That moment when the first kid throws up or you can feel their body temperature is elevated. It's a sinking feeling for every mother. Add that to having multiple kids (someone pukes and we are all sitting ducks) or a special event or travel is coming up...it's the worst.
Okay maybe there are worse things, but boy, as a mother in the thick of everyone going down, it definitely lowers morale. And please, God, don't let the mama go down or it just downright...sucks. I can't think of a nicer way to put it.
Am I the only one who has ever started pre-planning by checking to make sure others are healthy at the events we are attending? Or pre-stressing when we find out our kid sits next to the kid who puked in class?
I'm a mom of 5. We have gone an entire quarter of a year basically going nowhere because someone was always sick. It's exhausting and exasperating ESPECIALLY when you have more than one child in the house. It is nearly impossible to quarantine little ones and keep them from sharing germs. You try your hardest, but the second you turn your back, they somehow found the cup of the sick one.
I have been working VERY hard to find the right immunity protocol for our family. Our bodies are exposed to viruses and germs every day and the stronger we can make our immune systems, the better chance we have of fighting these off.
We have only taken oral antibiotics twice for two of our five children in 15 years. My oldest contracted pneumonia when she was in Kindergarten and that was one of the scarier moments I've had as a mother. Then my second child had a terrible ear infection with ruptured eardrum when she was 15 months. Other than that, our kids recover very quickly (fevers typically don't last more than 24 hours). For us, it's the 7 people in our household that we have to cycle through that makes the viruses feel eternal.
I hope I'm making it clear that my family absolutely does get sick sometimes. It's not a matter of IF. BUT, I've found that the years I am super on top of our immunity protocols, we fare much better than the years I get lazy with it. We have been going strong for the last 1.5 months of school and no one has been sick. That might not sound like a big deal, but for a family with 5 kids, it really is for us!
Without further ado, here is my immunity protocol!
1. Don't worry! Our minds have a tendency to go to the negative. Stress hormones can suppress your immune system. Worrying about who is sick, where and when, and constantly trying to mitigate virus exposure is just not where you need to put your energy. Instead, focus on doing everything you can to support yours and your family's immune systems. Thinking positive and healthy thoughts will actually be more helpful than trying to mitigate sickness and be a super detective or professional contact tracer.
2. Sugar is the enemy. Not only does sugar suppress your immune system, it literally feeds viruses and cancer. It's not just the extra treats, sugar is hiding in foods that are marketed as healthy. The American Pediatric Association says that children should have LESS than 25 grams of sugar each day--this includes sugar from any source. Fruit, natural sugars in milk and yogurt, fruit juice, ketchup, goldfish crackers...it doesn't matter if the sugar is marketed as "natural," your body still recognizes and processes it the same way.
For reference, in a strawberry yoplait yogurt, there is 18 grams of sugar. Yes, you read that right. If you eat that for breakfast, you have already consumed almost ALL of your allotted sugar for the day. Ketchup can have 5 grams of sugar in 1 tbsp. And BBQ sauce is around 16 grams in 1 tbsp! Cutting out sugar is an absolute necessity if you want to be healthy.
3. Hydration is a necessity. One of the easiest ways to keep your immune system resilient is to drink enough water each day. As the weather cools, herbal teas are also great (but again, be ware of adding lots of sugar, even honey in large amounts has a negative impact by raising blood sugar too high.)
4. Sleep is vital. During sleep, our immune system revs up, producing infection fighting proteins. Studies show that 7-9 hours of sleep (for adults) greatly reduces your likelihood of getting sick. I recently wrote a blog post about sleep and all of the protocols and supplements my family takes to help keep our sleep on track.
5. Don't suppress the fever. This might be controversial, but even doctors are saying it! In fact, check out this MYTH vs. FACT article about fevers from Seattle Children's hospital. Fevers are our bodies way of fighting off infection. When you suppress the fever, you are also suppressing the body's ability to fight the infection. You will find that the fever lasts a lot longer if you give fever reducing medication. My kids rarely have fevers for longer than 24 hours. My personal philosophy is, if they can handle it, we leave it. However, if they are miserable and I can't help them get comfortable with my natural remedies, I will give them something to help. I have only had one child that ever had a fever higher than 102. I'm not saying you should let them have a 108 fever, but if it's mild and they aren't complaining too much about the symptoms, maybe let it ride and see what happens? This is not medical advice and you can do the research to make the decision for your family.
6. Any old supplement will NOT do. This is tricky because while I do believe it is important to supplement, any vitamin C off the shelf will not do. You have to supplement with high quality and effective vitamins, because quite frankly, most of them are sugar-laden marketing gimmicks. Our family takes my Elderberry Syrup daily. We also take vitamin, c, d and zinc. I love Trace Minerals liquid immunity for those. I make a smoothie almost every day. We use raw plain kefir, berries, avocado, cauliflower or greens, chia seeds, high quality protein powders or collagen, an amazing pro-biotic like this. We also add the liquid immunity. I usually sweeten stevia or monk fruit. I LOVE smoothies because they are a great way to hide so many superfoods and vitamins. With the protein, probiotics, healthy fats and vitamins, it's one way to help support their immune systems as they head off to school.
7. Stick with the protocol. My immunity protocols are effective, BUT, sometimes people get discouraged when they don't work immediately and give up. That actually is right! They DO NOT work immediately, ESPECIALLY, if you wait to implement until you get sick. Home remedies have a "loading period" if you will. The protocols need time to build up in your system, it's not a medicinal override, but intended to support your body's natural immune responses. Consistency is key. We started our immunity protocols in August. We take our Elderberry syrup and put on our immune boost rollerball at night. Staying consistent is the key!
If you are just starting out and it's overwhelming, just pick one or two of these things that you think you can implement (cut sugar + drink water would be an awesome place to start!) and you'll be well on your way to a stronger immune system!
What immunity protocols would you add to this?
Be well my friends.
xoxo, Sara
"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well" (3 John 1:2).