So last week I had a REALLY sore throat. Like possibly the worst I’ve ever had. When I woke up the next morning, my left tonsil was so swollen I could barely swallow or talk from lack of space in my throat. As you can imagine, it was quite scary!
I went to the doctor immediately to see what was going on. No fever. No stuffy nose. Strep test negative. No signs of being sick, but clearly something was very wrong.

Antibiotics were recommended even though there wasn’t a clear diagnosis (though an abscess on my tonsil seemed most likely). I cannot even tell you the last time I took antibiotics. Much as I love to do things naturally, I know that antibiotics can be life saving when needed, so I was trying to keep an open mind.

I also know that some natural remedies are even more fast-acting and that I had taken some before driving to the doctor’s at 7am. By the end of the appointment, the swelling had come down. I felt like I could swallow without choking and I could talk more clearly. 

I decided that I was most comfortable with using my full natural approach arsenal of heavy duty herbs, salt water gargling, colloidal silver, Biocidin throat spray, and lots of soup and throat coat tea. I monitored myself closely and even took pictures for objective data so I would see how the swelling was changing.

Good News

It worked! My body healed within days. Bodies are great at healing after all. Why am I sharing this with you? I know a lot of people right now who are having sinus and throat infections! My story is a great example of how a healthy body will fight off an acute infection so that it doesn’t become chronic.
In today’s newsletter, I’d like to empower you with some tools for supporting your gut (oh yes, your gut has a lot to do with it) so that you can more effectively fight off both chronic and acute infections.

Your gut is truly at the ROOT of your health.

Your gut is where you take all the good stuff you eat and drink and transform it into the many building blocks your body needs to make energy, think clearly, sleep well, maintain a healthy weight, build muscle, and clear out toxins that need clearing out daily so you can thrive. It’s also where 80% or more of your immune system lives.

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms–like low energy, gut/digestive issues, excess weight, mood imbalance, chronic infections, and skin & sleep problems–are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

Chronic v. acute

When something seems to come on suddenly, it’s more likely an acute infection (like getting a cold once a year). When you experience symptoms that seem to come on suddenly on a regular basis and you always feel like you are “putting out fires” with your health often, there’s likely something chronically imbalanced (like getting a cold one month, an outbreak of diarrhea the next month, sinus infection the next month). You may also be dealing with a chronic infection if there’s a symptom that never quite seems to go away (lingering stuffed or drippy nose, digestive issues, can’t lose weight).

Supporting your entire immune system

What chronic and acute infections have in common is your immune system, which as I mentioned is mostly in your gut.
You can support your entire immune system and gut in 3 ways:

• Eating clean and hydrating
• Transforming stress
• Rest and sleep

Targeted testing and supplementation can also be immensely helpful for both chronic and acute infections. Herbs like garlic, echinacea, elderberry, clove, and oregano can be powerful immune regulators.For more acute infections, you can step up your self-care further (I shared the additional support I added in). Depending on what ails you and what your weakest self-care link is, you may want to double down on healing foods, or rest, or herbal antimicrobials. If you are already eating spot on, look to one of the other options to help you move your health needle, like perhaps you regularly don’t drink enough water…upping your hydration will help your immune system function more effectively. If your hydration is great but you’ve been going to bed late all week, then let that guide you. There are lots of tools for transforming stress. My favorite is HeartMath because you can do it anywhere, anytime and it’s effective.

Some additional and targeted tools for sinus and throat support, nasal rinsing, hydration, warm compresses, slippery elm, zinc, vitamin C, nettle, and apple cider vinegar can be very helpful.

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

~Rebecca

P.S.
Email me at rebecca@choosinghealthnow.com if you suspect you are dealing with a chronic imbalance.

If your health isn’t quite where you’d like it to be, listen up.
In today’s newsletter, I’d like to empower you with some tools for supporting your gut.

Because your gut is truly at the ROOT of your health.

Your gut is where you take all the good stuff you eat and drink and transform it into the many building blocks your body needs to make energy, think clearly, sleep well, maintain a healthy weight, build muscle, and clear out toxins that need clearing out daily so you can thrive. It’s also where 80% or more of your immune system lives.

It is my passion is to work with people like you whose health symptoms–like low energy, gut/digestive issues, excess weight, mood imbalance, chronic infections, and skin & sleep problems–are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

There are all sorts of ways that you can support your gut health. Today, we’re going to take a look at bone broth, bone broth protein, gelatin, and collagen.

Bone Broth versus Bone Broth Powder

Bone broth has many health benefits including gut healing properties. Bone broth is a liquid made from cooking bones for a long time so that the nutrients are made bio-available. Bone broth is high in beneficial amino acids like glutamine, proline, and glycine which are essential to gut healing. For more info on the benefits and for a recipe, click here. You can also purchase quality bone broth in stores. Here is a current review of the best brands for both broth and broth powders.
Bone broth powder or bone broth protein powder seems like a genius idea because it is super convenient and portable. However, quality is everything. For bone broth powder to actually be comparable to bone broth, it needs to be non-GMO, come from healthy animals, be antibiotic and hormone free, processed at lower temperatures so the proteins don’t get damaged, and be free of carcinogenic chemicals, preservatives, and flavorings.
See this review of the best quality brands.

Gelatin versus Collagen

Both gelatin and collagen are powdered options for getting the gut healing nutrients we talked about.

Gelatin is the cooked form of collagen. Collagen is the basic structure of things like bone, tendons, hair, skin, and connective tissues.

To use gelatin, you must add hot water to dissolve it, it tends to have a stronger flavor, and if you let it cool, it will gel and firm up (so it is great if you are making healthy puddings, sauces or things like that). Collagen powder on the other hand dissolves in cold or hot water and will not gelatinize.

When collagen is made, the the amino acids are broken down into smaller pieces than gelatin. Some people find collagen easier to digest for this reason.

Generally, gelatin offers more gut healing benefits than collagen (aka collagen peptides, hydrolyzed collagen) but collagen does offer benefits to the skin (elasticity, moisture), hair, nails, joints, and supplies important amino acids for gut repair as well.

In sum, all four of these healing foods offer gut support and supporting your gut is essential to good health.

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!

~Rebecca