to the earth and expel negative energies
- getting healing rays from the sun on your skin 10 to 20 minutes a day
- gazing at the sun (when low in the sky) or the moon (see this video for more)
- forest bathing by hanging out in the woods or even hugging or leaning up against a tree
Other positive frequencies can come from tuning forks (see this video), red light therapy, healing magnets, infrared technology (like saunas and heating pads), etc. Even meditating, praying, positive affirmations, listening to good music, and singing can create positive frequencies in your life. The more you can do on a regular basis, the better.
Reduce EMFs and Wi-Fi – As you continuously build your body’s energy reserves, you also need to address your exposures to the harmful frequencies of EMFs and wireless technologies. The less you are around these man-made frequencies the better.
The top 5 suggestions would be:
- turn off (or unplug) your Wi-Fi at night
- keep your distance from your cellphone by using speaker phone, not holding it when in use, and don’t carry it directly on your body
- turn off all unused antennas on your cellphone and keep it on airplane mode as much as possible
- keep electronics out of the bedroom
- get a cover for your electric smart meter
Check out this beginner article for more ideas and follow me on Instagram to get regular tips on reducing EMFs and replenishing good frequencies.
Ears, Nose, Throat Support
The last couple of years also seemed to bring more upper respiratory health issues that linger. Things like ear aches, annoying coughs that do not go away, sore eyes, congested sinuses, etc. The home remedies mentioned above will help with these. Below are additional things you can do at home.
Onion for the Ears – I was reminded this winter of a remedy that my mom used when I was a child. She learned it from her mother. I have yet to see it fail. Onion is considered antimicrobial and antiseptic and has powerful immune building ingredients such as calcium, phosphorous, potassium, vitamins C and B6, sulfur and quercetin.
If you or your child has an ear ache or pain, get an onion, preferably organic. Peel off the outer skin, cut the onion in half, and place on a cookie sheet in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 or 450 degrees. Wait until it is cool enough to handle but still warm, wrap the half onion in a thin towel and place the flat part up against the ear until it cools off. (If the earache is only in one ear, you can do both ears to prevent the infection from moving to the other ear.) Works good for swimmers’ ear too.
Garlic for the Throat – Garlic is another powerful natural remedy. It is the allicin in the garlic that provides much of the healing properties but when in its natural form the whole garlic works synergistically to provide an extra “punch.” And like the onion, it also includes sulfur.
The simplest way to use garlic when illness strikes the throat/head area is to put garlic cloves in your ears. Use raw organic garlic. Find a clove that is the correct size for your ear, so that you can place it in the opening to your ear channel without it going down into the ear canal. Peel the clove and carefully cut the outer layer off the garlic clove so that you can see the juice. Place the clove in your ear for 15 to 20 minutes so that this juice gets absorbed by your body. (For young children you can learn how to make garlic drops with raw garlic and olive oil. There are many tutorials online.)
If you know that garlic does not upset your stomach, you can take this to the next level, especially if you have a really sore throat. You can mince about ¼ teaspoon of raw garlic onto a spoon. Put into your mouth and hold it there as long as you can so the garlic juice travels down to your throat. Then swallow to get additional benefits.
Hypochlorous Acid for Nose and Mouth – I have written about hypochlorous acid (HOCl) several times the last few years. It is a great gentle option to clear microbes, including mold, from the nose and mouth. It is typically recommended for external use on the skin but if sprayed up the nose, in the mouth, or on the face with your eyes open it can help clear the mucus membranes. BrioTech is a good brand; you can learn more here.
Welcome Fevers for Healing
Fevers are good! We have been programmed to believe the opposite. In reality, your body naturally creates a fever to kill off microbes like bacteria and viruses. I like to think of it as your body burning off the bad guys. It is your immune system doing its job.
So, rather than immediately trying to suppress a fever with an over-the-counter medicine, it is best to let it run its course whenever possible. (Also know that many OTC meds, especially Tylenol, are hard on the liver.) Be sure you are getting plenty of liquids into the body (ie: hot tea, purified water, coconut water) and get as much sleep as possible.
Apple Cider Vinegar for Fevers – If you start getting nervous that the fever is getting too high you can rub a little apple cider vinegar on the bottom of your feet. This will slightly reduce the fever. But, again, you don’t want to do this too often as you want the fever to do its work. The more you can let a fever runs its course, the faster your body can work through an illness like the common cold or flu.
Wet Socks for Fevers – There is another old remedy to help the body process a fever faster that involves wet socks. Get two wash cloths and a pair of socks, preferably ones that are a little large. Wool socks work best. Soak the washcloths in hot water (you can even add lemon as explained here). Once safe to the touch, wrap one wash cloth around each foot and bottom of legs, cover with socks and go to bed. This will help draw the fever down and out of the body. It is very effective!
Hot Bath for Fevers – Personally, I like to take a hot bath to support my body and help the fever move through faster. I currently use the detox bath described above. Years ago, I often used a “lemon bath” as I explain here. I always feel better afterwards.
Supplements to Assist
In this section, I will direct you to some of my previous articles about supplements. However, I wanted to point out that the three supplements I would invest in first: Thieves essential oil, colloidal silver, and a binder like chlorella. The first two have antimicrobial properties and can be used multiple ways. A binder comes in handy when exposed to toxins, even those spread through the air.
Thieves Oil – Thieves essential oil can be found under multiple names. (One company trademarked the use of “thieves.”) To be considered “thieves oil” it needs to consist of these five main ingredients: clove, cinnamon, lemon, eucalyptus, and rosemary. Make sure it is organic or wild crafted as essential oils are potent and get directly absorbed into the body.
You can use thieves essential oil as soon as you feel under the weather by rubbing a drop or two on the bottom of your feet and putting on white socks, preferably cotton or wool. (I like white because the oil can potentially leach some of the dye off of the socks.) You can even do this after taking one of the baths mentioned above before bundling up in bed.
Colloidal Silver – In my family, we keep a good quality colloidal silver on hand as our “heavy hitter” when other remedies don’t seem to do the work. The best thing about colloidal silver is the many different ways it can be used: internally to help knock out an illness or food poisoning, topically to clean an open wound, on the eye with a cotton swab to help eye infections, etc. (You can find the professional grade Argentyn 23 brand in my Wellevate dispensary.)
Chlorella and Other Binders – The more toxins we get exposed to, the more our immune system gets knocked down. That is why I like the detox bath (as described above) so much. It helps your body to stay ahead of the game, especially if you take one weekly or bi-monthly. We get toxins from the chemicals we are exposed to daily in the cleaning products and body products we use, the water we drink, the foods we eat, and the air we breathe. Additional chemicals are in the air from forest fires, train derailments, processing plant fires, etc.
Binders like charcoal, zeolite, fulvic acid, and pectin help “mop up” these chemicals and heavy metals. Each of these binders has pros and cons and some are better for specific toxins. You do need to be careful using some binders long term, though, because they can also absorb nutrients from your body. That is why my favorite general binder is chlorella. It binds the bad stuff but also provides nutrients like iodine which is great for your immune system, especially your thyroid.
Other Helpful Supplements and Foods – To learn what other supplements and foods to have on hand, refer to the links below as my Fullscript dispensary (it’s free to join) where I include my favorite products and various protocols for more support.
- Natural Medicine Cabinet – This article discusses basic immune building supplements that you may want to keep in your medicine cabinet. Being prepared prior to getting sick is half the battle.
- Herbal Teas – This article is about tea. There are many teas that can be medicinal like rose hips for Vitamin C, elderberry and echinacea for general immune building, ginger or chamomile for stomach aches, dandelion and milk thistle for liver support, and stinging nettle for bladder support. Thyme or oregano are two teas that really help when you feel like you are starting to get sick.
- Healthy Gut = Stronger Immune System – When working on your immune system, don’t forget about the gut since many of your immune cells are located in the digestive system. Probiotics, prebiotics, and other gut healing strategies are explained here.
- How to Select Quality Supplements – Not all supplements are created equal. Quality matters. Quality products are usually more potent. But more important, quality supplements don’t have a lot of fillers and excipients as explained in more detail here.
It pays to be prepared. You want to have the knowledge and the products on hand for when an illness occurs. More importantly, you want to keep your immune system strong so that you avoid getting sick in the first place.
For more immune system support ideas, use the search feature on my website and type in “immune system.” If you continue to not feel well, be sure to consult a healthcare practitioner.
