This holiday weekend is big for eating, shopping -- and spreading the flu! So if you want to keep from getting sick -- there's a few foods you might want to add to your winter menu!
Your best defense of course is always the flu vaccine and good hand hygiene. But registered dietitian Sheri Kanarek says you can also help your body stay well by giving it in the winter -- the good foods -- such as fruits and vegetables -- you usually get in the summer.
"It's always a little more difficult in the winter months to get fruits and vegetables into your diet, because they are not as readily available. We have them at the supermarkets, but we really don't have the outdoor and farmers markets as much, but it's easy to still add vegetables such as carrots and celery, chunks of carrots to your soups, have vegetables soups, it's still good to have fruits as desserts and you can get em into your diet that way."
But there are also three other things that could really make a big difference in keeping your immune system strong, all winter long, doing these all year round can help boost immunity."
First up -- drink green tea -- you can get it cold -- or hot --but food scientists at the University of Vermont found the natural compounds called polyphenols in it may help kill off viruses and perhaps stimulate immune cells which fight disease.
Second -- eat yogurt -- the kind with active cultures or pro-biotics as they are called may help give your body back some of the good things you need to stay well when pills such as antibiotics take them out of the body.
Finally, don't give up the workout routine. It's one of the first things to go this time of year but working up a good sweat can keep you from getting good and sick!
You also might want to add a multi-vitamin to your routine this winter to stay well. A report in the British Journal of Nutrition found vitamin deficiencies can make you more vulnerable to getting sick.
