I want to talk about sickness that all is coming with the start of school and cold-weather coming. Everybody gets sick. It’s actually an amazing process of your body to get rid of junk. Our immune system is working really hard building itself up. 

There is no way to avoid it. If you do everything in your power to avoid it, your immune system actually starts to not work as good. It causes a negative circle of when you get around people or viruses, or you are out in public and you end up catching something right away every single time. That is why exposure in small amounts every day is really good for you. Everyone just gets so scared about sickness and avoiding it in reality you’re never going to avoid it. You most likely get sick at the “worst” time probably your busiest time because you’re also rundown due to stress and not eating the best. Your body gets run down and you get sick easier. It’s not just because you were around somebody that was sick. Its because your body is not working at its best to fight off the illness. You all know that one person that can be around a lot of people that are sick and will never catch it. Their immune system is working really well. 

What we need to shift our mindsets to remember to take care of your body first. That’s the one thing you can control. This helps your body to be at its best healing ability and to be able to fight off whatever comes in contact with. If your body is in a state of fight or flight/stressed out, eating a high inflammation diet, not getting enough sleep, your body will not be able to keep up causing you to catch everything that it comes in contact with. If your body is in a state of healing and an alkaline/healthy diet environment your body won’t catch everything that you’ve come in contact with and your immune system will be working at top notch!

What I want you to take away from anything I say in our newsletter is don’t be scared of sickness. Learn how to support your body all year long, extra support and take time to slow down to take care of your body while it is sick is key! Adjustments help you immune system work at its best while also helping your body bounce back when it is sick faster. 

Your Immune System:

First lets talk about the immune system and how it works when your body gets around a bacteria or virus. 

The immune system is the body’s defense against infections. The immune system attacks germs and helps keep us healthy. The nervous system is in complete control of the immune system. 

The major organs of the immune system = thymus, lymph system, spleen, bone marrow, tonsils and adenoids. 

A babies immune system is not mature at birth to the first year of life. Breastfeeding is the first start of helping your babies immune system develop. As kids constantly put objects in their mouth they are getting a constant exposure to antigens that works and strengthens the immune system. 

The immune system develops when in combat/sickness— colds, fevers, flu — is the method that the immune system uses to strengthen immunity. When we are sick there is a reason for all the coughing, extra runny noses, vomiting, fevers — it is the bodies way of getting toxins/sickness out. 

After we get sick – our immune system had a chance to grow stronger. When we try to interfere with the process with medicine or antibiotics (they are necessary sometimes) but this does not give the immune system time to get stronger. Symptoms are a sign the body is healing itself. By treating symptoms you are suppressing the bodies natural response and not letting the immune system kick in to do its job fully. 

What can we do when we are sick then??? We should look to boost the body function to speed up the healing process.

A properly functioning nervous system should be first priority in strengthening the immune system since it is the nervous system that sends signals to the specific organs associated with our immune system and fighting off sickness. 

Nerve dysfunction (from an area in the spine not working properly) is stressful to the body – lowering the immune response and lessens the overall capability of the immune system aka — constantly catching everything that you come in contact with, or having a cold for weeks or months. 

A balanced diet is a requirement for normal function of the human body. However, our diet in this environment may be limited in our inability to get the right food combination. The use of supplement has helped to bridge this gap. These supplements often contain micro-elements and vitamins, which help the immune system function.

What we are going to cover are some tips to help you easily add into your daily routine or when you start to get signs of being run down. 

1. Get adjusted regularly and increase frequency when you are sick. 
   • Organs involved in the immune system: Tonsils, adenoids, lymph nodes, lymphatic vessels, thymus gland, spleen, appendix, kidney, liver etc. 
   • Proper nervous system function with specific Neuro-Structural Chiropractic adjustments promote health. It gets these organs working at 100% to be able to fight off any viruses or bacteria that we may come in contact with. 
   • We are not saying you won’t catch anything because it will likely happen. We get sick for a reason. It’s usually our body telling us we need to slow down and take care of ourselves first by getting restful sleep, nutritious foods and the right supplements.

1. Supplements (see below for detailed list)
2. Elderberry Syrup
3. Essential Oils
4. Eat Clean 
   • Viruses and bacteria feed off of an acidic and sugar rich environment. Try to eat more alkaline foods to balance it out.
5. Get Extra Sleep
6. Homeopathy
7. Decrease Stress Levels
8. Increase Water Intake

Supplements to help support your body during flu season:

When I or my kids get sick these are the basic things I focus on every time. 

1. Multivitamin specific to your age and sex.
2. Omegas (Healthy Fats) 
   • Helps to decrease overall inflammation in the body. It promotes joint health and cellular health. We can get healthy fats from our diet but most of us need an extra amount than what we can get through our diet. 
3. Probiotics: improve the good bacteria in your gut. Gut health is so important to boost your immune system naturally. 70% of cells needed for a healthy immune system are in your gut! A supplement gives you the biggest variety of good bacteria in amounts that are almost impossible to get through just food alone. If you have the stomach flu – up your amount of probiotics to help your good bacteria fight it off.
   • Examples of food:
   • Kombucha, Sauerkraut, Yogurt (this is good for when you are feeling great but when you are congested decrease dairy in the diet.) Keifer (I have added this to smoothies.
4. Vitamin D3 with K2:
   • If you do not get much natural sunlight (aka live in MN with long winters) then a supplement is recommended. Vitamin D is a great vitamin for your body stay healthy during flu season. Vitamin D3 with K2 supplement is a form that is more readily available for the body to use more efficiently.
   • Increase dosage when you are feeling sickness start or when you are sick.
5. Vitamin C 
   • D-Hist for kids and adults.
   • This supplement has Vit. C, NAC, quercetin, Bromelain — all immune system support.) This is great to take as a maintenance supplement to help keep your body able to fight off whatever it is around or also up the dose when you catch a cold.
   • Basic Vitamin C supplement is also great. 
6. Zinc
   • Zinc supports the immune system and is known to reduce the severity and duration of common colds. 
7. Colloidal Silver

**Ask if you have any questions! I use an online program (FullScript) where I can set you up an account for you to be able to order professional grade supplements whenever you need them. Balanced Health Patients get 10% off all the time!

Recipes: 

Healthy Protein Filled Peanut Butter and Jelly Dip

Why do I always try to post new recipes? Your health is more than how you feel. If you are feeding your body a high inflammatory diet it will not be able to function at its best or help you be able to feel your best. Your weak areas in your spine will flair up more often and your adjustments will not last as long. 

My kids are going to love this one!!!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter (no sugar added)
• 1 tablespoon sweetener (honey)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla

BERRY SAUCE

• ½ cup frozen berries
• 1 tablespoon sweetener
• ** I might just use my homemade jelly in the fridge!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To make the whipped cottage cheese – Add the cottage cheese to a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Can also use a high speed blender.
2. Add peanut butter, sweetener and vanilla to mixture and blend until well combined. Spoon into 2 bowls and enjoy. Store leftovers in an airtight container.
3. To make the berry sauce – Add frozen berries to the food processor or high speed blender and blend until pureed. Add the sweetener and blend for a few seconds to combine.
4. NOTE you can also cook the berries down on the stove with the sweetener. Just ad berries to a small pan with the sweetener and a few tablespoons of water. Let them cook down to the consistency you like best. Let cool before adding to the cottage cheese.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Yogurt Treat

My Kids LOVE PB & J’s and yes we sing the peanut butter and jelly song while we make and eat them! 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbsp strawberry or raspberry jelly/jam

** I will probably just dump measuring takes too long and dirties too many dishes!  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Line a baking dish (approx 10inch x 10 inch) with parchment paper and pour in the yogurt. Smooth down evenly with a spoon.
2. Melt the peanut butter in a bowl or mug in the microwave for approx 15 seconds. Pour or spoon it onto the yogurt and use a knife to swirl it through.
3. Next melt the jelly/jam in the microwave for approx 8 seconds. Spoon that onto the yogurt and peanut butter and use a skewer to swirl it around.
4. Top with honey or frozen fruits – banana, blueberries and raspberries or strawberries sound good!
5. Place the dish in the freezer for at least 4 hours or until frozen solid. Remove and cut into 12 pieces.
6. The Frozen Yogurt Bark will keep in a freezer bag or container for up to 8 weeks.

I did make this for my kids. They love yogurt the way it is and it was too cold for Dyson. So we will continue to just make yogurt bowls fun! 

What I might do for myself which I enjoyed was cut up bananas to freeze with peanut butter on top for a nice snack at night. 

Maple Roasted Chicken With Sweet Potatoes And Apples

Ingredients

• 4 bone-in chicken thighs
• 1 onion – cut into wedges
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
• 1 apple, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme (I gotta be honest I really don’t like thyme – so I will be using another seasoning!) 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Heat a large, cast iron skillet over medium/high heat on the stovetop for a few minutes. 
3. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to the hot skillet and place chicken thighs, skin side down, for a few minutes to make the skin crispy. 
4. While the chicken is browning, dice sweet potatoes, onions, and apples.
5. Combine remaining one tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, and maple syrup.
   Toss the sweet potatoes, apples, and onions in the oil and maple syrup mixture.
6. Flip chicken thighs skin side up and arrange sweet potatoes, apples, and onions around the chicken in the cast iron skillet.
7. Sprinkle the thyme over top.
8. Bake for one hour, or until chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Potatoes and apples should be fork tender.
   Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.