Foods to fight flu - Part 1

6 April 2020 / Posted in Be FoodWise

Whether you have the flu or a cold, or you want to prevent either of these in the coming winter, turn to your kitchen to get your body healthy. Start with upping your Vitamin C by eating foods like guavas, oranges, lemons, strawberries, dried cranberries, broccoli, sweet peppers, kiwi fruit and cabbage.

Vitamin C can help reduce the duration of a cold or flu, and it’s also an antioxidant that boosts the immune system. Try a fruit smoothie in the mornings with strawberries and orange juice, make a fruit coleslaw and add broccoli florets to pasta or make a ratatouille with sweet peppers.

Chicken soup for the cold

It’s not just an old wives tale, chicken soup really can help you to feel better when youre down! The warmth of the chicken soup, as with any warm liquid, helps to ease congestion in the nose, throat and chest. The rice, noodles or potatoes in the soup will provide carbohydrates to lift your energy levels. Soups made with added vegetables are also best as they will give you some much needed nutrients. For the added health kick, ensure that your soup contains ginger, lemon and garlic, as the natural antibiotic in garlic could help prevent or shorten the duration of a cold.

Probiotics

Yoghurts with live cultures contain probiotics, a gut friendly bacteria. This friendly bacteria helps maintain the good bacteria in your body, especially essential if you are taking antibiotics, which destroy both good and bad bacteria. Probiotics enhance overall immune function and may also help to reduce cold and flu symptoms. If you don’t enjoy yoghurt by itself, try adding it to muesli for breakfast, a fruit smoothie or use it to top fruits for a quick dessert or snack. Additional sources of probiotics include kefir, sauerkraut or kimchi.

Eat orange

Yellow and orange foods, as well as some red foods and green leafy vegetables, are rich in beta carotene. These include butternut, sweet potato, apricots, broccoli, spinach, mango, paw paw, red peppers and carrots. Beta carotene improves the functioning of your immune system by increasing the number of infection fighting cells in your body.

Something fishy

Fatty fish like fresh tuna, and fresh or canned salmon, mackerel, pilchards and sardines provide the body with essential omega 3 fatty acids. This healthy fat supports the white blood cells in fighting infection and also strengthens cell membranes, speeding up healing and increasing your resistance to infection in the body. These oily fish are also rich in vitamin D, which is said to help maintain a healthy immune system. So top your toast with tinned fish or make some delicious fish cakes with sardines.

Read part 2 of this article here.

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