Well the eating colourful food thing is going well so far. The other day I ate a whole packet of Peanut M and M's. (!) Haha. Ok, I am eating more healthy food, honestly, as well as cake. Hey ho.
Seriously though, now we're getting into the swing of Autumn, my thoughts are turning to keeping the family well through the season of snuffles and colds.
We were super lucky last year and sailed through winter with barely a sneeze between us all, but this year? Fingers crossed! What will we going to be doing to get armoured up against various lurgys? What are our fave things to keep yuck at bay?
We are big fans of...
Floradix
We get the kids version for them and the adult version for ourselves. The adult version is an acquired taste but I personally really love it. The kids love theirs. And there's no hidden sweeteners or junk, but it ain't cheap.
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Home-made Soups
One of my favourite things about Autumn is that I am a total soup junkie! There isn't really any kind I don't like and I love that you can make them out of all sorts of super healthy veg and leftover meaty bits and bobs. It's one of the few ways to get garlic and onions into my lot and since my soups often end up pureed, they don't whinge about yucky garlic (Sneaky!) Loads of garlic is key to winter health.
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Dirt
If you want to be healthy I think contact with real live dirt is a must. This is the reason I tell myself that it is ok that our fridge is not spotlessly clean inside, and we have some dust and dirt around the fringes of things. I am pretty suspicious of anti-bac and keep this kind of stuff to an absolute minimum (Some hand gel for caught-out-with-pooey-bum incidents) but avoid regular chemically cleaners for our kitchen work surfaces, floors and toilets. I recently bought some bleach (first time in a year) for the loos as they had gotten really rank but otherwise we generally use Ecover or Co-ops own brand or white vinegar. There's seriously way too many chemicals being sprayed all over the place in folks homes nowadays. This article talks about the dangers of an over-sanitized environment: http://www.naturalnews.com/027855_children_dirt.html
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Echinacea
Fab for preventing colds - Check out this article which says that it can reduce the chance of catching a cold by more than half!
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| Image : Gardeners' World. com |
and I even grew some this year and didn't get my act together to harvest them - they were the last flowers to have Bumble bees visiting and I didn't want to steal them from the bees. The truth is I haven't the faintest clue how to turn my herbs into actual, usable drugs that don't just turn to brown sludge. BUT... maybe James Wong can help.... (hint hint, Father Christmas ;-)
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Ginger
I have recently discovered the joy of stem ginger in syrup. Oh it is pure heaven! I've used it in cakes, smoothies and just eaten the odd bit on its own. I LOVE the stuff. Very good for circulation and staveing off colds.
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Smoothies
Finn is really the Smoothie-king in our household, and this winter I am going to make sure our fruitbowl is always well stocked so we can keep smoothie-ing all through autumn and winter.
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Early bed times
Ok, we are not fans of early bed-times in the Cleary household. BUT.... it is the best way to squeeze the most amount of much-needed Vitamin D possible from the days sunshine hours. So I'm going to try really hard to shift the children's bedtimes by 1/2 hour at least.
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Supahoney
Full blown Manuka honey costs an arm and a leg but this Queen of all honeys is the bomb for winter health. Supahoney is a 50/50 blend, half Manuka/half regular, so more affordable for everyday cooking etc... Propolis is also a must for wintery colds and flu.
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Amol
My mum always brings me some back from Poland. Spicy, spirit based herbal stuff you can drink, rub on yourself like tiger balm - this stuff is like gold!
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Excercise
It's a no brainer why this is good for you!
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Fresh air
Taking our dog (owning a dog is in itself good for your immune system) for a walk every day and getting a good daily dose of fresh air.
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Pro- biotics
Prevention is better than cure, and antibiotics destroy natural immunity when they are over-used....
and our bodies don't respond to them any more. Thankfully we haven't had to use them much but I'm mighty suspicious of their over-use. Here's why:
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And what about me and my man's health?
I think wine and sex are super good for your health so we'll have lots of that please, doctor!
;-)
Definitely agreeing with the 'living with dirt' stance. I'm also anti and over-sanitised home. The James Wong book looks interesting - I too would like to know how to use my herbs for more than just cooking!
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