This time of year usually comes with seasonal allergies, colds and the flu. With the added danger of going out of your home due to the Coronavirus,  we here at The Point of Health thought it apropos to give you helpful tips and treatments to boost your immune system that can be conveniently found in your kitchen.

Let's start with symptoms, how are you feeling?  In Eastern medicine  symptoms of illnesses are categorized into two groups, heat and cold. Heat symptoms are usually accompanied with a fever that’s more prevalent than chills. Additional symptoms include:

• sore throat
• cough with thick, yellow mucus
• thirst for cold drinks
• Headache in forehead 
• redness of eyes
• Sinusitis

Earaches and a red face are also indicators that you’re suffering from excess heat in your body.  Cold symptoms manifest in your body with chills and an aversion to a cold climate being more prevalent than a fever. Other symptoms include:

• Headache in the back of the head 
• stiff neck
• Sneezing
• mucous will be clear and copious
• runny nose
• body aches that move around

So what do you do when you get sick? First, stop eating if you are not hungry, abstaining from food allows the body's immune system to operate at its peak performance and kick it into high gear. When fasting all the energy that the body normally uses to digest and process food is diverted to making you feel better by repairing damaged tissue, regenerate vital function and rejuvenate the whole body.  Once you get hungry what do you eat? We recommend you eat only fruits and vegetables for 2 days once your appetite returns. If you’ve been suffering from cold symptoms you should eat vegetables and fruits such as :

Vegetable List	Fruit List
Bell Peppers Green Beans Kale Onion Garlic Scallion	Blueberries Cherries Coconut Papaya Grape Pineapple Plum Raspberry Tangerine Mango

If you’ve been suffering from heat symptoms we suggest the following:

Vegetable List	Fruit List
Alfalfa Sprouts Asparagus Beets Broccoli Cabbage Celery Cilantro Collard Greens Cucumbers Mint	Apples Apricot Avocado Cranberry Fig Lemon Limes Oranges Peach Strawberries

Also when  experiencing heat symptoms we encourage the use of an herbal steam for congestion which is an excellent way to clean the lungs and clear the bronchial passages on a daily basis. Here’s how you prepare and use an herbal steam: 

1. Placing a large pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil
2. Reducing the heat to a medium simmer 
3. Add some aromatic herbs or essential oils to the water 

• • Cinnamon
  • Eucalyptus
  • Peppermint
  • Camphor 
  • Clove 
  • Breath (doTerra EO)

Next, stand by the steaming pot and hold a heavy bath towel like a tent over the head to trap steam as you bend over the pot to inhale the aromatic vapors . Make sure to use caution that you don't burn the skin of your face by leaning too close to the steam.  So there you have it, a simple yet comprehensive list of best practices when you feel under the weather which can all be found in your kitchen. We hope these tips help you while we combat the pollen, change of season and the new threat of COVID-19. Please stay safe, health conscious and know that The Point of Health is here to help in these uncertain times.