Immune-Boosting Superfoods For Cold And Flu Season

First that nasty cold knocked out the IT department, then your desk-mate started sniffling. At this time of year, there seems to be a perpetual virus going around the office. One way to help? Load up on superfoods that give your immune system a fighting chance, but don't wait until you're already feeling under the weather. Studies show that infection-fighting nutrients like zinc, selenium and beta-glucans work better before symptoms start, so load up on healthful foods now to keep your body's defense system strong throughout the season.

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Comments

[Sam Debater]

01:59 AM on 01/09/2012

Kale is high in potassium.

[mizmemah]

12:33 AM on 01/09/2012

My mother used to make garlic tea at the first sign of a cold. aand I still make it and asvice my family to drink garlic tea at the first sign of a cold . I drink mine with honey and it really works

[dougsgam]

12:10 AM on 01/09/2012

I have been slicing a clove of garlic in my morning tea for ~ 2 yrs. My chronically draining sinuses fo 20+ years, for which I took 2 prescription meds, cleared up within 3 months & my cholesterol went down 30 points. I DO chew peppermint Eclipse gum in the morning on my way to work, which I did a lot before anyway - in addition to freshening up my breath, I understand chewing gum burns calories.....

[DoggieMom]

10:35 PM on 01/08/2012

What kind of flowers are in that kale salad? Looks like pansies or something. Pretty to look at, but not to eat!

[BamaRainbow]

04:19 AM on 01/09/2012

You should do some research (given your little tagline, I'm guessing you don't know the meaning of the word). Many flowers are perfectly edible--most don't have a strong flavor but they add a lot of color to a salad. Lavender, daisies, jasmine, violets, roses are all just a few types of flowers that are edible. Some care must be taken since some people can be allergic to the flowers. (Care should also be taken to avoid any flowers that have been sprayed with chemical pesticides although just for you, I'd say throw caution to the wind.)

[DoggieMom]

09:29 AM on 01/09/2012

I'm sure it just made your day to try to belittle me because I don't like flowers in my salad, lol. You sound like an angry person, but please......keep on eating those dandelions! Have a nice day!

[crwyatt05]

09:58 PM on 01/08/2012

I am sure that garlic has medicinal if used raw. But, I have known and worked with people that use it that way. All I can say is, I wouldn't want to smell that bad. It not only wreaks a foul smell from their mouth but out their pores when they start to sweat. Disgusting!

[ectullis]

01:37 AM on 01/09/2012

Bad breath is better than none at all.

[Dead Wrong]

09:47 PM on 01/08/2012

Not only does it add flavor it Repels Vampires !

[hattie54]

08:33 PM on 01/08/2012

I've been eating raw garlic in my salad for years.I had some tonight with goat cheese,red onions.

[Cat Magic]

09:25 PM on 01/08/2012

lol hope who ever lives with you did the same :)

[hattie54]

10:17 PM on 01/08/2012

Hubby puts up with it but then he has bad breath regardless of anything he eats.He has to chew gum a hour after his brushes his teeth.His Mother also had bad gums also so its a genetic thing.Garlic each day keeps the colon cancer away too,something my brother didn't eat at all.

[chefpati]

07:29 PM on 01/08/2012

when I was a little girl, my one favorite treat was to eat a whole bulb of garlic. I would eat it like an apple!!! My teacher in kindergarten told my mother I was not allowed to come to school any more if I had eaten garlic!! You're not gonna believe this....my second favorite "food" was cod liver oil!!!

I am 73 yrs old and have never had a problem with cholesterole or any heart prob lems...do you suppose all that stuff had anything to do with it? I know it sounds weird, but this is the truth!!

[crwyatt05]

10:05 PM on 01/08/2012

Did you have many friends?

[BweatherUR]

06:56 PM on 01/08/2012

Garlic will kill a sore throat in 24 hours.

[Al Schrader]

05:47 PM on 01/08/2012

What you eat wont keep you from getting the flu. What will is the new flu vaccines available at your County Health department. The new vaccines contain protection against H1N1, 5 strains of flu, and more. Many of the sore throat colds I got I thought were colds, but are a milder type of flu.
The shots are inexpensive so I got the flu, pneumonia, and TDaP whooping cough vaccines all at once. Took about 10 minutes. Has already saved me hundreds of dollars in missed work, doctor visits, and tammy flu/ home remedy quackery.

For months I've been surrounded by sniffly sneezy feverish, coughing sore throat people from all over the world and I haven't gotten even a hiccup....Alfie-

[doublem00]

06:04 PM on 01/08/2012

Sorry, Al, but I think a healthy diet is your best defense against the flu and the common cold. I'm 67 and have never had the flu. Neither has my husband, who is 80, nor our adult children. We raise and eat our own organic vegetables, eat whole grains and drink filtered water. None of us is overweight. This contributes to our continued good health, plus the fact that we don't smoke or drink alchol. We have never had a flu shot.

[jonstarbuck]

09:33 PM on 01/08/2012

Why do you connect never having the flu with your diet? I don't see the connection. There is an enormous difference between correlation and causation. Your best deffence in not getting the flu is not coming into contact with people with the flu, your second is a vaccination. Please find me one scientific study showing a connection between the flu and diet, because I have looked and I can't find it.

[starkmaddness]

09:54 PM on 01/08/2012

A healthy immune system is far better than relying on vaccines. Even if you accept that flu vaccines are risk free, they only work against the specific strains of the flu that are chosen every year. If one of those strains mutates, your vaccination is worthless against it. Flu vaccines are a backup plan at best, unless you are immunodeficient.

[Dennis Tucker]

06:12 AM on 01/09/2012

Keep speaking out and try to ignore the resistance.

THIS is what it will take for the mainstream masses to finally catch on to the truth about health and herbs.

[devildog0311usmc]

05:20 PM on 01/08/2012

CAN'T REMEMBER THE LAST TIME I HAD A COLD. I EAT GARLIC---PEPPER----ONIONS--HOT SAUCE EVERYDAY......WHAT I NEED IS SOMETHING TO EAT THAT WILL KEEP ME FROM GETTING FAT SO I WON'T HAVE TO KILL MYSELF IN THE GYM TRYING TO KEEP MY WEIGHT DOWN.

[beanbrain]

05:02 PM on 01/08/2012

garlic and onion both have long been known to be healing......if you can't stand eating garlic raw, butter and toast slices of french bread, then cut thin slivers of garlic and place slivers all over surface. it is worth you trouble. it works!

[adika3z]

05:49 PM on 01/08/2012

i like to eat both garlic sandwich or onion sandwich

[lthrnck68]

08:01 PM on 01/08/2012

My dad used to eat onion sandwiches. Slice a big onion, put the slice on bread and sprinkle it with vinegar.

[adika3z]

04:46 PM on 01/08/2012

yummy yummy garlic,
garlic is a my favor food,
garlic is the best medicine in the person body,
garlic is the number one,
onion is the number two,

[beanbrain]

05:03 PM on 01/08/2012

exactly.... brain food as well!

[adika3z]

05:46 PM on 01/08/2012

haha nice,
garlic is cleaning the brain

[Schmice]

06:37 PM on 01/08/2012

Maybe the Republican pretenders to the throne should have been eating it.

[C Wayne Casteel]

04:42 PM on 01/08/2012

My favorite health foods are half bottle of scotch per day, A 12 once rare steak, french fries covered in cheese, salad with lots of blu-cheeze dressing and diet coke. Then top off the good feast with cake and coffee and a non-filtered cirgarette then it's off to nap time. My doctor said I'd die 3 to 4 years earlier than normal unless I changed my diet. Told him I'd see him next year for my annual physical just after my 84th birthday.

[4given4ever]

05:54 PM on 01/08/2012

Wayne, It's the diet coke that's keeping you alive. HAHA Wish you many more to come.

[H Toledo]

08:30 PM on 01/08/2012

MY MAN!

[EdMercer]

04:18 PM on 01/08/2012

Good to know these http://www.homeremediesinfoguide.info superfoods with winter and cold season starting.