5 foods to stave off the colds this winter
By Jessah Shaw, Adv Dip (Nut Med)
No one enjoys being sick, and at this time of the year colds and the flu seem to be rampant. While you may be craving high-carb foods such as bread, pasta and hot chips, when you are sick you need to be choosing foods that are nutrient-dense and immune-boosting. Keep reading for 5 foods to stockpile this winter:
1) Bone broth
More and more frequently bone broth has been talked about, and for good reason. What we are referring to is what your grandmother used to call stock. The process of making bone broth slowly and gently extracts the valuable nutrients from the bone, making it a dietary powerhouse. The components that are extracted such as gelatine, collagen and glucosamine have great benefits on the immune system, are anti-inflammatory and increase the number of disease-fighting white cells. Bone broth is also rich in glycine, proline and glutamine. Glutamine is the most important amino acid for healing the gut wall. There are several recipes available to make your own broth, or alternatively you can purchase ready-made bone broth in health food stores and some supermarkets.
2) Ginger
The benefits of ginger are well known due to a chemical called sesquiterpenes that can specifically target rhinoviruses, the most common family of cold viruses. Ginger can also assist in suppressing coughing and contain anti-inflammatory gingerols to fight infection. The most convenient way to get the benefits is through ginger tea, or grating fresh ginger into stews, stir-fries or in raw juices.
3) Brazil nuts
These large nuts must be mentioned due to their high amount of selenium. Selenium is a powerful mineral required for a healthy immune system. Being deficient in selenium can compromise our immunity and make it much harder to fight against viruses. It doesn’t help that our soils are very depleted in selenium. Our Selenium Ultra Potent supports healthy immune system function and is anti-inflammatory.
4) Citrus fruits
Citrus fruits such as lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit are high in the antioxidant vitamin C, which is excellent for boosting immunity and staving off infections. If you’re feeling under the weather, drink some hot water with fresh lemon or squeeze some lemon or lime on your salad. Our Collagen Food powder contains high strength vitamin C.
5) Sauerkraut
This also encompasses other fermented foods such as apple cider vinegar, kimchi and kefir which are rich with live, active enzymes and probiotics. The tart flavour stimulates digestive acids as well as containing many immune-supportive and anti-carcinogenic acids to further support gut health. However, it is important to only introduce small amounts at a time and gradually increase. Our Ultimate Gut Health powder is designed to soothe, heal and repair the gut lining and contains the probiotic, Saccharomyces boulardii. We have an easy sauerkraut recipe you can follow.
For more information on improving immune health, please download Dr Cabot’s free e-book here: ‘How to Keep Your Immune System Healthy’
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