Flu and cold season. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has endured the chaos that comes with having multiple children sick simultaneously. And let me tell you: there’s very little I wouldn’t give to avoid living that reality again! (And all the mothers said: Here here!)
So let’s get straight to the good news: sickness does not have to be inevitable! We can be proactive and begin to strengthen our immune systems right now! That may be an abstract idea to you, but I guarantee that it’s actually quite simple. Let’s start by demystifying your immune system.
Understanding Your Body’s Immune System
Your body’s immune response to colds and illnesses is correlated to inflammation in the body. This may be completely foreign to you – it certainly would have been for me, 10 years ago – but this is really good news! Because, while you may not be able to stop the cold and flu season, you can deftly avoid getting sick by reducing inflammation in your body. The key is adopting an anti-inflammatory diet by doing a cleanse for inflammation!
Types of Inflammation
Before I continue, let’s quickly pause and get a crash course on what “inflammation” even means. Inflammation in the body comes in two forms: acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation is the body’s response to offending agents such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins. When the body encounters these things, it activates the immune system and sends out inflammatory cells and cytokines (substances that stimulate more inflammatory cells). Acute inflammation also occurs when the body has been injured. These cells begin an inflammatory response to trap bacteria and other offending agents and to start healing injured tissues. The result can be pain, swelling, bruising, or redness.
Chronic inflammation occurs when your body is constantly sending out an inflammatory response, even when there is no threat. The symptoms of chronic inflammation may be harder to spot than those of acute inflammation. These signs can include:
- Abdominal pain
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
- Fever
- Joint pain or stiffness
- Skin rash
Diseases that are often a result of chronic inflammation include:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Eczema/psoriasis
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Using an Anti-Inflammatory Diet to Cleanse for Inflammation
So now that we know what inflammation is, how do we ensure that our bodies aren’t living in a state of chronic inflammation and therefore weakened immune response? The most effective way to reduce inflammation in our body is to change the food we eat. Yes, it’s that simple! But “eating healthy” is not enough. Why? Because the North American diet is so far removed from a proper anti-inflammatory diet that our bodies need to detox. (Think of it as a “cooling off” period to return back to a normal, stable state.)
An anti-inflammatory diet is vital to keeping your immune system strong so that it can ward off harmful pathogens and maintain a healthy immune response. God has equipped you with a beautifully-designed body and immune system, power tools that will serve you well if you know how to protect and preserve them! Unfortunately, the average North American diet is anything but anti-inflammatory. This is where a cleanse for inflammation comes in.
A cleanse for inflammation focuses primarily on limiting and/or eliminating dairy, wheat, gluten, and sugar. Each of these foods create an inflammatory response in the body, which can render the blood sticky. This stickiness slows down our bodily fluids and prevents our organs from functioning optimally to ward off an attack from a harmful invader. Sugar almost always creates an inflammatory response in the body, which is why it is best to limit or eliminate sugar in your diet during flu season. (Fruit and small amounts of natural sweeteners like honey are often fine, although it will depend on the individual.)
The Next Step: A 30 Day Cleanse for Inflammation
Multiple times a year, I run a cleanse for inflammation called the 30-Day Fresh Start Cleanse Program. I am incredibly passionate about this cleanse for inflammation because I have seen so many people experience unprecedented positive outcomes from just adopting an anti-inflammatory diet! As part of this cleanse, I advise keeping a food journal for a short period of time so that you can gain awareness of how you are reacting to certain foods. By becoming aware of foods that you may be sensitive to and removing them from your diet, you can significantly increase your immunity! When your body is not in an inflammatory state, healing can occur.
Ingredients for Success
As part of my 30-day cleanse for inflammation, I also recommend taking dōTERRA’s Tumeric Dual Chamber Capsules. Among other benefits, turmeric has been scientifically proven to support your body’s healthy inflammatory response. Tumeric has been used as a remedy for centuries in Ayurveda, an ancient life science from India dating back 5,000 years! While I am obviously thankful for some of the positive progress made through modern medicine, I also see value in learning from the wisdom of generations who came before us, who were often more connected to nature and more focused on supporting a holistic state of health between the body, mind, and spirit.
Coconut oil is another key component of my 30-day cleanse for inflammation since it is an excellent tool for supporting a balanced inflammatory response in the body. Cooking with coconut oil – or even eating it on its own – helps reduce inflammation while supporting your gut health.
By applying these tips to keep inflammation at bay, you can improve your body’s immune response to colds and illnesses. And, while a cleanse for inflammation may sound like a lot of work, I’ve done my best to simplify the components of an anti-inflammatory diet in my 30-day cleanse. So, if you are feeling motivated to boost your immune system and try a cleanse for inflammation, you can begin your 30-Day Fresh Start Cleanse today!
One final note: It’s okay to take things slow! Don’t get all stressed out and try to change everything all at once. Getting stressed out in the pursuit of improved health is actually very counterproductive. Stress is really hard on your immune system! Keep in mind that achieving a balanced state of health is a lifelong journey. Maybe you are at a point on that journey where trying a cleanse for inflammation is possible. But for those who are not able to tackle that hurdle right now, that’s okay too!
Helpful Alternatives
If a cleanse for inflammation isn’t for you this season, I’d still encourage you to try to stabilize your body’s inflammatory response using dōTERRA’s Life Long Vitality (LLV) pack. The LLV supplement system is specifically designed to help your body maintain a healthy inflammatory response. While my team and I have experienced huge health improvements by completing a cleanse for inflammation, I cannot imagine what my health would be like without dōTERRA’s LLV system. So, whether you try a cleanse for inflammation by joining my 30-Day Fresh Start Cleanse or whether you try calming your body’s inflammatory response using dōTERRA’s LLV system, I know you will get positive health results!
I am so excited for you, and I feel so privileged to be on this lifelong journey with you! I hope that you have been blessed and encouraged by this content, and I would love to hear about your experience with these two incredible anti-inflammatory solutions!
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