7 Natural Ways To Feel Better & Recover Quicker When You Get Sick
It happens to the best of us from time to time.
Stress catches up to us and we start to feel that old fashioned, under the weather feeling. Sometimes we can nip it before it really catches us, but sometimes it just does. As much as it sucks, getting sick is your body forcing you to take a time out to rest and recover.
That crippling fatigue? That is your body working tirelessly to get the sickness out. Take the time to rest as much as possible and eat nourishing foods, while your body fights the good fight.
Here are my 7 tips on how to feel better and recover quicker- naturally- when you get sick:
1. Aromatherapy
I keep essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus and lemon on hand for days when things feel stuffy. You can add a few drops into a diffuser if you have one or you can add a few drops to some boiling water over your stove, and take a few deep inhales of the fragrant steam. The peppermint is great for headaches and the blend of the eucalyptus, mint and lemon will help open your airways so you can breathe a bit easier.
DIY Simply Nourished Vapor Chest Rub Recipe:
Add 5-10 drops of each eucalyptus, peppermint & lemon oil to 1/4 cup of coconut oil (or castor oil, or a mix of both)
Store in a glass jar and rub on your chest to help soothe your lungs and open your airways
2. Drink water
Drink small sips of luke warm water with a pinch of sea salt (for added minerals and hydration) throughout the day. Keeping hydrated will help prevent adding any extra stress that dehydration causes and give your body one less thing to worry about while it's in fight mode.
3. Focus on nutrient dense food options
Opting for food that is rich in nutrition and easy to digest and easy to have in small servings through out the day (depending on your appetite)
Homemade soups (This bone broth makes an amazing base)
Smoothies
Tea (check out my Spicy Citrus Immunity Elixir, it's honestly so powerful)
4. Eliminate this from your diet:
Reducing foods that increase stress in the body will help save precious energy to focus on healing. The food items listed below are known to create stress on the system and also can thicken up your mucous, making you feel more congested than you already are.
Refined sugar (this includes all processed flours, breads, sodas)
Dairy
Fried stuff
Processed/ packaged foods
5. Boost these immunity vitamins:
Vitamin D is sooo immune supportive. Boost your vitamin D levels up significantly when you start to feel like you're getting sick and keep it up until you're in the clear. Shoot to be getting around 10,000IU a day! This is so key, especially if you're dealing with any sort of respiratory issues.
Same with Vitamin C, increasing your dose to 5 grams throughout the day, can help you ward off sickness if you catch it early enough or help you recover more quickly if you are already sick.
6. Try the wet sock treatment trick
This is actually so simple and works awesome because it gets your circulation moving and boosts your lymphatic system (and thus your immune power). It's great for releasing congestion and helping you move sickness out get better ASAP.
Here's what you need to do it:
Thin cotton socks
Thick wool socks
A fridge
A foot bath (or a bath tub)
A towel
Here's how to do it:
Soak a pair of cotton socks and place them in the fridge for while until they are nice and cold.
Before bed, soak your feet in hot water for 10 mins or so
Dry your feet and immediately get into bed (while your feet are still nice and warm)
Put on your cold socks
Put thick wool socks on top of them
Go to sleep
Wake up feeling fresh!
This can be repeated several days in a row until you feel better again.
For more info and more specific instruction on how to do this, check out this post on it.
7. Sleep
This might be the most important factor. Sleeping is when we heal and we repair. Do you ever notice that sickness tends to catch up on us when we have been lacking in the sleep department? There's nothing like a good (maybe sweaty) nights sleep to help get the sickness out and help you feel better the next day.
Sending you the healthiest vibes,
Danielle