Every winter people suffer needlessly with recurrent infections.

With the cold weather now in full force, there has never been a better time to fortify you body against nasty winter bugs.

If you work in an air conditioned office, amongst children, in hospitals, in shopping centres, airports or anywhere people conregate in large numbers, you are at risk of contracting viral and bacterial infections this winter.

Your risk of infection is greatly increased if you are under stress, sleep deprived, burning the candles at both ends, drinking too much or eating the wrong foods. These factors create the perfect environment to create a happy breeding ground for bugs to set up residence in your body while your defences are down.

Now for the GOOD NEWS…….

There are simply lifestyle measures that you can take to greatly enhance your immunity this winter.

1. Take every opportunity to get some sun. Even 10-20 mins a day can lower your stress levels and boost your Vit D, essential for healthy immunity.

2. Cold, dark nights in winter encourage us to ‘hybinate’. In other words when you come home from work, school, etc. take the opportunity to eat a nourishing meal, relax have a bath and get to bed by 10 pm at the latest. This is really crucial for maintaining strong immunity. Our body clocks are wired to ‘wind down’ when darkness falls. (Over summer longer days encourage us to stay up later.) Being in tune with your body can really keep you in good health. If you do need to attend some evenings out that’s okay, just so long as you balance it with regular nights at home.

3. Practice good hand hygiene. This means washing hands thoroughly whenever you can after doing groceries, come home from work, before preparing meals, after blowing your nose, etc. This simple measure can do wonders for decreasing your risk of infection.

4. Take some high quality nutrients/herbs to boost your immunity. This can be done both as a preventative as well as a curative measure.

5. Use plenty of garlic, onion, red/orange/yellow fruits and vege in your cooking for an added burst of nutrients. Garlic in particular is the ultimate anti-microbial. It is anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. It also does loads of other amazing things too!

6. If you have any health issues that are unresolved or weighing you down, make it priority to get them sorted out. Lingering health issues will only detract from your efforts to stay free of infections this winter. If you cant remember the last time you felt really well, it’s time you did. Even if you think your health concerns are completely unrelated, I can assure you that everything is connected in the body and this applies to mental health/emotional health issues as well. You’ll be amazed how correcting an issues in one part of the body can enhance your overall health and wellness.