What Do You Do When the Flu Shot Doesn't Work?

​We are all encouraged to get the flu shot annually, yet it's not very good at preventing us from actually getting sick with the flu.

The best it's done in the past 13 years is 60% effective, and one year it was only 10% effectively able to prevent flu.

​The key to true success with preventing getting sick is to keep your immune system working optimally. Oftentimes, that's easier said than done.

There are many natural strategies you can practice to help ward off colds and the flu, this and every year into the future.

​Here are 5 of my top favorites:

Boost your immune health with high quality herbal remedies. You'll likely miss fewer work days--and the kids will miss fewer school days.

High quality is important, since poor quality supplements do little to nothing for us.

Elderberry has been researched for its immune properties and found to have significant antiviral activity against both influenza and the herpes simplex.

Try Gaia Elderberry Syrup or Herb Pharm Elderberry tincture. Both are ideal for prevention, at the onset of getting sick, and when your cold or flu is fullblown.

Excess stress is a shortcut to illness. So if you're stressed out a lot, do something for yourself to release it before you fall ill.

A good option might be lemon balm in tea, tincture or elixir. Another option would be to begin the practice of meditation in whatever form is fulfilling for you.

​There are at least a thousand other options for keeping your stress levels in check. We're probably never going to have no stress at all in life; it's how we handle it that determines whether we keep our immune defenses strong or not.

Ginger with lemon is a powerful remedy to avoid getting sick, or feeling better when you are sick. Try grating fresh, organic ginger on a fine grater and then squeezing the juice into warm, not too hot, water (the water should be heated so that it's hot enough to soothe you and not so hot that it burns your lips or tongue.) Then add the juice of a half organic lemon.

Use a good Eucalyptus essential oil in an electric diffuser, or on a tissue or small cloth near your bed while you sleep. You'll begin to breathe more deeply and clearly, and breathing in those powerful vapors will help you sleep more deeply, too, so you feel refreshed in the morning.

​Try the essential oils from Oshadhi USA. They are truly the highest quality essential oil company, maybe anywhere on Earth.

​Get some more sleep under an extra blanket or two. At the first sign of feeling off, I drink a pint or more of fresh, delicious water or herbal tea, put a couple extra blankets on my bed, and then get in and sweat it out. More often than not, I wake up about 80 or 90% better, or don't get sick at all!

Good luck staying well this winter.

Please let me know if there is anything I may do to support your wellness needs! And, by all means, comment below.

Infinite Lemon image by ElleFlorio used under Creative Commons and modified for transparent background.