Immune system support with food

Anonymous

Dear all,

I've had a cold I can't shake--mostly deep bronchial cough and runny nose...going on 3rd week now. I get colds like NEVER, so this has me worried. At times I'm terrified my immune system is letting me down and that it's allowing the baddies to regroup, if you know what I mean. Why won't this virus go away? Why did I get it in the first place?

I need some advice on specific foods to strengthen immune system. I'm already taking astragalus granules 3x a week in water along with citrus pectin. I eat about 90% vegan, organic. I take 2200 mg of Vit C a day, with multi-vite. Biotin, drink green tea in the mornings, blueberries in my smoothie at least 3 x a week. I eat a lot of citrus (no grapefruit because of meds).

I think I'm getting enough sleep, but feel fatigued at times, although I'm still able to work, work out, bikram, spin etc.

I need some reassurance and a bit of advice. Thanks in advance

C

lightandwind

claireinaz- I take "My community" mushrooms. I think it is really good for boosting my immune system. I can feel it's support. It has all kinds of mushrooms- chaga, reishi, lions mane and several others. It also has turkey tail, which studies show it has efficacy in fighting breast cancer. You can go to pub med and type "trametes versicolor breast cancer " into the search box and read.

http://www.bastyr.edu/news/general-news/2012/11/fd...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEV50NEk77s

geewhiz

And add a shot of colloidal silver to the mix. You can buy some called Sovereign Silver at most health food stores, Whole Foods etc. Kills just about everything lol,

Manu14

One of my adult children is vegan and swears that by eating 2-3 freshly crushed raw garlic cloves a day there have been no colds for years. You can find lots of articles about garlic and the immune system. I'm sold on the concept, but find it hard to make myself eat the raw garlic

Moderators

Hi Claire!

In addition to the advice above, you might find the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Eating When You Have a Weakened Immune System helpful for tips of foods to eat to increase immunity, as well as foods to avoid that could be dangerous to your health.

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

leggo

I agree with Manu. Raw garlic. I love it raw so it's easy for me to get down. I enjoy popcorn with raw crushed garlic and Tabasco as a snack. At least three times a week, I also eat crushed garlic with orange marmalade on toast. Sounds gross, but not as unpleasant as you might think. Just in case food isn't cutting it for me, I also take Vitamin C, Zinc and Echinacea.

sandilee

I had a bought with a similar sounding illness last fall, and when it went into my chest and wouldn't leave- about three weeks in- I made an appointment with a GP and he prescribed an antibiotic. I was starting to feel really fatigued, much more than I get with a cold. I think it had turned into a bacterial infection and went into my lungs because the antibiotic (Zpac) knocked it out in about three days. You may not be there yet, but don't hesitate to check it out with your doc, as they can often tell if it's still in the viral stages or has moved into something harder to self-treat.

Interestingly, at my next CT scan a few weeks later, they found a new little "something" in my lung and it had me scared to death. My onc said not to worry, that it was probably scar tissue from my chest infection. The follow up scan three months later was clear, so I'm assuming he was right.

I hope you're feeling better soon!

Anonymous

Thanks ladies. I'm halfway there (checking in with my GP). I don't think I can do raw garlic. But the shrooms are definitely on my "to buy" list!

pipers_dream

Claire, I agree with Sandilee in that it could have turned into an infection. I have not had to go to the doc for a sinus infection for years bc I always put a drop of oil of oregano in my neti pot when I feel like it might be going that way. Yow it burns like fire when it hits the nasal passages but it's instant relief. If you're too blocked to neti you can eat a spoonful of horseradish first, or lay hot moist towels on your face to get things moving.

formydaughter

My Indian MIL swears by tumeric and ginger. She says that the regular Indian food diet kept her kids from ever catching a cold as children. There's lots of garlic in there too.

I'm taking Turkey Tail mushrooms, which are supposed to be for immune system boost and specifically for anti breast cancer. NIH did a study on them for anti BC. Paul Stamets is a trusted source for US farmed organic variety. They are not cheap. I find them at my natural foods grocery. Cound be a placebo effect re BC, but I'm up for any help I can get at this point. Paul has a TED talk up about his findings with NIH and a university in OR. I'm prone to winter respiratory ailments and they are flying around me with having a school kid. This year (knock on wood), I've been free from all of them.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous

Thanks ladies! I can't do the neti pot--absolutely have a phobia about water up or in my nose; just thinking about it freaks me out. And tumeric is contra-indicated with estrogen + cancer from what I've read, although I was taking it up until recently. Simply adding 1000 mg extra C to my 1200 emergen-c rx seemed to work, or it was a false conclusion and I just got better on my own at that time.

I did finally accept I needed to slow down and stop going to spin, bikram, the gym, and hiking. That was hard, since I thought I felt find to keep up with my regular activities, but after I cut back I began to feel better.

And I think I'm very nearly recovered. Thanks again!

proudtospin

my ENT swears by water up my nose~~but he has me using Simply Saline so maybe you might reconsider? it just cleans out the crud and is much easier to use than neti pots .....I have used everything trust me!

when I was doing rads, I swore by big pots of Caldo Verdi....kale and potato soup and ate it every night during that time.  Course I made it to the end of rads, and collasped~~~

Anonymous

Well, the congestion wasn't so much of a problem. I take alka selzer cold plus for that. It was the worry that for some reason I wasn't recovering like I thought I should, and so I wanted to boost my immune system. I'll probably go to virus hell for saying this now, but I don't get colds--like maybe 1 every 5 years and never one that took me down like this one--and haven't had a full-blown case of flu since my daughter was 3 (she'll be 33) this year.

I always believed my immune system was super-strong and I was worried something more serious was taking it down and not allowing me to recover quickly, which I always do. I'm a quick healer, and this was...just worrisome. You know.

Right now I'm fine, so thank you all. And I still have a phobia about putting anything up my nose ! Weird for a former river guide, right? I figure that phobia made me a very safe river guide since the last thing I ever wanted to do was swim underwater..... ha ha