Blog tour: Optimize Your Immune System

Welcome to the blog tour for Optimize Your Immune System: Create Health and Resilience with a Kitchen Pharmacy by Marie Ruggles.

About the book…

Many people think that it’s normal to come down with an illness each year and, for some, two or three times a year. Yet researchers have proven that nutrition and lifestyle factors can boost your immune system.

Learn how to build a kitchen pharmacy of whole foods, superfoods and nutrients to provide a stable foundation for your health. And when you’re at an increased risk of infection, know what to do to derail a virus before it takes hold.

Follow this immune-boosting roadmap to a healthier diet, making you less prone to viral infections and more resilient after an illness.

In Optimize Your Immune System, you’ll read about the three phases of immune support.

Phase I: Everyday immune strengthening and care

Phase II: After exposure to an unhealthy person or environment

Phase III: Immune-boosting support to prevent an illness when you feel like you’re coming down with something

For each of these phases, Marie Ruggles, M.S., R.D., C.N., C.D.E., draws upon over forty years of experience within the wellness arena.

The book begins with her explaining how the immune system works and what it does. From there, she discusses the foods that help and hinder our immunity. She even gives a whole foods quick start guide for those who aren’t too certain where to start.

She also shares the concept of juice bathing, and how to use that to minimize the fuss and mess of juicing while maximizing its benefit.

Optimize Your Immune System makes specific recommendations for how to fortify and stimulate your body’s natural defenses using a simple kitchen pharmacy, no matter which phase of immune support you are facing.

Diving deep, the book looks closely at whole foods, superfoods, nutrients and supplements, even giving specific product recommendations for those brands and products the author personally loves most.

The final chapter of the book pulls everything together in an easy-to-reference format sharing phase-specific recommendations, as well as how to eat more nutritious foods even if you’re on a limited budget.

About the author…

Marie Ruggle’s teaching focus is on coaching others to take back their power by developing a home inventory of natural wellness solutions.  She is obsessed with searching for the healthiest products and bringing nutrition science (eating for prevention) into the kitchen by sharing easy hacks for getting real food on the table with minimal effort. Her background is in Nutrition & Public Health. She has a master’s degree from Columbia University where she started her career in research.  She also has a certification in Essential Oil Safety and has been a Certified Diabetes Educator for many years.

My thoughts…

What a treasure chest of knowledge this book is! And it couldn’t have been published at a better time. Personally, given the current pandemic and the fact that my little one has started nursery, boosting the immune system of my family is more of a priority than it ever was.

The book is easy to navigate and the terminology used is approachable, without being too simplistic. I feel like a lot of work has gone into making sure that the wide range of information presented is as accessible as possible.

I also appreciated the overview of the factors that can affect our immune system, as well as the lists of resources offered at the end of the book. Some of these might not be relevant outside of the US but, in general, I found them useful.

I will definitely be recommending this book to family and friends.