1. Food as Medicine? Boost your immune system naturally

2. Facts about the Common Cold: Most adults have 1-3 colds a year, whereas children can have 10 or more. Colds are viruses, not bacterial infections. By boosting your immune system through your diet and lifestyle, you will be less susceptible to sickness.

3. What can you do? Eat like a rabbit. Use fresh seasonings known for their anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal, and anti-microbial properties. Move more. Sleep more and stress less! Take time for you.

4. Garlic Garlic is a great decongestant! By using 2.5 g of garlic a day, your cold duration can be reduced by 60%. This is only a clove a day! Use fresh garlic – mince it or chop it, as the finer it is, the stronger it is. Garlic tinctures are available as well for those who don’t like it in their foods.

5. Chicken Broth Bone broth is easy to make by using a slow cooker, and adding vegetables like onions, garlic, carrots, parsnips and celery enhance the taste and nutritional quality. Homemade bone broth helps open sinus passages and reduces inflammation.

6. Cayenne Pepper Cayenne Pepper is known for its ability to clear sinuses. It also helps relieve ear pain. By clearing the sinuses through food use, you limit the chance for a sinus infection.

7. Vitamins and Minerals By consuming a wide array of fruits and vegetables, you will get many of the vitamins you need. Spend 20 – 25 minutes a day outside for your vitamin D intake. For your vitamin C, most fruits, as well as dark leafy greens such as spinach, will naturally boost your intake.

8. Morning Wellness Drink: Make a cup of warm water or green tea. Squeeze a lemon into the water (you may need to begin with ½ a lemon). Add a dash of cayenne pepper. Stir in a tsp of honey, or sweeten to taste.

9. Other helpful tidbits: Use soap that is not antibacterial. Wash regularly but not excessively. If eating vegetables is a habit you need to grow in, make sure to take a complete multivitamin. Zinc and Echinacea both help reduce the duration of a virus. Probiotics through a supplement or fermented foods (sauerkraut or kombucha) can help boost your gut health.

10. References: Boost Your Immune System and avoid the flu naturally. (2014). Natural Life, 9. ERICKSON, K. (2012). Boost your immunity. Better Nutrition, 74(12), 32-36. Passioti, M., Maggina, P., Megremis, S., & Papadopoulos, N. G. (2014). The common cold: potential for future prevention or cure. Current Allergy And Asthma Reports, 14(2), 413. doi:10.1007/s11882-013-0413-5 WHITE, L. B. (2010). 12 STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. Mother Earth News, (241), 76.