Wellness Tips

Hygiene Tips: 

1. Keep your hands clean, and keep your distance from sick people. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
2. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
3. If you feel like you’ve come into contact with a virus or sickness take the supplements/herbs below, engage in the lifestyle/dietary recommendations, and wash the clothes that you think might have been exposed.
4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe, this is especially true for metal surfaces where some viruses can live for 12 hours.
5. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
   1. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.
   2. The most common way of getting infected is by touching things in public, so you must wash your hands frequently.
6. Clean vents and furnaces

Recommendations for Viruses and Flu:

• Stay warm— The influenza virus likes being around 95 degrees, which is why it flourishes in the airways where the body’s temperature is cooler.  Warm drink and blankets help.
• Stay at home and rest!
• Avoid exercise— the deep breathing of exercise can cause the pathogen to drive deeper into the bronchi and lungs.

Take as recommended on the bottle. I recommend taking them in lower doses as prevention and increase the dosage when you get sick.

All of these are available through Wellevate, the professional quality online supplement store. Order supplements here.

• Elderberry Syrup by Wise Woman Herbals: Promotes normal healthy immune system function and is anti-viral.
• Liposomal Vitamin C by Designs for Health: Powerful protector of the immune system. IV Vitamin C is being researched regarding the coronavirus. Click here to read about these research studies. However, the next best thing to IV Vit. C is Liposomal Vitamin C, a premier absorbable form. If you can’t get the liposomal kind then I recommend taking as high of a dose as possible of regular Vitamin C without getting loose bowel movements. (If you start getting loose bowels decrease by 1000 mg).
• Silvercillin Spray by Designs for Health: Silvercillin™: This is a highly effective antimicrobial preparation (which includes anti-viral properties) and is composed of pure silver complexed with purified water.
• Monolaurin-Avail by Designs for Health: This is a highly effective anti-viral that comes from coconut. I have used it very successfully in many anti-viral protocols.
• Olive Leaf Extract by Designs for Health: This herb contains significant quantities of phenolic compounds, such as oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol that have been shown to have antimicrobial properties, antioxidant power. It has the ability to support killing off many pathogens including viruses.

• Vitamin D Synergy by Designs for Health: Vitamins D and K are essential for maintaining the immune system in proper balance.
• Zinc by Pure Encapsulations: This mineral supports immune system function.
• Therbiotic Complete by Klaire Labs: Excellent, clinically proven probiotic blend, free from common allergens.
• Omega-3 Fish oil by Nordic Naturals: Also helps maintain healthy immune function.
• Licorice Extract: Anti-viral, and delicious and soothing for the lungs.

*Note: These recommendations are for educational purposes only. I do not recommend these supplements and herbs for everyone, especially if you have an auto-immune condition or are on medications that might be contraindicated! Therefore, please use caution in deciding which supplements and herbs are best for you. To determine what you need specifically please see your healthcare provider.

Lifestyle and Dietary Recommendations:

• Increase foods and spices that are anti-viral and/or help increase your immune system: Such as raw garlic, oregano, ginger, coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, medicinal mushrooms (shiitake, maitake, reishi, cordyceps, turkey tail), fermented food (see below), walnuts, pomegranate, and green tea.
• Stay Warm
• Eat a rainbow of colorful fruits and vegetables. Bright colored fruits and vegetables are full of antioxidants which help decrease free radicals. When our free radical amount is low it helps keep our immune system strong. (
• Stay well-hydrated. Water, coconut water, herbal teas, and bone broth. Soda and sugary drinks (including juice) can decrease your immune system. If in doubt regarding how much water to drink divide your body weight (in pounds) in half and drink that number in ounces.
• Drink your bone broth! Bone broth has amazing immune-supporting properties. Fortunately, you can buy bone broth these days if you don’t have time to make it.

• Eat fermented foods. Probiotics and fermented foods increase our immune system. Through research, it was found that fermented Korean cabbage (kimchi) had significant effects in preventing and fighting the H1N1 influenza virus. Other examples of fermented foods include sauerkraut, pickles, miso, kefir, and kombucha.
• Avoid simple sugars and processed/junk food.  Sugar actually decreases our immune system…yes really! “…Lab evidence (has shown) a lowered immune system within 30 minutes of eating simple sugars (like glucose, refined sugar, and fructose), and (it) causes a 50% reduction in your white blood cells abilities to kill germs? White blood cells are our “army” cells that fight off germs. This effect is most noticeable 2 hours after ingestion, but is still present 5 hours later! Keeping blood sugar levels healthy has been shown to improve immune system activity”, states Dr. Elisa Song.
• Get fresh air and moderate daily exercise. Moderate exercise boosts your immune system. But, be aware of intense exercise it can actually temporarily decrease immune function.
• Get adequate sleep. Getting enough sleep actually increases your immune system. I have found that good sleep is as good as or better than supplements because it activates your parasympathetic nervous system and boosts your immunity. So, don’t skip on your sleep. If your sleep is sparse then it can increase inflammation in your body which can make you more susceptible to the flu or a cold.

• Minimize stress. Emotional stress negatively impacts our body and creates physiological stress; which then lowers our immune defenses and makes us more vulnerable to illness. Long-term stress has been shown to lower our white blood cells’ abilities to kill germs, and actually creates more inflammation that may make us feel even sicker. 
• Minimize drugs: Many drugs stress our system in general and the immune system specifically. So, stop (or decrease as much as possible) caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and any other unnecessary drugs. I personally have found that drinking that cup of coffee or glass of wine can sometimes be the determining factor of getting sick or not.
• Engage in Spiritual Practice: Engaging in practices such as meditation, prayer, or yoga drastically helps decrease our stress hormones and helps us achieve optimal balance in our immune system. Spend 20+ minutes per day engaging in stress-reducing and spiritually aligning practices.

Other Recommendations to Help Increase Immunity and Decrease a Fever:

Hot/Cold Shower:

Take a very hot shower and once you are warmed through and through turn it as cold as you can handle it. Go back and forth several times, but always end with cold. Then wrap yourself up with lots of blankets and go to sleep or rest. This will help increase your immune system and if you have a fever will help you to break a sweat and decrease the fever. However, if your immune system is very weak or if you have autoimmunity I do not recommend doing this because it could tip you into a healing crisis.

Cold Wet Sock Treatment:

This is also great to increase the immune system and decrease a fever.

Get a pair of cotton socks and wool socks.

Wet the cotton socks thoroughly and wring out, so that they are not soaking but still wet. Put them in the refrigerator for 5 minutes.

Put the wet cotton socks on and then immediately put on the wool socks over them.

Sleep with both on throughout the night. This treatment tricks the immune system and increases it exponentially. Often people will break a sweat in the middle of the night and the fever will decrease. In the morning the cotton socks will be dry and…more than likely your fever will be gone and you will be feeling better.

Even more details about this amazing healing method are in my Blog section of my site.

Fire Cider 

This comes directly from the Herbalist Agatha Noevelle:

“There are several humble kitchen herbs and spices that are underrated when it comes to daily wellness. Fire cider, first made popular by herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, has become legendary in the home herbalism world, and for good reason! It’s accessible, easy to make, and can be adapted based on what you have available. The point of fire cider is to include pungent, spicy herbs to help boost your immune system. The Herbal Academy has an article about fire cider with more background and a recipe to get you started.

There are as many recipes as there are herbalists, but good candidates include garlic, ginger, horseradish, cayenne, and onions. Some people like adding citrus or elderberries or use a variety of hot peppers. I’ve also seen versions with rosemary, thyme, and sage.

The ingredients of choice are steeped in apple cider vinegar, then strained and honey is added to the finished vinegar. My fire cider usually includes garlic, cayenne, oranges, cranberries, ginger, and turmeric”.

Here is an amazing book to read more about Herbal Antivirals: Natural Remedies for Emerging and Resistant Viral Infections by Stephen Harrod Buhner.