Last updated on July 25th, 2022 at 09:41 am

Did you know that a healthy gut is key to a strong immune system?  According to Dr. Vincent Pedre, the best-selling author of Happy Gut – The Cleansing Program to Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Eliminate Pain, 70 percent of your immune system is contained along the lining of your gut. Viruses like a cold or flu can sometimes overwhelm the strongest immune systems so a “gut-healing” diet can help keep it working at its optimum this time of year.

There’s nothing like a well-made soup to revive you from a bad cold, says Dr. Pedre, who suggests making your own homemade bone broth. “My immunity-boosting soup is a practical application of using food as medicine. I add sliced shiitake mushrooms to any soup recipe below to augment its ability to stimulate natural killer T-cells to go after any invaders. You can cook them in any simple bone broth to boost its healing properties.”

Dr. Pedre also recommends taking a few supplements, including 15 mL elderberry syrup once daily, along with vitamin D3 5,000 IU once daily, and 15 mg zinc once daily.

And if you start feeling any flu-like symptoms like fever, chills, body aches, cough, or chest congestion, he advises taking the homeopathic flu medicine Oscillococcinum 3 times a day, 15 mL elderberry syrup 4 times a day, vitamin D3 50,000 IUs once a day for only two days in a row, and 15 mg zinc twice a day.  Dr. Pedre says the vitamin D3 is a “special megadose” that can help activate your body’s innate defense system – a primitive part of the immune system that forms antimicrobial peptides.

And when you are fighting a cold or flu, Dr. Pedre says to stay away from all dairy products. “Dairy products increase mucous production, which prolongs your sick symptoms,” he says adding that if you are lactose-intolerant, dairy makes for a “sad gut.”

For more ways on how to fix your gut and regain your health, visit happygutlife.com.