Immune Support Recommendations for Autumn
School is starting, the Air is feeling Crisp…
Now is the time to start thinking about how to stay healthy & plan for when you inevitably come down with a cold or flu.
Here’s the tips to follow now.
Get Your Vitamin D Checked, right now.
Call your local naturopath, or your primary care physician or send them a message in MyChart to ask if you can get scheduled to check your Vitamin D.
Vitamin D levels below 40 make it harder for you body to fight off colds and flus.
The ideal range to shoot for is 40-60.
If you are below that, ask your doctor, naturopath or me how best to supplement.
If you are really low or have struggled to get into the ideal range with oral supplements of Vitamin D, you may consider doing injections. I know that Coastal Health offers Vitamin D injections, please let me know if other offices do, and I can add them to my referral list.
If you get sick frequently, especially this past year
Schedule 4 weekly acupuncture sessions at the beginning of the school year or fall to help build your immune system back up.
After feeling your pulse, I can tell you which systems are underperforming and leading to get sick easily.
Depending on your pulse, we may want to add in some home moxibustion treatment and herbal medicine to get your system back on track.
Revisit Your Diet
To prep for a strong immune system we need to eat plenty of whole foods. Make sure you are getting protein at each meal, plus ideally 1+ green foods at lunch and dinner.
Eat a couple servings of vegetables at lunch and dinner, besides your green veggies.
If you eat the rainbow of produce, plus adequate protein, you are going a long way to support your immune health.
If you like mushrooms, try to work them in daily as they have a good dose of selenium.
Keep These Supplements in your medicine cabinet
Preventative & For When You Get Sick
Zinc, 50-100mg.
When you get sick or exposed to getting sick (coworker coughing on you, feverish child snuggling you)-- start taking 100mg of Zinc daily and for 2 days until you feel better (or if taking it when exposed, take for 4-5 days to hopefully avoid getting sick).
Zinc at 100mg will make you feel sick if you take it on an empty stomach. A good way to avoid this is to take with a large meal, or take 50mg with breakfast and 50mg with dinner.
100mg is the dose that helps you get over illness faster, or avoid getting sick in the first place.
NAC (N-Acetyle Cysteine)
Take 300-600mg whenever you have a cold that causes strong phlegm production in nose or lungs. NAC is known for thinning phlegm so you can get it out of your system. It's great at addressing lung and sinus congestion naturally. Take 2-3x daily while sick.
Elderberry tincture or syrup
Elderberry helps fight against viruses. It's my go to to take with me while traveling on an airplane. On days that I fly, I take it every hour, and then 4x the day after flying. I also take it alongside zinc if I have a known exposure, roughly 4-6x a day.
For when you get sick
All of the following are available in the office.
Gan Mao Ling or Yin Qiao San: These are Chinese herbal formulas for colds and flus that start out with a fever, sore throat, and headache.
Gui Zhi Tang: This herbal formula is for cold and flus that start out with more chills than fever, feeling aching, and strong fatigue
Sang Ju Yin: This is for a cold that starts with a cough, more fever than chills.
Take the formula based on your symptoms or email me to ask which is the best fit.
If you have symptoms that are worse than described above, call or email the office to get an individualized formula made for you. We have MANY versions of formulas to address all the unpleasantness of colds, flus, and covid.
Get individualized recommendations at your next appointment.
Don't hesitate to ask for further support based on your individual needs.
Stay healthy, my friends.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Thompson, acupuncturist of Blue Heron