How to boost your immunity and stay strong.
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We are all feeling the end of summer now! The days are getting shorter and the weather is cooler. Little hints of winter sneaking in to the days and nights.
This is the time of year for us to get strong. It the season of metal in traditional Chinese culture and its the season of boosting ourselves in all cultures. The time to make sure we are ready for the colder months with a fully nourished body, fitness and good health. We want to look after ourselves and make sure we don’t have any illnesses to carry into the winter months when there are many pathogens about in the air.
One of the best ways to make sure we are strong and healthy as the seasons get colder is to ensure we are well nourished with good energy levels. This is done simply through diet and ensuring we get enough nutrient rich foods so that we are fully stoked up with the Agni, fire of digestion and life each day. We also can benefit from rest and ensuring that our energy levels are good. This is accomplished with good adrenal gland support using vitamin C in our diet. Vitamin C is one of my favourites and all through the cooler seasons its a great daily addition to your diet in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables containing this essential vitamin. It will help your adrenal glands recover and it will also act as an antioxidant keeping our cells strong and your body healthy.
There are many foods that will help boost your strength and immunity too. These are the antioxidant foods and the best immunity boosting diet is a diet that is primarily based on fresh local, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Please read my book THE MAGIC OF FOOD AS MEDICINE as your reference book to these beautiful immunity boosting options and how you can turn them into delicious recipes.
Yesterday I made a gorgeous decoction for one of our patients with andrographis. This herb is so versatile and its been used for thousands of years in both traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic Indian medicines. Its also a favourite across Europe and each country uses it in the same ways. Androgaphis is truely a kitchen pharmacy medicine that everyone can use at home. In fact I think it grows just about everywhere.
Andrographis is just great at this time of year , and me being me… well I want to share the info with you about this common plant…. it’s one that many people would call a weed….. and weeds are often the most potent medicines. Shifting subsistence agricultural communities have stayed healthy on this weed since we started walking this beautiful earth and many animals instinctively chew on andrograhis as part of their grassy and ground based green diet…. add it into your green drinks.
- Its bitter, known as the king of bitters and when you have bitter herbs, you get bitter blood. Bitter blood is a great way to flush viruses, poisons, infections, pathogens and unwanted foreigners straight out of your blood. Bitter blood is the blood that is the enemy of your enemies! If that sounds logical… Put another way… if you have bitter blood you don’t get sick! Parasites, viruses, poisons that enter are swiftly eliminated and removed… this is due to its bitter diterpenoid lactones which are the active constituent in many very effective bitter herbs that work so effectively.
- Cough relief, sinus relief, allergy relief.. Andrographis works its magic on these seasonal respiratory tract illnesses and removes mucous from the body easily.. it strips the mucous… thats always a plus when we come into cooler seasons. Just imagine your head cavity and lungs clear of congestion and toxic allergenic responses. Taking andrographis will help keep these pathways clear. It also swoops on any incoming pathogens through the respiratory tract and eliminates them.
- Andrographis is a hepatoprotective.. that means it protects your liver as toxins are moving through and keeps your liver cells safe and acts to help eliminate the poisons from the body effectively. There are loads of herbs that have this quality such as milk thistle. However the beautiful magic about andrographis at this time of the year is it boosts immunity and acts seasonally! So you are moving the viruses and seasonal allergens through the liver and eliminating them whilst protecting your liver.
- Just to top it off its an immunostimulant.. yes it boosts your immunity and boosts your body into making more immune cells… this is done through several processes and andrographis is sitting there in your blood waiting to help….
I just love these qualities.
Its the perfect herbs for this time of the year and its the perfect travellers herb too. So no matter what you are doing to boost your immunity and to build your strength for the coming winter months. Now is the perfect time to plant some andrographis in the garden and get ready… or better still. now is a great time to pick some andrographis from the garden and make our decoction.
Heres my recipe for andrographis decoction
This recipe is only good if you have fresh andrographis or dried leaf and stem. we are not using the roots in this recipe.
Simply take two large handfuls of leaf and stem, wash in fresh water then break apart with your hands.
Now put in a saucepan with 500mls of boiling hot water, 100ml of apple cider or coconut vinegar and 75ml of local honey. Add one teaspoon of sea salt.
Bring to boil and turn heat down to a simmer for 25 minutes.
This will have reduced the mixture to half original amount.
Allow to cool and then strain off and drink the liquid at 30ml per adult twice a day.
Keep reminding liquid in sealed bottle in fridge.
We have andrographis that is ethically and organically sourced in our herbal dispensary if you would like some of our extractions. We make the super medicinal aqua ethanol extraction of this herb and have it available for you as a straight herbal extraction or in our famous COUGH COLD AND FLU RELIEF which is pretty awesome at this time of the year. It contains andrographis, echinacea, thyme, nettle and liquorice root. Pretty well an all around beautiful tonic for the whole family. The very first sign of weakened immunity, coughs, colds and flus this is the best solution for a quick and easy prevention. Its also the tonic to take when you have a cough or cold or flu…
UP COMING EVENTS
more on these soon
Plant medicine Summit Dom interview on March 21st.
The Bali Spirit Festival April 2nd till 8th
The Byron Spirit Festival April 20th till 22nd
The planting Festival May 2nd till 4th.
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Blessings and have an awesome week.
Love and light Dominique Livkamal
MHlth public health/health promotion Bch Hlth Sc/ Complimentary medicine ND, Nutritionist, herbalist . Adv Dom Nat. Dip Journ. Kundalini yoga teacher, Zen Thai Shiatsu teacher, student of life and wellness advocate.