Nutrition for Cold & Flu Season

November 11, 2018

It’s cold and flu season, which means we are going to be exposed to more germs and viruses. If you have kids, this topic is especially relevant. What are the best ways to build up your immune system so you aren’t stuck in bed with a fever, runny nose and cough this winter? Listen in as we discuss one of the best nutrition options for boosting our immune system – bone broth.

Similar Podcast Episodes

• How to Avoid Colds & Flus
• Staying Well When Everyone Around You is Sick
• Strengthening Your Immune System

Transcript

KARA: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. And today's topic is nutrition for the cold and flu season. I bet many of you are thinking they're going to talk about foods like vitamin C and oranges. And yes, while it's true that we do need more vitamin C at this time of year to protect our immune systems, we recognize that most people know about vitamin C already supporting the immune system. So today we're going to spend a lot of the next hour talking about something a little bit different and that is how bone broth will boost your immune system so you can ward off getting a cold or flu this season. And if you drink bone broth every day, that is just amazing for preventing what is going around these days. My name is Kara Carper and I'm a licensed nutritionist. I have a master's degree in holistic health and joining me today is my co-host is Marcie Vaske. She's also a licensed nutritionist and she has a master's in clinical nutrition.

MARCIE: Good Morning, Kara. It's so nice to be in a studio with you again as well. This topic is very timely. We're running into this time of year where everybody's getting sick and feeling cold for sure today. To build on this topic what's even more important in preventing colds and the flu is that Kara and I both have kids going to school everyday. So, like many of you listeners who are listening out there this morning, they're getting exposed to all of the viruses that are floating around just waiting to strike to put one of our kids in bed with a fever. Every year starting in November, it really is like clockwork. The sounds of that coughing and the sneezing that goes on in schools and in the workplace. You hear people sniff sniffly noses. You're even walking around in grocery stores. It's happening at the gym. Everybody is sneezing, coughing, doing something. And so of course we don't want to be calling in sick, but soon enough we have to make that call, kids aren't going to school and then a few days later you're not going to work. You’re taking care of your sick kid.

KARA: As a working parent, when my child gets sick and has to stay home from school, just like you, Marcie, we have to kind of scramble to make arrangements for someone to do childcare. And I'm sure a lot of you listeners go through a similar situation. You're thinking, okay, it's 5:00 in the morning, my kid has a sore throat, fever, or whatever it is. Who's going to care for them? Because I need to go to work, I have a big meeting, I have a big call, a presentation, or maybe you just don't want to be getting behind in your work for whatever reason. So I try to avoid these situations altogether by really being proactive and concentrating on how can I build up my daughter's immune system to prevent viruses from being brought home to our house? And then mom and dad don't get sick either.

MARCIE: Exactly. And I've had clients say to me when someone's sick in the house it just runs through the whole family. So we know how easy it happens. So the prevention of it is so key. And we could recommend eating blueberries because of course blueberries are full of vitamin C and that Beta carotene, potassium. And several different antioxidants that are going to help support that immune system. But again, we think most of you, because you guys are smart and are our long time listeners already know to feed your children blueberries and also to avoid giving your children juice, right? So, just as a reminder, an eight ounce glass of juice contains about eight teaspoons of sugar. So, that's a glass of orange juice, or a simple glass of apple juice. It has eight teaspoons of sugar. And you might be thinking, well, what does that have to do with my immune system? But that load of sugar is going to bring down that immune system. The sugar feeds your bacteria and the viruses. So, think about it, sugar feeds bacteria, viruses, and even cancer. I don't want to give my kids juice. But a lot of people kind of get sucked into the juice ads on TV. They're created to sell a lot of juice and they're so convincing. So parents out there believe that they're bad parents if they're not giving their child juice in the morning. But giving your child a glass of juice that has eight teaspoons of sugar. Now you know it just makes absolutely no sense.

KARA: And I think people do have that misconception. A lot of it is from the media or people just have these nutritional myths that just kind of circulate. We don't even know where we heard them, but “Oh, my child is sick. I should give them orange juice.” Not really realizing that there are eight teaspoons of sugar because all they're thinking about is the vitamin C. So, there's other ways to get vitamin C. I mean, when my daughter gets sick, we give her oranges or strawberries or blueberries. They’re all very high in vitamin C. So, Marcie, I remember a book by Robert Crayhon, Nutrition Made Simple. And he quotes a statistic about sugar that when we have something like sugar, which would be considered an eight ounce glass of juice, is all of that sugar, our immune system is paralyzed for several hours.

MARCIE: Interesting. Interesting word, too.

KARA: Yeah, I always remember that because I picture the immune system just like stopping. It's freezing up when you have like a high sugar food, which includes juice unfortunately. So, that's just one more nutritional myth that food manufacturers have advertised us into believing is true.

MARCIE: So, now you're probably wondering, well, what's a better option? So this might surprise you, but today we are going to talk about how bone broth boosts our immune system.

KARA:  And if you're unfamiliar with Bone Broth, let me get you up to speed. So first of all, bone broth has been around for thousands of years and has always been considered a healing food. And if you think about it, everyone recommends eating chicken soup when you're sick with a cold or the flu. And frankly, when most people recommend chicken soup, they're not referring to going to the grocery store and buying a can of chicken soup. I believe that canned soups are another one of those nutritional myths. And we need to ask ourself, what is in most of those canned soups? Like what ingredients are we talking about?

MARCIE: What's happening with this? So let's kind of take a dive in and really look inside and see what's in these canned soups that we've been told are so healthy for us. As nutritionists, I know the dangers of eating most canned soups. I don't let my kids eat canned soup. Why? Because most of the inside lining of the cans contains something called BPA and I think a lot of people are familiar with that word. But BPA has been found to be an endocrine disruptor. So what does that mean? Well, and the first thing I always ask is what are the health risks of that? What does that mean? So studies have linked that BPA to early onset of puberty, reproductive issues, obesity, things like insulin resistance and even precancerous changes. So those are all endocrine complications, right?

KARA:  So the BPA is in the lining of a lot of canned goods, is what you're saying.

MARCIE: Yes, exactly. So now let's take a look at maybe some of the ingredients that might be in the canned soup. And one that stands out always is something called MSG. Last week Dar, Carolyn and Melanie talked about the dangers of MSG, which is monosodium glutamate and the dangers of that to brain health. For most of us, if we want to think right and have a good focus, have positive moods, we really need to be avoiding anything that has MSG as an ingredient. And so are you aware that MSG is added to canned soup? It's to enhance the flavor. And Melanie said last week on dishing up nutrition that MSG lies to us. So it makes us think that something tastes better than it really does. And MSG, there's all kinds of studies linked to the more MSG someone consumes, the more they're going to gain weight. There can be liver inflammation, headaches and migraines. I know there's a big long list like joint pain, skin rashes. I mean the list goes.

MARCIE: Yeah, it's a big problem. And I think people just don't realize what is in the food that they're eating. And whenever you use say, “Well you're eating msg.” They just look at you like what are you talking about? Or they've heard of that, but they don't know that it might be causing their skin rash or they're headache.

KARA: So, we have to really be detectives, don't we? And be kind of reading all the labels.

MARCIE:  We sure do. And I think it's time for our first break. So let's do that. Today we are having a discussion about how to stay well during the cold and flu season.

BREAK

KARA: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. Here's some questions I want you to consider. How do you want to feel throughout the holidays? Do you want to feel stressed? Do you want to feel bloated? Do you want to feel tired and fatigued or would you like to feel great and look great? Well, I think I know the answer to that. But the choice really is all yours. And a practice like eating in balance with a good protein, vegetable, and fruit, carbohydrates and healthy fat. Eating like that every three hours is a great solution for thinking, feeling, and looking great because we know that this practice of nutrition works and this is what our philosophy is at Nutritional Weight & Wellness. So is it time to make an appointment with your nutritionist? Call 651-699-3438. And you can talk to the front desk staff about getting your appointment set up today.

MARCIE: Sounds great. So we're back to talking about bone broth for our immune system. We kind of went over the MSG so everybody knows that it's in some canned soups, but there's one other quality concern about canned soups. So unless you're looking at your can and it says USDA organic on the label, the soup is most likely going to contain something called GMO’s, which is a genetically modified organism. So for example, the vegetables in the soup may have been treated with pesticides or herbicides, which we don't want in our bodies. So, when this occurs, the soup is actually more of a chemical soup rather than a healing soup, right? So, what we are saying is that this good, healing soup is to support your immune function and your health. What you want to do is avoid the canned soup. Just stay out of the aisle. Remember we're always talking about shopping around the perimeter of the store, right?

KARA:  I know, and I think it's so easy, too, people are thinking, “Oh, I'm sick, or someone in my household is sick.” I'm just going to go to the grocery store and stock up on either boxed or canned or even frozen soup. I’ve spent a fair amount of time looking at labels and trying to find one that was good and they have MSG, they’re genetically modified and just all the stuff that we've been talking about. There's always something wrong and it's much better to make your own. The best option is making our own soups, starting with a homemade bone broth and of course whenever possible we would recommend making your bone broth with bones that come from animals that were grass fed and fed organically and also when you're putting vegetables in the soup, try to get organic vegetables. And I find when many of our older clients, when we sit down with them for the first nutrition counseling session and we kind of go over what they're eating, they're really thinking that they're doing a good thing by having a can of soup for lunch.      And they're thinking this is a healthy meal, but by the end of the appointment, they come to realize the truth, which is can soup may be very convenient, but it is not a healthy meal.

MARCIE: It really isn't. And there's one more thing about MSG. The first time I actually learned about MSG was when I was reading the book called Excitotoxins, the Taste That Kills. And this was written by Dr. Russell Blaylock and he's actually a retired neurosurgeon. So if you want to know a little bit more information about MSG, you just pick up his book. What Dr. Blaylock said was that MSG is an excitotoxin and it's really just best to be avoided. Those excitotoxins are something that actually damage or kill our nerve cells and it's due to that excessive stimulation by the nervous system because that's what the MSG is doing.

KARA: Wow. So just kind of one more negative side effect or symptom that can happen from MSG. That's kind of scary. So let's talk about what some of the benefits to your immune system are when you are drinking bone broth or eating a wonderful soup that's made from bone broth. So, at Nutritional Weight & Wellness we will often say your immune function really starts in the digestive system, especially in the small intestinal tract. We say that all the time. Oh yeah, for sure. And it might come as a surprise to some of you that bone broth is one of the most nutrient dense healing foods for the digestive system. So it's a great way to heal your gut and also to support your immune system. And we’ll talk in a little bit about how is it 80 to 90 percent of our immune system starts in the gut.

MARCIE: Yeah, that's a remarkable amount, 80 percent. And I think, too, so many people just don't realize that as well. I don't know how much they think about their immune system. It's just something that happens. But, if we're not keeping our gut healthy, we're not going to have the kind of immunity that we want.

KARA: We're going to be more susceptible to catching whatever's going around. Right? So, over the years we've had many clients who are drinking homemade bone broth and if they do it for, let's say, a month, they noticed a huge improvement with their gut and their digestive issues go away.

MARCIE: It's healing. And so why should you choose bone broth as your drink of choice?  There are a number of benefits to drinking some bone broth every day. And number one, we'll start with it will help provide you with a stronger immune system to fight off those flus and colds this winter. Everything we're talking about today. Number two, just like what Kara said, it enhances your digestion. So, you're going to experience, that less bloating, less diarrhea, less gas, maybe even less reflux or constipation. And who doesn't want that? I mean, if all I had to do is drink bone broth to not be constipated, I'd be all on it. Number three, it also helps with other digestive problems such as leaky gut and also IBS, irritable bowel syndrome.

KARA:  And not only that, bone broth is going to help develop healthier joints, ligaments, and tendons, and it also helps to maintain healthy, young looking skin. And all of these benefits come from the fact that bone broth has undenatured collagen. And in homemade bone broth, the collagen it's coming from, like if you're making a chicken bone broth, the Collagen is coming from the chicken bones and it's just called undenatured Collagen.     So, that specific type of Collagen can be used to heal the lining of your digestive tract. Also, your joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and again, keeps your skin looking young and healthy.

MARCIE: Well, I would do it just for that. It’s just becoming less on my side every single day. So, as everybody is hearing, homemade bone broth has an amazing ability to support many different avenues. But today we're specifically talking how just drinking 12 ounces of bone broth a day can help support that immune function. Whether it's to avoid that cold or flu this year or even cancer in the future. And just as we talked about earlier, it's believed that 80 percent of your immune system lies within your intestinal tract and another way to support your intestinal tract would even be to do some bifido balance everyday. A little bit of a probiotic. That’s going to get your digestive system to heal that leaky gut and everything, as well.

KARA: So, if people are looking for probiotics, sounds like what you're saying is look for one that has some bifido bacteria in it. That's that good strain for the immune system. So many of us nutritionists and other staff went to the Great Lakes nutrition conference and we attend it every year and we were recently reminded just a couple weeks ago at the conference how having a healthy gut is really going to set us up to have healthy immune function. And so we'll say it again, but chicken bone broth is one of the best natural sources of Collagen. And that's a type of protein. It's needed to form the tissue that makes up the lining of our digestive tract. So, Marcie, you had talked about how it's going to help your gut. It's going to reduce IBS symptoms, even something more serious, like some autoimmune conditions called Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. So, just picture your intestinal tract and it really should be free of any holes. Or permeability is the term. If we think about if we have holes in our intestinal tract, undigested food, that sounds kinda gross, but undigested food can leak through into the bloodstream. Viruses can do the same thing. And that causes inflammation and that really is kind of what leads us to get sick and catch colds and flu.

MARCIE: Exactly. We need to make sure our gut is as healthy as possible. We need to seal up those holes. That's kind of what we're saying is that bone broth will help to do that. With those good amino acids in there and Collagen.

Well, it's time for our second break. So, you are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Sometimes during the cold and flu season, your immune system may need a boost for a couple of weeks to put that cold virus into remission. And many of us nutritionists and dietitians at Nutritional Weight & Wellness recommend a supplement called Wellness Formula, which contains many different immune boosting herbs and vitamins that usually puts the brakes on most colds and flu viruses. So, at the first sign of a cold, many people take six capsules per day for two weeks and have great success with it. So, any questions about immune supporting supplements call 651-699-3438 to get the answers to those questions.

KARA: Welcome back to Dishing up Nutrition. Do you often get a cold sore when you have a cold or have the flu? That's pretty common when we're sick to also kind of start feeling some pain in the side of your mouth. And “Oh no, I have a cold sore.” So if that happens to you, I would suggest that you add an amino acid called L-Lysine and, first of all it's going to prevent cold sores if you're prone to them. But if you start taking it once you have one, it's just gonna get it to heal up really quickly. So I would recommend taking either two L-Lysine or two Super Lysine. Those are just names of products. We actually have both of those at our offices and take those on an empty stomach before breakfast. Another quick tip is just to avoid eating almonds. If you feel a cold sore virus coming on, the arginine in almonds is going to reduce the effectiveness of the L-Lysine. So it's kind of just an interesting fact.

MARCIE: It is. And how many people eat almonds and they are very healthy, so we're not saying they're not healthy, but just in that one instance. Yeah, that is good information.

KARA: So, for our topic today, we're talking about how do we prevent cold and flu and we're talking a lot about bone broth. I kind of wanted to just add on a little bit of information and share a story. It's a timely story. At the beginning of the show, we said, hey parents, we totally get it. When your kid gets sick and you're like, oh no, they're not going to school. Who is going to watch my child? I'm trying to work. I'm trying to go to work. So, well that happened to us this past week. So, although I would like to say my daughter never gets sick, she did. She came down with a fever and so we kept her home from school and my husband, he had to call in and take a day and change his whole day and his meetings and everything. And so I just kinda wanted to share with listeners what I did the second that my daughter got sick. I was like, okay, let's get a plan together. Fortunately I already had some of these things in my cabinet. It's nice to have these so you don't have to run out and buy a bunch of immune boosters after they're already sick. So there's a great product by springboard and I believe it's an Ortho molecular brand. It's called Imu-Max. It’s specifically for kids, although adults can take it as well. So, it's just a great immune booster. It's got some echinacia, rose hips, propolis, so it's all very safe for kids. So I started giving her that. You give it to your child three times a day. And then of course we were talking about how we have to support the gut for that immune system. So I made sure she was getting an extra good bacteria probiotic supplement every day as well as some extra vitamin D to boost that immune system.

MARCIE: That's really gonna make a big difference there. So, I just have a quick question for you. So, with the Imu-Max, in terms of preventing for children, do you give that to Olivia to prevent?

KARA: Oh, that's a great question. I don't give it to her every single day.

MARCIE: Just when she feel like she's coming down with something. So, listeners who might be interested in knowing more. It's certainly safe to take everyday kind of as prevention. It tastes fairly good, but I don't know that she'd be really excited to take it everyday. I'm just being honest. But, I do not want her missing a week of school, so then I will start this at the very first sign. So, I guess the success story is that she did have a temp of 102, but after two days of this protocol of her being homesick, she was able to go back to school. She only missed two days. So, it could have been a week. It's just stressful on the schedule.

MARCIE: And you kept yourself healthy, too, right?

KARA: I did. You know that Wellness Formula that you were talking about? I've learned my lesson. I don't like to run out of that in the winter, so I stock up. And I happened to have a bottle. So I just started taking a lot of that right. I took the six capsules, I gave some to my husband, made him as well and we did not catch the illness.

MARCIE: Nice. Very much a success story, but I would think nothing less for you, Kara. So, maybe we should get back and talk a little bit more about our bone broth. Before we went to break, we were talking about how it helps the digestive system and something called leaky gut. And it's referred to that name because viruses and bacteria, like we said earlier, can leak through your intestinal tract and get into your bloodstream to set you up for the latest cold or flu. So, it might be just a good idea to get back to the way our grandparents used to eat and stay well and add in some simple bone broth that you can make right in your very own kitchen. And not only will it increase your immune system, but heal that gut with that good Collagen as well. And also, like we said earlier too, is that it's great for your skin and it gives that skin that elasticity and a youthful appearance. So, like I said, I'm going to do that. I’m going to go make some bone broth today and start chugging it.

KARA:  I’m going home to go start the crock pot. A lot of people hear about Collagen for skin and maybe they're getting creams and stuff like that. But really, skin elasticity in youthful appearance really kind of starts from the inside out. So you can get that Collagen internally and it's even more effective. So, here's kind of a thought is that if someone is drinking bone broth daily, they might say, “I'm 70.” But people are thinking, “Well, you look about 50 or 55.” We know that bone broth increases hydration, reduces wrinkles and sagging skin, and it's been found to help reduce cellulite.

MARCIE: Now, did that perk anybody's ears up? Cellulite? And here's one more benefit of bone broth. It can actually improve your sleep and your memory and your learning. So you might be thinking, “Well, wow, we really are going from moon system to our skin and now I can help me with my sleep? This is like a miracle beverage!” But how it helps you is that there is an amino acid found in bone broth that helps produce the neurotransmitter which helps us sleep and also helps us think more clearly, stay motivated, helps us to remember information and make some good decisions. So think about this. If you have a loved one who doesn't want to cook anymore or a grandma who doesn't want to cook any longer and she is simply just having that bowl of canned soup maybe for lunch. And then all of a sudden she's saying to you, “I'm just not sleeping like I have before. I'm just not sleeping well.” Well it makes a lot of good sense to just substitute that canned soup for some 12 ounces of homemade bone broth or make up a real homemade chicken vegetable soup for her and she'll be sleeping better again.

KARA:  And if you're wondering, what Is that amino acid that's in bone broth that's going to help with sleep. It's something called glycine. And research has found glycine helps with getting better sleep. It also helps to lower symptoms of anxiety. It can improve memory. And we've done a lot of shows in the past about sleep and research has found that most people need to be getting at least seven and a half hours of sleep. But young children need more. Depending on their age, it's common that they would need 10 hours. So another tip, especially for parents, if you're wanting to boost your kids’ immune system, just make sure they're getting enough sleep, as well.

MARCIE: Oh, I know. I mean, you can see it happen. You're not getting enough sleep and what do you know? The next thing is you're sick. So that sleep is so big.

KARA: You just get run down and it's like you're more susceptible. Your immune system is lowered when you're sleep deprived.

MARCIE: It certainly is and there is another wonderful benefit of a bone broth as we've shared several with you already, but something as simple as bone broth that you can make in your crock pot in the comfort of your own home. I've actually made it before. It's so easy. One more reason to include 12 ounces of bone broth in your diet daily is that it's a great source of electrolytes because it contains that potassium, that magnesium and sodium. So think about this. Maybe after some of those basketball games, instead of drinking the Gatorade that's full of sugar and chemicals, we hand out some bone broth to our little young athletes. My kids already hate my job. I don’t think they're going to be really excited for me to bring them bone broth after a game. But, if it's gonna work, what the heck.

KARA: We can just only dream that someday Gatorade will be replaced by bone broth post-game. The bottom line is that bone broth not only supports our immune health, but it helps to heal our whole body as you can tell from all of the benefits that we're talking about. So you're probably asking the question, “Well, okay, there's all these great things. How do I go about making bone broth?” And it's really not that hard. It might sound overwhelming. But I prefer chicken. There are other ways to do it as well, but you just save up your chicken bones.

BREAK

KARA: Welcome back. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition and we're talking about how to boost your immune system so you can prevent cold and flu this season. So I'm going to give you guys a little teaser, just list some supplements that you might find helpful and then we're going to finish talking about how to make bone broth and we'll come back and we'll go into more detail on these supplements in just a few minutes, but we recommend these are some immune boosting supplements. I think most people already know vitamin C. Also, zinc is very, very important for immune system as well as vitamin D. I shared that I gave that to my daughter when she was sick this past week. Cod liver oil is also wonderful for that Vitamin A and D and it has some fish oil in there. And Marcie had talked about Bifido balance, which is a wonderful probiotic or good bacteria. And then for immune function there's a formula that has a bunch of different vitamins, herbs that support immune system. It's called Wellness Formula. All of those immune boosting supplements are available at all seven of our Nutritional Weight & Wellness locations. And you can go to our website to check them out. You can browse through all of the supplements that are available. And just another two more quick reminders on what to do to boost that immune system. We had mentioned before the break getting enough sleep is super important. At least seven and a half hours for adults. Kids often need more like 9 or 10. And staying away from sugar. Again, whenever we eat sugar or foods that are turning into sugar, like pasta, bread, cereal, as Robert Crayhon says, that paralyzes our immune system.

MARCIE: And so if you're sick or you're coming down with something, you don't want to reach for the crackers, that might sound really good because you’re really not very hungry. That's just going to feed the sugar or it's going to turn into sugar and then paralyze the immune system.

KARA: And then also the high carb foods and the sugars kind of feed the virus or feed the bacteria. And it's harder to get well.

MARCIE: So, let's stick to our bone broth. Let's get back to that. Back into how we make some bone broth. Kara’s going to fill us all in.

KARA:So, you're going to start obviously with the bones. And so, I prefer chicken and if you can get chickens that were raised out in the pasture, grass-fed chickens, you're going to get more nutrients and just less junk. So if that's possible, that's going to be your best option. And now here's something I'm not sure that listeners are going to think about this, but you can add chicken feet. You can just buy a pound of chicken feed at your local co-op. It's really just the Collagen and all the great stuff. It's not like you're going to be eating it. You're just making the broth. Hide it underneath all the rest of the carrots and celery, then you don't have to look at it. But, that's optional. It's super healthy, but you definitely are going to need bones from about two chickens and put that in your crockpot or your slow cooker. So that's doing all the work, right?

MARCIE: Yeah, it's easy.

KARA: And you pour in about a gallon of water over the bones and feet, a quarter cup of vinegar. That's gonna help to pull the minerals out of the bones. That's where we're getting most of our nutrients. So we want to pull the minerals out with the vinegar. Take about a quarter of an onion and several cloves of garlic. And sometimes, you can certainly add in celery stalks, carrots and parsley. And as it's cooking down, that's just going to add a wonderful flavor. You can also add herbs like turmeric or ginger, put the crock pot or the slow cooker on low. And it's really best if you're cooking this overnight.

MARCIE:  It is, it needs that long, slow-cooking process.

KARA: So, those were instructions for chicken. You can also certainly use beef bones, or venison bones or pork bones.

MARCIE: And then you wake up and you have your little cup of bone broth all ready for you in the morning. It is really easy. And it tastes good and it's warm and inviting, especially in this cool weather that we're having now. So I think we should jump back into, go back over some of those supplements that Kara was talking about when we came back from break. So, one of the first ones we were talking about is vitamin C. And how much c should we be taking? Well we recommend at least a thousand milligrams a day. A nice easy dose.

KARA: The second one is zinc. It's a mineral that three out of four people are low in zinc. They're just not getting enough from their food. So, we really recommend for immune system to take 30 to 50 milligrams of zinc at bedtime.

MARCIE:   It's perfect. It's easy. You don't have to take it three times a day because, you just take it right at bed time. The third one we want to talk about, which Kara mentioned earlier, is that Vitamin D? So how much vitamin D should you take? Well, we recommend taking about 2000 to 4,000 IU’s daily and you want to make sure you take that with food because it's fat soluble so it's better metabolized with some food.

KARA: Excellent. And then the next one, this is also another fat soluble vitamin and so you want to take this next one with food as well. It's called cod liver oil. We're getting back to what our grandparents were doing. That's when we hear about these things. Making bone broth with chicken feet, takIng cod liver oil. But, I think our grandparents were onto something with that. A couple teaspoons of cod liver oils going to give you a little bit more Vitamin D. You’ll probably still need a separate vitamin D. But it does have a lot of vitamin a for immune system and also some great fish oil in there.

MARCIE: And the other one that we would suggest is doing that bifido balance or a good probiotic. And we recommend taking either a capsule or powder form, whichever is easiest for you to be more compliant with, but it helps boost that immune system. And we usually say take at least three capsules a day. And probiotics are always best taken before your meal, maybe 10 to 15 minutes before you eat on an empty stomach. And that's just one other easy way to increase that gut health and immune system.

KARA: And then lastly, we have been talking about a product called Wellness Formula. It's by Source Naturals. We're not going to talk about all the ingredients because there's quite a few. But there's some herbs, some vitamins, all immune boosting ingredients. And I know this might sound like a lot, but if you are feeling like you're coming down with something, you're going to want to take six capsules per day, but it really, really works. That's what kept my husband and I from catching what my daughter had this past week so we didn't have to miss work.

MARCIE:So, it's a great, great thing that have in your cupboard.

KARA: I learned my lesson past years. Oh no, we're coming down with something and it's 9:00 PM and we don't have any immune boosters in the cupboard.

MARCIE: So now what do we do? So you stock up. Everybody stock up on your bone broth for the season here. Make a good pot tonight. And like we were talking about throughout the whole show is that you want to have about that 12 ounces a day of some good, healthy bone broth. It's going to help that immune system, help your skin and joint health. Your electrolytes. All that.

KARA: Oh my gosh. The benefits just keep going. And we talk about drinking bone broth, but you can make it into a soup as well.

MARCIE: Sure can. So, our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. It's a simple, yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thank you for listening. Have a great day, everyone.

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