Tips To Keep Colds Away

With colder weather making itself known, here are 6 tips to keep you healthy through cold and flu s.

1- Vitamin D. Take up to 2000IU daily to keep your immune system functioning optimally.  In the north and even a full days exposure of face and hands to the winter sun is not adequate for your body needs.  Foods that contain Vitamin D and should be included in your diet weekly.  Some examples are organ meats, oysters, shell fish and dairy.

2- Neti-Pots.  Have one?  Learn to use it.  If not you can also purchase saline nasal washes from pharmacy and health food stores.  These practices help keep you lubed up in the sinus area as well as alleviate any congestion, mucus build up and or most bacteria that thrive in those environments.

3- Dress properly.  Winter is cold.  Period.  Quit complaining about it, and dress accordingly.  There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes.

4- Broths. Broths contain a whole bunch of goodness all suspended in gelatin.  That concoction makes all goodness so much easier for your body to absorb nutrients.  Drink them, cook with them, and enjoy them as soup.  Always choose high quality bone broths, not weird yellow dyed water with green flakes in it.

5- Bring on the heat. Yep, appreciate that hot sauce, explore Kimchi, and feel the excitement of that burn and the runny  nose that goes along with it.  This simple addition helps kill bacteria and keep your sinus passages open.

6- Butter Up!  Choose butter. Not margarine.  Butter contains lovely fats and vitamins A and D.  It also helps transport all those fatty vitamins essential for immune health from your other food to where you need it inside you.  Don't skimp... all northern cultures include plenty of fats in their diet.  They also keep you full and warmer.