How to Naturally Support a Virus

 

Sniffles and Colds are no fun, I know, but there are ways to naturally support a virus to help build up your immune system for the future. No one likes having a runny nose, stuffy nose, cough, congestion, fever, feeling achy, etc… so the more we can teach our body to heal itself the stronger it will be.

Viruses will happen though at some point, and as much fun as they are NOT, colds can help our immune system figure out how to work to keep us from getting hit harder if we just let it do its thing. That doesn’t mean that we can’t assist our immune system in the meantime though.

A couple things before we get started. I am not a doctor, I am just a Mama who loves finding natural options for her family. My education on essential oils and natural wellness is how our family has used these over the years and the benefits we have seen. You are the gatekeeper of your home and know your family so please keep that in mind while following us on this journey. Also, when speaking about essential oils, we use Young Living in our family and have for over six years. These are the oils that I have researched and feel comfortable with for our family. Not all oils are created equal.

Why natural wellness?

Teaching our bodies to heal naturally is one of the most important things we can do for our health. As hard as it can be sometimes to let things run its course, our bodies are very smart. God knew what he was doing when he designed us. When we allow ourselves the ability to heal without western medicine our bodies can then learn what needs to be done for the next time, with the goal to make it less invasive and a shorter duration.

Now that does NOT mean that we should never use western medicine. It has a time and place during certain circumstances and in life threatening situations, but as a society most have begun to use over-the-counter medications at the first sign of illness, which can have negative effects on the body, especially the liver which we want functioning at tip-top shape and can have major warning labels with the possibility of over-dosing. 

Colds are viruses: 

Remember: Colds are a virus, antibiotics have no effects on a virus and can cause more harm than good especially to our liver which we need in tip top shape to detox what the body doesn’t want. The best thing we can do is to assist our immune system to help make it stronger and let it run its course. Our body will then learn how to fight it off again if and when the virus tries to come back. Taking OTC medications, can cause colds or other viruses to come back more frequently or aggressively when the body isn’t leaning how to heal properly. It will begin to rely on the OTCs which is what we don’t want. The good news though, is that we can retrain our bodies and teach them how to heal.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.

So then, what do you use?

We rely heavily on diffusing essential oils, using essential oils topically, some internally and other natural remedies. We use this collection at some point EVERY day in some capacity. This is my easy button because it contains a diffuser and essential oils that have a variety of uses for naturally supporting viruses. Ningxia is also something we always have on hand. It is a powerful antioxidant to help flush unwanted things from the body. Elderberry Syrup and Garlic Honey are two other things that are in our wellness cabinet. Natural wellness doesn’t have to be difficult and the wonderful thing is that you can take them more as needed then those products that have warning labels. 

Quality of essential oils and supplements:

As most of you probably already know, I am pretty relaxed when it comes to the essential oils and natural supplements our family uses. They have worked time and time again for us over the years. So when anyone in our home, including our kiddos show signs of being run down, or the beginnings of the sniffles we lean pretty hard into our Wellness Cabinet. The beautiful thing about having these available and in home already means you have them at the first signs of any symptoms which can help to shorten the duration of the cold or other viruses. 

With that being said, the quality of your essential oils matters very much. There are little regulations to ensure that they are pure so you must do the research to feel good about what you are using. You do not want to use oils that have been chemically distilled, or that the plant itself was treated with chemicals for weed prevention. You want to make sure that the plant was harvested at the correct time to ensure all of the constituents are present when used for medicinal purposes or they won’t work the way the body needs. 

When I started my oil journey I tried several brands before landing with Young Living and the quality and success I have seen with them are not even comparable to the others. Especially when it comes to internal use, you want to know what you are consuming. Their Seed to Seal standards are amazing!

What essential oils work for supporting what?

This is a list of natural options to use when sniffles, a cold or anything viral makes an appearance. We honestly use them all at some point. You can use as many as you are comfortable with together. The more you can assist your immune system the quicker you can feel better. Keep in mind, you don’t have to feel overwhelmed or feel like you have to have EVERYTHING to make a difference. Just taking a step to start is key. These are just options to use with what you have on hand.

Essential Oils – We keep these on hand at all times. They smell amazing in general but they have so much support in them for our bodies and a little goes a long way!

Thieves 

Thieves is a powerhouse for immune support, it is a blend made up of several powerful antiviral and anti-inflammatory oils. This will go into the diffuser or we also make up a roller with Thieves to apply to our spines and bottoms of the feet. For adults, you can add a couple drops to a veggie capsule or a drop in warm tea with honey and lemon.

Raven 

Raven is another powerful blend for supporting the respiratory system. It is amazing in the diffuser at opening airways. I also love applying this to a Detox Bath. This mixed with the steam does wonders for breathing. You can also add a few drops to the wall of your shower.

Northern Lights Black Spruce 

Northern Lights Black Spruce is one of my favorites for respiratory support that is very gentle. We apply a drop to the bottom of the nose/nostril to help open airways for a stuffy nose. No one likes to be stuffy.

Lemon

Lemon is fantastic for so many things. I also have a roller made up of this that we will apply to the bridge of the nose to assist with runny noses. Lemon essential oil is also great for detoxing the liver which we need in order to clear out our body from the gunk. You can rub topically over the liver or you can add a drop to a glass of water. (Never put essential oils in plastic and drink from it.)

Peppermint

Peppermint is a favorite because it is naturally cooling to the skin.  We don’t really treat fevers in our home as they can help our body fight off a virus quicker and we want to support that fever as much as possible.  It works fantastic though at helping to keep the body comfortable during a fever.

Frankincense

Frankincense is one of my top 5 oils. It helps with cellular repair, is amazing for respiratory, is gentle for babies, it’s so good! We diffuse this at night along with Thieves when anyone is under the weather. We also apply to the chest. When in doubt, use Frank!

Digize

Digize is THE oil for digestive support, and it is amazing for upset tummies. BUT when we are feeling run down or have a cough, drainage, or a runny nose, we apply this over the lungs on the back with a roller or a little diluted. The enzymes in it works wonders at breaking up mucous and easing pressure on the lungs.

Valor 

Valor is great, especially for kiddos, but even for me, I love it just for mood support. When we don’t feel well, it has a calming scent that just helps everyone to relax.

Supplements – These are things I keep on hand and we use these as needed.

Ningxia

Ningxia is one of my main options in our Wellness Cabinet. Typically my husband and I drink 2 oz a day, and the kiddos drink 1 oz a day for our multivitamin. When we need extra support I will easily double or triple the amount we drink through the day. Antioxidants are AMAZING! Here is why we love Ningxia so much!

Elderberry Syrup

Elderberry Syrup is another one high in antioxidants and we will use it every three to four hours or so until symptoms are gone. Most contain cinnamon, cloves, ginger and raw honey all amazing for supporting the body. The bonus is that it is all just food!

Inner Defense

Inner Defense is a powerhouse of immune supporting essential oils all conveniently put into a gel capsule read to go. For my kiddos who cannot swallow a pill, I will poke a hole and apply to the feet as your feet absorb things quickly. We take this at the first sign of not feeling well or as a preventative measure when needed.

ImmuPro

ImmuPro is another powerhouse that we use before bed and is also amazing at naturally supporting sleep. It is a chewable which is great because for my kiddos I will cut this into quarters. (This is used in place of Inner Defense at bedtime.)

Super C

Super C is amazing for extra support of Vitamin C and there is a yummy chewable for the kiddos (honestly I like the chewable too).

Super D

We don’t see as much sunlight in the winter months as we do in the summer which is key for our immune systems. Extra support here can work wonders for the immune system and for mood in general.

Sulfurzyme

I have a whole post here on why this one is AMAZING. It cleans the cells, reduces inflammation, amazing for sinus issues, the list goes on. I have the powder for the kiddos that we mix in smoothies or orange juice.

Mighty Pro 

Gut health is HUGE when we are under the weather. Supporting it is essential and this one tastes like a pixie stick and has all the good probiotics.

RAW Honey

Raw Honey has so many good things in it, it is antiviral, amazing for immune support, soothing for the throat and can help break up congestion as well.

Other things to do… There are other things we can do to support our body and immune system when under the weather also.

Detox Baths

These can be so soothing and will help to flush out the toxins that are lingering. Purging our bodies of anything it doesn’t like can be vastly beneficial to the healing process. I have the details on our Detox Baths here.

Eliminate sugar

Keeping refined sugar out of our diet when feeling run down is huge. It tears down the immune system and we need to support it. Illnesses feed off of sugar, cutting it out of our diets especially when sick is key. 

Eliminate dairy

Raw Dairy is amazing but traditional store bought milk, cheeses an other dairy items can cause extra mucous and we don’t need that when we already have a runny nose or congestion.

Eat REAL food

Make sure you can read and understand the ingredients. There is a reason why produce and fruit don’t have an ingredient label… real food is best. Real food is medicine. 

Drink LOTS of water

Keeping ourselves hydrated is so important. Adding in a good electrolyte can help so much. (I’m not talking Gatorade either… that is full of sugar and artificial coloring and will make things worse.)

Rest, rest, rest

As a mom of four, I know this one can be hard but it is so important to rest as much as you can.

If you dont have essential oils yet and want to get started, these are the oils our family has used for years (and that we know are safe for the uses mentioned above).

Remember, I am not a doctor, I am just a Mama who loves to share natural options that we use for ourselves and our kiddos that we have found works for us. I hope they can help you too! I’d love for you to follow along on more of our day to day on Instagram @naturallychaoticlifestyle!

Thanks for stopping by, see you next time!