Three ways to boost immunity!

I found one of my mom’s notebooks, which was surely a favorite go to for her important information keeping as practically every inside line is filled with recipes and helpful health tips. Maybe the fact that the front is covered with a seductive picture of Ricky Martin has something to do with it, too!  Whatever the reason, there’s soooo much very useful info jammed in it I could easily make this the longest Millie’s Musings yet! BUT to keep this quick, fun and informative to read, I’ll keep it to a few easily digestible, yet complex, tidbits about how honey, garlic and flavonoids boost one’s immunity.

To start, I read that honey produces hydrogen peroxide in the body. That idea was so weird to me… hydrogen peroxide is something in a brown bottle that you buy in the store to kill germs in cuts and scrapes, right? So, I immediately checked in with my beekeeper brother about this… and yes, sure enough this is true! He also told me A LOT of other interesting things about honey and bees that I never imagined… such as methods to harvest bee venom and using strategic bee stinging to treat arthritis and other ailments. More on all of this another time, for now…

Back to Millie’s note, “Doctors have been using honey for centuries. With the introduction of antibiotics in the 1940s, honey was taken out of doctor’s bags and returned to the kitchen. “Doctors are starting to use honey when modern medicines have been tried and have failed to cure skin wounds,” Dr. Molan says.  (and in the conversation with my brother that’s what he said he uses when he gets a skin cut.)  Honey contains 3 ingredients that make it ideal for treating wounds. Because it’s very high in sugar, it absorbs much of the moisture inside wounds, making it hard for bacteria to survive. In addition, (as covered above) many honeys contain large amounts of hydrogen peroxide, the same medicine to disinfect cuts and scrapes. Finally, some honeys contain propolis, a compound in nectar that can kill bacteria.

Just as honey can stop infections on the outside of your body, it also can help to keep the body healthy on the inside. Raw honey is best bet. While most raw honeys contain some active ingredients, Manuka honey, which is produced when bees feed on a type of flowering shrub in New Zealand, contains the most.  To meet the man who discovered Manuka Honey, Dr. Peter Molan, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCr28eg-cpg.

Now, on to garlic! … Garlic can help protect against colds and flu. Garlic contains dozens of chemically active compounds. Two of them, allicin and allin, have been shown to kill germs directly. Plus, garlic stimulates the immune system to release natural killer cells, which destroy even more germs. 

Other bacteria fighting foods from Millie’s note: 

A number of plant foods, apples, tea, onions and kale, contain substances called flavonoids, which can prevent infections and prevent germs from taking hold. It may be the flavonoids in tea that make it an effective remedy for colds and flu. One of the most powerful flavonoids is a compound called quercetin. Found in large amounts in onions and kale. Quercetin damages genetic material inside of viruses preventing them from multiplying.

SO I want to repeat… Quercetin damages genetic material inside of viruses preventing them from multiplying. Just reading that, I think we all should be sure to get quercetin!

There you have it … three ways to boost immunity to try to stay healthy! Thank you, Millie! 😊