I Just Fought Off a Cold With Some of This (Plus Whole Foods Giveaway)

I was surprised that on the day I was the preschool volunteer mom, several of the kids were visibly sick.  I spent the morning wiping boogers and getting coughed on.  I knew I was going to get sick.  I woke up feeling absolutely horrible 2 days later.  I took some immunity supplements compliments of Whole Foods that I’d been sent to try about a month ago.  They had been sitting in the pantry waiting for use, and my opportunity had clearly arrived.  Plus, no one wants to be sick over the holidays so I thought you all might want to know about it.

Per the directions, I took the GAIA Herbs Black Elderberry Syrup and Source Naturals Wellness Formula.  You can take these two in lower dosages when you’re well, but I used the “acute” or “imbalanced” dosages starting first thing in the morning.  By the evening, I felt noticeably better.  In the meantime, La Jolla Girl proceeded to get very, very sick as did La Jolla Dad, who rarely gets sick.  The most I felt was very fatigued for 2 days, but I could handle that because I was fully functional and still got everything I needed to done. They were each totally knocked out for 5 days. I should also mention that my immune system is normally very weak.  I fight mononucleosis on and off and have sinus problems.

GAIA Herbs Elderberry Syrup is easy to swallow in fact it ALMOST tastes like a syrup you could put on vanilla ice cream.  Elderberries have anti viral and immune boosting capabilities.  You can read more about that here. The GAIA Herbs Elderberry Syrup is made from organic European Black Elderberries, organic acerola and organic cane sugar. It’s manufactured under certified organic processing standards. There are no artificial flavors or colors. Children as young as 2 can take it. I did try it with La Jolla Girl though it’s taking a bit for her to get used to as she’s skeptical of new foods and drinks. She doesn’t notice it at all in smoothies.  Anyway, I’ll buy more next time I’m at Whole Foods and take some everyday for the rest of the flu season. It certainly can’t hurt.

Source Naturals Wellness Formula:  You are supposed to start taking this at the first sign of imbalance.  It’s a pretty powerful combination of herbs, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that are all listed here. If you don’t like large vitamins, you may have trouble with these. I’m usually not a fan of large vitamins but these went down fine. They also smell like olives. But this formula is specially designed to support an immune system under stress. I’m just convinced it worked for me. 

Whole Foods also sent me a small sized EO Hand Sanitizing Sprayin Peppermint. The ingredients are organic ethanol, organic peppermint essential oil, vitamin e, and organic thyme extract. I’m a big fan of natural spray sanitizer (you have also seen me talk about Burts Bees spray) because after I use the gels, I still feel like I need to go wash the slimy off my hands. EO has a nice feel to it without an overpowering smell. The small .33oz size can be easily slipped into your pocket or purse.

I have not yet have the opportunity to try Flu Ease yet.  It’s a homeopathic formula that is supposed to be taken at the first sign of flu symptoms such as fever, chills and body aches.  They claim there are no side effects.  If you or someone in your family is coming down with the flu, you might want to give this a try.

As always, before you try any immunity supplements such as the ones I just mentioned, you might want to consult your doctor. 

Whole Foods Gift Card Giveaway!

As a thank you for reading about these immunity supplements,  Whole Foods is going to giveaway a $10 gift card to one lucky La Jolla Mom reader.  All you need to do to enter is tell me what you normally do when you feel like you’re getting sick.  Do you take supplements?  Do you ride just it out?  After this entry, you’ll qualify for bonus entries which are listed below.  Leave a separate comment for each bonus entry. If you’ve already done these things, it counts, so leave comments anyway.

1.  Follow @WholeFoods on Twitter or your local Whole Foods Store (in my case that’s @WFMLaJolla). 
2.  Follow me on Twitter: @lajollamom
3.  Subscribe to La Jolla Mom via RSS or Google Friend Connect
4. Subscribe to the Whole Foods blog here
5.  Tweet about this giveaway. You can use the green Tweet Meme button at the bottom of the post or cut and paste this - Survive the cold and flu season with immunity supplements from Whole Foods http://bit.ly/7B4DO1. Win a Gift Card Too @lajollamom @wholefoods 

Don’t forget to leave a separate comment for each bonus entry. Comments will be closed at 12pm PST on Tuesday, December 22.  The winner is chosen by Random.org so the more entries you have, the higher your chances of winning are.  Thank you Whole Foods!  By the way, I love their iPhone app – try it.

Tagged as: Cold and Flu, Giveaways, Health, Immune System, Kids, Whole Foods