This winter sucks

This has been the worst winter for illness in my family in a long time.  I'm not sure if its the changing of the zodiac or what, but it seems like our family has been sick with something since Thanksgiving.  The health freak in my would like to attribute this to all of the shitty food everyone was eating over the holidays (and by shitty, I mean delicious, fattening, and horribly fun).  I did not eat as poorly and my husband and my children and have been the least ill of all of us but as I replace my morning coffees with green vegetable juices, I am noticing some major detoxing. 

For me, the sinuses are the first place I suffer when I am detoxing or eating in a non-optimal way.  I know I am not the only one.  I am seeing lots of stuffy noses and hearing lots of muffled, snot filled speech when I am out and about.  Here are a few simple tips I have learned that help keep colds and sinus infections at bay:

1. Go for it.  Buy a neti pot.  And do me a favor, don't fill it with iodized salt or table salt.  PLEASE.  I beg you!!!  Get Himalayan Salt.  You can get it at Wegmans, Giant, or Kimberton Whole Foods. Its usually 5-6 bucks for 6oz. 

2. Sleep.  Get enough.  Stop your late night Kardashian watching for one extra hour and go to bed.  Even better, go to bed two hours early, have sex (remember from a previous blog- immune boosting), and get to sleep. 

3. Stop eating dairy.  Dairy is mucous forming.  If you want to cut out some serious snot, boogies, and sinus pain- knock dairy completely out at the first sign of a cold/sinus pain

4.  Cayenne Lemonade.  It's simple.  Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into a cup.  Add 1/8 or less tsp of cayenne pepper (the powder in your cabinet), add honey, stevia, or agave, warm water and drink.  Cayenne will help decrease inflammation and get things moving again. 

I hope we all get through the rest of this winter with less snot, sinus pressure, and fewer doctor visits!