Tips for Staying Well this Winter, Part I

Something that I'm very passionate about but haven't really focused on here on the blog is natural health care. For as long as I can remember I've hated taking any kind of medicine, but spent many years being forced to take one round of antibiotics after another due to chronic sinus and allergy problems. I finally got fed up with that vicious cycle about six or seven years ago and started to pursue alternative remedies. What a difference I've seen (despite the fact that I was sicky-poo last week)!

All this being said, you can imagine that I am also not the biggest fan of vaccines, so all the current bombardment of media attention--and even commercials for cleaning products--pushing the H1N1 vaccine has me a little bit peeved. Obviously, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate is a very personal choice (particularly when it comes to children), and I in no way profess to have any medical knowledge. Regardless, since we are all looking for ways to stay healthy this winter, I thought each day this week I'd share a few of my sure-fire stay-well-naturally tips, since you all are just too lovely to go pumping yourselves full of scary, scary things!

Tip #1: Traditional Medicinals Organic Echinacea Plus Tea

Much has been written in the last decade about the health-promoting effects of echinacea. Whether you buy into the hype or not, I know that as soon as I start to feel a bit run down or sniffly, I reach for this delightful herbal tea and after a few cups I always start to feel better. I love how the light, minty/citrusy flavor immediately clears my head and soothes a scratchy throat. The fact that the echinacea is helping to boost my immune system is just an added bonus!

Tomorrow's tip: Have you heard of alkolol?