Flu Season Diet

I just got my flu shot, which means it's flu season...

So I am a firm believer in food curing the body/"you are what you eat." For this reason, I belive you can give yourself your own kind of "flu shot" by upgrading your diet to include more of certain nutrients. I still recommend getting a flu shot, becuase viruses are no fun, and technically you could still get the bug no matter what you do.

Vitamin C. Well yeah, I think you all saw this one coming. Having a high amount of Vitamin C in your diet will never hurt you (You lose all the extra in the bathroom), and it has shown to improve the immune system. Don't settle for just Vitamin C inside fruit snacks or added to cereals or in pill form. Grab an orange, some pineapple, an apple, etc. The freshest forms will pack the highest quality of the vitamins. You could also try some fresh juice too.

Hydrate! This could be the most important component to any diet ever. Trust me, simply by drinking more water daily, you should see improvements in your diet, digestion, and overall comfort with food. Keeping hydrated can keep runny noses not so stuffy and headaches not so powerful. Try drinking some tea with some polyphenols or antioxidants in it to beef up the efficiency of your drink. Those guys can really help out attacking a cold or flu.

Zinc is one of the newer micronutrients people are consuming more of to combat sickness. It is believed that zinc helps increase white blood cell count (obviously good for fighting off infections and what not). You can get too much zinc, in which case the zinc can interfere and worsen your immune system, so don't go too crazy here. Oysters are packed with the stuff, beats many other foods by a landslide in zinc. Eating more than 5 oysters will put you at the top limits of daily intake of zinc. Other much smaller sources are crab, beef, turkey, and beans.

Omega 3 fatty acids. It's kind of one of those buzz words. Everyone knows you can find it in fish sources. Omega 3's are great for you in that they contribute to healthy cholesterol and lessen unhealthy cholesterol while providing the best kind of fats that your vitamins and minerals can store. On top of those things, omega-3's have been found to boost immune function by increasing the activity of phagocytes. What are those? These are white blood cells that literally eat up bacteria and toxins. Awesome.

These are just some of the ways you can boost your health in preparation for this season. Remember, having an overall healthy diet and consciously eating your food will always give you a healthy lifestyle. From there try to add my tips to increase your health even more!