Fight the Fever: Staying Healthy this Winter
Cold and flu season is upon us: below freezing temperatures, noses dripping like leaky faucets and germs everywhere you turn. Protecting you and your family from sickness is not an easy task, but it's certainly possible. People in the United States suffer 1 billion colds annually according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - that's a lot of germs. Sure, you can wash your hands every half hour and try not to go near people who cough, but making changes to your diet can help you stay healthy too. Learn how to strategize your battle against germs with Eight Immunity Boosters and 12 Tips for Preventing Cold and Flu Infection.
While some people swear by supplements, we believe that a few simple adjustments to your diet can set you on the right track to getting the cold-fighting nutrients that your body craves. Here are some of the best foods to help boost your immunity.
Vitamin C
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but many people forget that a simple glass of orange juice in the morning could help their body stay healthy. Vitamin C increases the production of white blood cells and antibodies that fight infections. It also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by raisings levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.
Consuming around 200 milligrams a day of vitamin C should be enough to boost your immune system. You can take this in the form of a multivitamin or supplement, but it's also easy to consume at least six servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Here are the top seven fruits that contain vitamin C:
Guava (165 milligrams)
Papaya (87 milligrams)
Strawberries (84 milligrams)
Orange ( 75 milligrams)
Kiwi (74 milligrams)
Kiwi Cheesecake Tropical Kiwi Punch (non-alcoholic)
Cantaloupe (68 milligrams)
Grapefruit (42 milligrams)
Grapefruit Pumpkin Bread Smoked Whitefish Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit
Try some of these recipes to fit vitamin C into your everyday diet:
Hawaiian Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Vitamin E
Many people think of vitamin E as the "healing" vitamin and in most respects this is true. It is an important antioxidant that increases the production of killer cells that destroy germs and cancer cells. In fact, it has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks by 50 percent. You should get somewhere between 100 and 400 milligrams of vitamin E each day, but people who smoke, drink high levels of alcohol and do not exercise require larger doses.
Consuming vitamin E can come in the form of seeds, vegetable oils and grains, but it still may be difficult to consume enough to meet your daily quota. In this case, supplements may be taken to reach the necessary level for building your immune system. Try some of these recipes to fit vitamin E into your everyday diet:
Carotenoids
On a very basic level, cartenoids are responsible for the color of many organisms in nature, usually red, yellow and orange. They interfere with fats and cholesterols in the bloodstream to prevent blockage in arteries, thus preventing cardiovascular disease. Beta carotene is the most familiar carotenoid because the body converts it to vitamin A, which has anticancer properties and immune-boosting functions.
Foods like carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes and salmon are all high in carotenoids and are easy to incorporate into your daily diet. Munch on baby carrots as a snack during the day or in place of chips with your lunch. Flake poached salmon on top of a dinner salad.
Try some of these recipes to fit carotenoids into your everyday diet: Turkey Meatballs
Farmer's Market Restaurant Carrot Soufflé
"Beans & Barley" Carrot Walnut Muffins
Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Vinaigrette
Zucchini-Stuffed Tomatoes
Bioflavenoids
This group of phytonutrients aid the immune system by protecting cells against environmental pollutants. The easiest way to understand the true nature of their jobs is explained at AskDrSears.com, "Along the membrane of each cell there are microscopic parking spaces, called receptor sites. Pollutants, toxins or germs can park here and gradually eat their way into the membrane of the cell, but when bioflavenoids fill up these parking spots there is no room for the toxins to park."
Bioflavenoids are most commonly found in fruits and vegetables and most doctors believe that eating at least six servings a day will give you your daily dose. You can find bioflavenoids in:
Blackberries
Black currants
- Grapefruits, grapes, oranges and lemons, cantaloupes
Try some of these recipes to fit bioflavenoids into your everyday diet:
Zinc
This is a key mineral in fighting diseases in your body from cancer to the common cold. It increases the production of white cells that fight infections. Zinc supplements have even been shown to slow the growth of cancer. But before you start popping pills, beware. An excess of zinc in the body can actually inhibit immune function, so it's best to get zinc into your diet through foods and aim for 15 to 25 milligrams per day.
The best natural sources of zinc are:
Oysters (76 milligrams)
Zinc-fortified cereals (0-15 milligrams)
Crab (7 milligrams)
Beef (6 milligrams)
Turkey, dark meat (3.8 milligrams)
Crockpot Chicken Fiesta Herb and Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Beans (1.2-1.8 milligrams)
Try some of these recipes to fit zinc into your everyday diet:
White Bean and Tuna Salad Portuguese
Garlic
While we cannot guarantee it will keep vampires away, garlic certainly has positive effects on your immune system. It stimulates the multiplication of white cells and increases the efficiency of antibody production. Though there is not a widespread medical consensus on long-term benefits from garlic, it has been shown that cultures whose diets are rich in garlic have a lower incidence of intestinal cancer.
As any chef knows, garlic is a secret weapon in the kitchen, but wield with caution if you're planning on doing anything romantic afterwards! The possibilities of incorporating garlic into your diet are endless and some people have taken their obsessions to the extreme. In fact, the Food Network show "The Secret Life..." features garlic in one episode after which you'll know more about garlic than you ever thought possible. They even visit a restaurant called The Stinking Rose in California that serves up garlic bulbs and even garlic ice cream!
Try some of these recipes to fit garlic into your everyday diet: Garlicky Barbecue Chicken
Halibut Filets Braised with Ginger, Garlic and Wine
Pork Tenderloin Studded with Rosemary and Garlic
Braised Lamb with Garlic and Cinnamon
Selenium
Like most other components of this list, selenium increases natural killer cells and mobilizes cancer-fighting cells in your body. It is a mineral that is quite abundant in many common foods. They may be in your diet already, even if you didn't know the health benefits before. Adding about 55 milligrams to your diet should keep your immune system fighting hard.
The best places to find selenium in your food are tuna, red snapper, lobster, shrimp, whole grains, vegetables, brown rice, egg yolks, cottage cheese, chicken (white meat), sunflower seeds, garlic, Brazil nuts and lamb chops. With all that variety you shouldn't have too much trouble sneaking it into a meal.
Try some of these recipes to fit selenium into your everyday diet:
Grilled Ahi Tuna with Grilled Pineapple Salsa
Tuscan Tuna and Grilled Vegetable Wraps
Roasted Lobster Tails with Ginger Dipping Sauce
Apricot-Date Nut Bread with Caramel Sauce
Cottage Cheese and Spinach Gratin
Grilled Red Snapper with Sun-Dried Tomato Garnish
Cold Red Snapper with Shrimp and Mustard Mayonnaise
Omega-3 fatty acids
This fantastic immune system booster is also an all-around excellent addition to your diet. Omega-3s increase white blood cells that eat up bacteria and protect the body from infection. If you take essential fatty acid supplements, be sure to take vitamin E with it - they act together to boost the immune system.
Many people think that eating fish is the only way to get Omega-3 into their diets, but there are quite a few options. You can take supplements (along with vitamin E), but you can also add 1 to 3 teaspoons of flax oil to a fruit or yogurt smoothie. This is a clever way to sneak it into a picky child's diet. You can also find Omega-3-enriched eggs in your supermarket. Companies like Organic Valley and Egg Innovations both have products on the market that you can read about on their websites.
If you do like fish (and why wouldn't you?), salmon, tuna and mackerel are all excellent sources of Omega-3 fatty acids. There has been a decent amount of press about mercury levels in tuna, so it would be wise to limit your intake of tuna to once a week. And as always, consult your doctor or nutritionist if you have any questions. Here are some additional resource that you can find online: Natural Resources Defense Council
Got Mercury.org with a handy Mercury Calculator
EPA and FDA Advice for Women and Children
Try some of these recipes to fit Omega-3 fatty acids into your everyday diet:
Broiled Miso Salmon with Spago Cucumber Salad
Baked Salmon with Black Olive Salsa
12 Tips for Preventing Cold and Flu Infection
Unfortunately, even if you eat all the right foods, you may still feel that tickle in that back of your throat and the stuffiness in your nose. Here are some of the best ways to avoid infection in the germy-est of places from The People's Medical Society.
Wash Your Hands Most cold and flu viruses are spread by direct contact. Someone who has the flu sneezes onto their hand, and then touches the telephone, the keyboard, a kitchen glass. The germs can live for hours -- in some cases weeks -- only to be picked up by the next person who touches the same object. So wash your hands often. If no sink is available, rub your hands together very hard for a minute or so. That also helps break up most of the cold germs.
Don't Cover Your Sneezes and Coughs with Your Hands Because germs and viruses cling to your bare hands, muffling coughs and sneezes with your hands results in passing along your germs to others. When you feel a sneeze or cough coming, use a tissue, then throw it away immediately. If you don't have a tissue, turn your head away from people near you and cough into the air.
Don't Touch Your Face Cold and flu viruses enter your body through the eyes, nose, or mouth. Touching their faces is the major way children catch colds, and a key way they pass colds on to their parents.
Drink Plenty of Fluids Water flushes your system, washing out the poisons as it rehydrates you. A typical, healthy adult needs eight 8-ounce glasses of fluids each day. How can you tell if you're getting enough liquid? If the color of your urine runs close to clear, you're getting enough. If it's deep yellow, you need more fluids.
Take a Sauna Researchers aren't clear about the exact role saunas play in prevention, but one 1989 German study found that people who steamed twice a week got half as many colds as those who didn't. One theory: When you take a sauna you inhale air hotter than 80 degrees, a temperature too hot for cold and flu viruses to survive.
Get Fresh Air A regular dose of fresh air is important, especially in cold weather when central heating dries you out and makes your body more vulnerable to cold and flu viruses. Also, during cold weather more people stay indoors, which means more germs are circulating in crowded, dry rooms.
Do Aerobic Exercise Regularly Aerobic exercise speeds up the heart to pump larger quantities of blood; makes you breathe faster to help transfer oxygen from your lungs to your blood; and makes you sweat once your body heats up. These exercises help increase the body's natural virus-killing cells.
Eat Foods Containing Phytochemicals "Phyto" means plants, and the natural chemicals in plants give the vitamins in food a supercharged boost. So put away the vitamin pill, and eat dark green, red, and yellow vegetables and fruits.
Eat Yogurt Some studies have shown that eating a daily cup of low-fat yogurt can reduce your susceptibility to colds by 25 percent. Researchers think the beneficial bacteria in yogurt may stimulate production of immune system substances that fight disease. Don't Smoke Statistics show that heavy smokers get more severe colds and more frequent ones. Even being around smoke profoundly zaps the immune system. Smoke dries out your nasal passages and paralyzes cilia. These are the delicate hairs that line the mucous membranes in your nose and lungs, and with their wavy movements, sweep cold and flu viruses out of the nasal passages. Experts contend that one cigarette can paralyze cilia for as long as 30 to 40 minutes.
Cut Alcohol Consumption Heavy alcohol use destroys the liver, the body's primary filtering system, which means that germs of all kinds won't leave your body as fast. The result is, heavier drinkers are more prone to initial infections as well as secondary complications. Alcohol also dehydrates the body -- it actually takes more fluids from your system than it puts in.
Relax If you can teach yourself to relax, you can activate your immune system on demand. There's evidence that when you put your relaxation skills into action, your interleukins -- leaders in the immune system response against cold and flu viruses -- increase in the bloodstream. Train yourself to picture an image you find pleasant or calming. Do this 30 minutes a day for several months. Keep in mind, relaxation is a learnable skill, but it is not doing nothing. People who try to relax, but are in fact bored, show no changes in blood chemicals.
Charles B. Inlander, president of The People's Medical Society, a nonprofit consumer health advocacy organization, and author of 77 Ways to Beat Cold and Flu.
