My wish for you today is to at the very least know in your heart, that you are loved beyond measure. And while that may seem like a load of crap, please believe me when I say it isn’t. Each of us is special and unique and gifted in ways we will probably never fully realize. We are all important and we are all loved. Period.

Thank you for showing me love by reading and reaching out to say you like what Off Switch is all about.

I love you all for it.

x

Hi everyone! Dina is back today for part two of Winter Wellness. You can find part one, which focused on prevention, right here. If you have any questions or would like to share your own natural cold care remedies, please comment below! — Katie

In the event you do start to become ill, start these immediately:

Reduce or eliminate your dairy intake. Dairy adds to mucous buildup and provides your body with plenty of post-nasal drip ammunition.

Make a nasal weapon: to ¼ cup of warm distilled water, add one toe of garlic (pressed or crushed) and stir it up until mixed. Let this sit for ten minutes and strain out the garlic. Instill ONE drop into each nostril and let it go to work. Garlic has anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties, so it really does a great job at sterilizing your sinuses. Yes, your head may internally smell like a small Italian village, but the health benefits are worth it! One important note here – only use the concoction for six hours (you may repeat this every hour, if you like) and then toss the mixture as it will go bad.

Enjoy elderberries. Elderberry syrup is available in most health food stores and it also has anti-viral properties and may help shorten the life of a cold.  Take as directed on the box.

If your throat is involved and you feel you may be developing a cough, mix up a batch of love. Boil 20 ounces of water and add this to ½ of a fresh lemon, squeezed (leave the rind in the container), one cinnamon stick, a 2” chunk of fresh ginger (peeled and quartered), and 2 whole cloves. Let this cool just enough to sip and then drink liberally of it all day. This reduces inflammation of the airways and the throat, which may help reduce the leakage of phlegm into the lungs. It additionally soothes the throat and reduces irritation. Oh, and it tastes great!

Before bed, enjoy a tablespoon of fresh honey in a ½ cup of warm water to help reduce overnight coughing fits. If that does not do the trick, slather Vicks VapoRub on your neck and throat. Drape a towel loosely over this and breathe the fumes until you drift off.

An old wives tale suggests you can also cover the bottoms of your feet in Vicks and cover your feet in nice, soft socks to help rid your body of toxins overnight.

And one last note – as much as we all need to continue to function through this time of year regardless of whether we are ill, do your best to avoid all over-the-counter medications, especially when it comes to running a fever. First, “medicating yourself functional” may make you feel better or at least enough so to get through the day; however, doing so does not make you less contagious. Also, if your body is running a fever, it is doing so in order to burn out the virus, and if you choose to reduce that fever, the cold/flu/virus will hang around much longer and you may become susceptible to it again when it comes back around. If your fever tops 102, sit in a tepid bath with 1 cup of white vinegar added to it. This should reduce your fever by one degree.

Sleep, drink, eat well and if it all goes wrong, sleep more, drink more and well, sleep even more. Be well!

Dina Weiss is a certified holistic nutritional consultant and holistic health coach. If you are interested in consulting with Dina and learning more about her food and health philosophy feel free to contact her via email at dina.weiss69@gmail.com.

I asked my friend and nutritionist, Dina, to share some of her general suggestions for winter wellness. This is a two part post, the first being on preventative care. I hope you take away some helpful tips!  — Katie

It would seem that winter is officially upon us, and with that, comes the cold and flu season. And when it comes to staying well, the best defense is a good offense, and just to be clear, this can mean that staying well can take some effort and commitment. Here are a few tips to help get through the season.

First things first – take a deep breath. With the holidays come stress and stress can be the first way you break down your body’s defenses. Running around all day shopping and then heading out for revelry with friends night after night and weekend after weekend is most certainly appealing from a social perspective, but it can drain and dehydrate you in so many ways. Exposing your body to changing temps and climes (indoor to outdoor to indoor – coat on, coat off as if you were training for the Karate Kid auditions) can cause your body to lose moisture. Throw in a few dehydrating cocktails or cups of coffee and you may find yourself suddenly parched. This goes not only for your throat and your guts, but also for your mucous membranes, which need moisture to keep viruses at bay.  So while you are shopping, carry a large thermos or travel mug full of rich, warm herbal tea – something in a nice apple cinnamon or Thai spiced coconut (both herbal offerings of Celestial Seasonings are available at most grocery stores and neither contains a lick of caffeine). Try to reduce your caffeine intake through the winter months by half. Switch to decaf, enjoy some herbal tea as noted, or even indulge in a lovely mug of hot chocolate. Also, remember to drink water as well; heated with a slice of lemon, lime, orange or even grapefruit will help break up mucous in your throat and keep your breath feeling fresh as well.

If you plan to shop or party with large groups of people, feel free to use Airborne to help keep other folks’ germs at bay as well.

Keep your nasal passages healthy. This may seem odd, but there are actually a few things you can do here.  First, when trimming your nose hair, try to resist entering the nasal canal and stick to the exterior, only cutting back the hair that protrudes. This is one of your body’s chief defenses in keeping viruses out of your body. In addition, those hairs are simply not going to do you much good if they are crusty and stuck to the sides of your nasal canal. While this may seem nasty, it is true and you need to keep your nose moist and warm to prevent those crusties from forming. Use a neti pot. Add a tablespoon of good sea salt to 12 ounces of warmed distilled or spring water (never use tap water in your nose) and flush your sinuses once a day — use it in a nice warm shower for the best results. If you cannot bear to use a neti pot, use a saline-only nasal spray and mist your sinuses several times per day.

While focusing on your face, remember not to touch yours during this crucial time of the year. Your eyes in particular are a great window to the sinuses, and by simply sweeping a wandering eyelash out of your eye after getting your cash from the sneezing cashier at Justice For Girls, you might be setting yourself up for missing a few of those wonderful holiday parties. Washing with soap is the best idea, but hand sanitizer works in a pinch – just remember not to overdo it with the hand sanitizer.

Nutritionally, do your best. Eating sweets and treats is the theme of the season, so getting good nutrition in and around those treats is essential. Eat your veggies and lots of them. Steam them, roast them, ferment them if you have to, but eat your veggies and if you season them with fresh garlic, your immune system will love you. Also focus on foods rich in B vitamins and electrolytes, because with dehydration running rampant through the winter, it is far too easy to run short of these essential nutrients. Snack on nuts, hard-boiled eggs and raw food bars (a Larabar is a tasty option) while you are out and about.

Sometimes prevention simply does not work, however, so watch for Part 2 of Winter Wellness to learn what you can do in the event that you do get sick.

Dina Weiss is a certified holistic nutritional consultant and holistic health coach. If you are interested in consulting with Dina and learning more about her food and health philosophy feel free to contact her via email at dina.weiss69@gmail.com.