Home remedies for flu & boost immunity -Tips that actually work

I have been trying to get this post up for the past 4 weeks literally! But things kept getting in the way. 

Anyway, a few weeks back I got one of the worst flu's and it took me two weeks to try and get better. The first few days were fever, severe headaches, congestion and sore throat. I had a very hard time to get out of bed and get things done. By the time I made it out of bed, things were piling up in work and I had to prioritize. Now I forced myself to put everything aside and just get going with this post. 
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Here to share with you some of the tips that actually do work with me to recover from flu and boost my immunity. 
𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬. ​

#1 Gargle 
Yes you heard right. Why? Well, to moisten sore throat & bring temporary relief. You can do it 4 times a day with half a teaspoon of salt dissolved in cup of warm water. 
If you have tickle in your throat (very annoying tickle) try an astringent gargle (which is to tighten the membranes)  by the aid of tea 
or prepare a thicker viscous gargle made of honey only or honey + apple cider vinegar.

Some people prefer gargling with lemon juice in two cups of hot water mixed with honey but honestly I prefer to drink it better. 
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#2 Eat infection fighting food
To help with the battle here are some ideas to include in your diet:
• Blueberries: they help limit diarrhea if any, also high in natural aspirin which helps 
lower fevers and helps with aches and pains. 
•Carrots which contain beta-carotene. They can be cooked which is absorbed better than raw and they help boost immunity!
•Chili peppers may help open sinuses. (For me that's a no no, I can't tolerate them and they abrupt my stomach)

•Bananas and rice to soothe an upset stomach which is the case most of the time. 
•Tomatoes which are highly concentrated in vitamin C. This helps fuel the body's immune system.
•Dark chocolate. (I don't favor it over milk chocolate but I did google it and chocolate does help combat flu) but specially dark chocolate contains heavy concentrations of theobromine which is an antioxidant that helps with coughing.
•Eggs, I was always told eggs and fish make flu worse but apparently not. They are packed with immunity boosting nutrients and contain high amount of vitamin D that strengths immunity. ​

#3 Take probiotics 
If you don't know what probiotics are: they are beneficial bacteria that keep your gut healthy and strong. Therefore boosting your immune system. If you get in contact with someone ill, start taking them to help yourself before getting the flu. 
Where to find probiotics?
You can find them in yogurt, pickles and greek yogurt. 

#4 Honey is your bestfriend
Trust me on this, honey works miracles! (as well as the last tip) 
Honey has antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. You can drink it with tea, dissolve it in a half cup of water or just take 3 spoons of it more than twice a day. 
It helps you sleep better, soothe the sore throat as it coats the throat, effective cough suppressant and reduces cold symptoms. 
However, take care children under 1 year old can never take it as it often contains botlinium spores. 
Tip: Make sure you have real honey at home not just sugar packed up in jars. 
Here's how check out this post by Yasmin khan

​#5 Dried fruits 
Good sources of protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. I usually go for whatever I find at home but preferably raisins and dried apricots. These micronutrients are needed for maintaining and improving immunity.

#6 Get enough sleep
This goes without saying but if you don't follow this one, you force yourself. 
This is to maintain satisfactory levels of immunity and help you battle the flu. 
Sleep depreviation have deep impact on immunity system and I usually find myself getting ill whenever I neglect taking care of my health and quality of sleep. 

#7 Wash your hands 
You should constantly do that in your normal life and to avoid getting ill in the first place, however when you are already sick then avoid touching your face specially eyes with hands full of germs and as we tend to get touchy without noticing then make sure to wash your hands well with antibacterial soap. This is also to avoid passing on any viruses to your eyes which might lead to a condition called "Pinky eye"

#8 Shed the extra pounds
​Yes, being overweight does have its impact on our immune system and by an impact I'm talking about decrease the level of its functioning. This is backed up by researches that showed that overweight people have less active immunity system when compared to others. So you can combat flu and boost your immunity by lose the extra kilograms that might actually make a difference along with balanced diet of course. (Made huge difference for me!)
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​#9 Ginger (The hero tip)
The best remedy for cold and cough! One of the best immunity boosters out there!
This one is a must try!

It helps you sweat out the toxins in your body, helps with fever, headaches and combats cold really well! I highly recommend using ginger roots, slicing them up and adding them to your tea or making an infusion with them, add some honey and warm water. 
I don't recommend it in powder form, it irritates the throat and many hate the texture. 
I use two to three slices of ginger and add cinnamon sticks to a pot of boiling water for 10 mins then filter it, add honey to sweeten it and for its healing properties and drink that at least once a day. 
𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐥𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐥, 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝-𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥.
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#10 Listen to your body
Your body knows best, listen to it. By ignoring the signs you will risk ending up being more sick and if you ignored it because you just don't want to stay at home lying in bed doing nothing then you are pushing yourself to the edge where you will definitely end up with that. Do i make any sense?
Before this last flu, I got signals the day before that my throat was about to be sore and I felt my body aching. Yet I ignored the signs, went to work, pushed myself that day with more work done than average days and ended up staying in bed for the next couple of days because of my stubbornness. Who doesn't tell himself oh of course that's nothing!

So moral of the day: Stay aware to those signals and listen to them. Don't ignore them. You should be grateful that your body is trying to give you signals and help you prepare yourself. 
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​I know this post has been a looong one! But you did make it to the end and I really hope those tips work for you as they do for me so let me know your thoughts in comments below or find me on IG @lameesshousha and tell me what you think! 

What works best for you when you are trying to combat the flu or boost your immunity?