'Tis the season: the season for joy, celebration, family, friends, lights, gifts, and yes—challenges to our health. While the holiday season is rich in activities, the hustle and bustle can leave the immune system compromised.
The most effective way to protect your immune system this season is to slow down and schedule sufficient time for self-care and rest.
Prioritize downtime as an essential counterbalance to festivities.
Here are six more immune-boosting tips to help you stay happy and healthy this season.
1. Take an Epsom Salt Bath with Thieves Oil
Taking a bath with epsom salt will calm your nervous system and support your body's ability to repair itself. Thieves oil is a blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary essential oils. These oils help to clean and purify. You'll gain the synergetic benefits of rest and protection all at once.
For Your Bath: Add 1 cup of Epsom salt and 8 drops of Thieves oil to a hot bath and soak for 10–20 minutes.
For Busier Days:
- When a bath isn't an option, add 8 drops of Thieves oil to 2 ounces of water and pour into a small glass spray bottle. This blend serves as a purifying mist.
- Spritz the blend into the air, onto shared devices, door knobs, and any other area that could use an organic sanitizer. The blend not only supports health, it also smells amazing.
2. Take Immune Strong Tablets
Banyan's immune system supplement is specially formulated with organic herbs known to strengthen and support the body's naturals defenses. Some of these immune-boosting herbs include turmeric, tulsi, kalmegh, ashwagandha, and licorice.
How to Take:
- For daily maintenance, take 1–2 Immune Strong tablets once or twice each day. For acute support, take 3 tablets, twice daily, or as directed by your health practitioner.
- Banyan also offers an Immune Strong Immune Strong liquid extract, which is perfect for an active lifestyle.
3. Take Tulsi and Ginger
Also known as "holy basil," tulsi is a sacred plant from India, believed to be so beneficial and purifying for its surroundings that it is often kept in houses and courtyards to support health and good fortune.
Highly sattvic, tulsi has excellent benefits for the heart, mind, and lungs, clearing kapha from the upper respiratory tract and promoting clear, comfortable breathing.
When combined with the warming and kapha reducing qualities of ginger, the synergistic effects of these potent herbs provide a boost to the immune system. Blending ginger and tulsi is popular in Ayurvedic herbalism, and you have options on how you can incorporate it into your day.
How to Take:
- Try 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon of the loose powders of each with warm water for a nourishing Ayurvedic tea.
- You can also try Tulsi Echinacea tea, which combines tulsi and ginger with other immune-boosting herbs.
- Bronchial Support herbal syrup and Throat Soother spray also blend tulsi, ginger, and other herbs renowned for supporting a healthy immune system. Both of these blends help with maintaining health and offering added comfort when you when you need it most.
4. Mix Honey with Crushed Garlic
This duo is surprisingly tasty. Garlic is commonly used in Ayurveda to boost the immune system, and raw honey is known to be abundant in natural vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Crushing the garlic makes the enzymes more available, and blending the two food-based medicines together increases the efficacy of both.
How to Take: Mix ½ teaspoon honey with ½ teaspoon crushed garlic. Take this garlic-honey blend three times daily to support your immune system when it is starting to feel taxed.
5. Get Your Antioxidants with Amla
Amla, also called amalaki and Indian gooseberry, is a tree indigenous to India. The fruits are well loved in Ayurvedic herbalism, and it is famed for its punch of natural antioxidants and vitamin C. Considered a balancing rejuvenative and a superfood, it is known to support natural cleansing and the removal of toxins from the body and promote health.
How to Take: Two tablets of amla daily will help boost your immune system.
6. Take Chyavanprash
Speaking of amla, it acts as one of the lead ingredients in Chyavanprash, a famous, time-tested Ayurvedic rasayana.
Chyavanprash combines amla with cardamom, ashwgandha, haritaki, and other powerful Ayurvedic herbs. Its base of jaggery (organic cane sugar) and honey act as anupans, or carriers for the herbs, bringing them deeper into the to the necessary tissue layers.
Based on a traditional Ayurvedic herbal jam recipe, this tasty treat empowers the body's natural defenses, promoting metabolism, strength, and energy.
How to Take: Enjoy 1–2 teaspoons daily. Chyavanprash also has great versatility. Spread it on toast, add it to hot water for a tea, or enjoy right out of the jar!
Enjoy this season. Be of good cheer, embrace love, and remember to take care of yourself. Happy Holidays!
