Looking for a new, natural way to fend off the sniffles and sneezing? Try changing up your diet! What you put in your mouth every day impacts your health and can help keep those colds and flues at bay.
Foods to Fight Colds
The goal here is to incorporate foods that contain higher amounts of vitamin A, C, E and Omega-3fatty acids. Some of these foods include:
- Hazel Nuts
- Almonds
- Peanut Butter
- Sunflower Seeds
- Wheat germ oil
- Sweet potatoes
- Broccoli
- Yellow Pepper
- Guava
- Papaya
- Melon
- Grapefruit
- Oranges
- Mangoes
To get those Omega-3 fatty acids, focus on eating fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, and throw flaxseeds into different dishes or use flaxseed oil when cooking. Take advantage of cooking with lots of garlic too for an additional immune boost!
What to Avoid
It is important to remember that immune-boosting foods should be eaten throughout the entire day. Eating a load of them in the morning and then drinking cans of pop, eating processed foods and having sugary desserts is not going to be doing your immune system any favors. The goal is to consistently eat a health, fresh balanced diet and avoid foods that contain refined carbohydrates like:
- Sugar
- Margarine
- White flour
As a sugar substitute, try using honey or Stevia extract. Replace margarine with olive oil or butter, and instead of white flour try baking with whole wheat flour or eating whole wheat products (such as whole wheat pastas, breads and pizza crusts). Making such changes won’t even be noticed by your kids!
That brings another question to mind: how the heck will you get you kids to eat the minimum 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day? One great way to get your kids eating well is to get them involved in the food preparation. Fruit salads, making frozen fruit pops or even having them make smoothies are good ways to get them eating right (slip in some sweet potatoes and carrots to the smoothie to be sure they’re getting their vegetables – they won’t even be noticed!). There are many resources and discussions online about how you can get your kids to eat their 5-10 servings of fruits and veggies a day. Experiment and see what works with your family.
photo by Crystal Alifanow
