If you’re looking for ways to keep winter colds and the flu away, your answer may beas close as your grocery store.If you eat certain foods, you may be able to help your immune system stay strong tofight these infections.Eating different kinds of foods is very important to make sure you get all the vitamins yourbody needs.Citrus Fruits Many people try taking vitamin C once theyhave a cold.But vitamin C can stop you from getting sick in the first place, by making white bloodcells, which help fight infection.Some citrus fruits you can try are grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons, limes, and clementines.Make sure to take vitamin C every day, because your body doesn’t store it.Since there are so many citrus fruits to choose from, it’s easy to have some with everymeal.Red Bell Peppers Red bell peppers have double the amount ofvitamin C as citrus fruits.They also have a lot of beta carotene, which keeps your eyes and skin healthy, while vitaminC keeps healthy skin.Broccoli Another vegetable with a lot of vitamins andminerals is broccoli.Broccoli is full of vitamins A, C, and E, and also a lot of antioxidants, which makesit one of the healthiest vegetables you can find.The best way to eat it is to cook it very little or not at all, to keep in as many vitaminsas possible.Garlic Garlic is used in foods all around the world.It adds flavor to food and is very helpful to your health.It’s been known to fight infections for many years. Ginger Like vitamin C, ginger is something peoplestart using after they have a cold.What people don’t know is that ginger can actually stop you from getting a cold too.Spinach Spinach is another vegetable that’s fullof vitamin C, which helps the body fight infection.Like with broccoli, its best to cook the spinach as little as you can, to make sure the nutrientsare kept inside.This will add to its vitamin A and take away oxalic acid.Yogurt To make sure that the yogurt you’re buyingwill help stop you from getting sick, look for ones that say “live and active cultures”on the label.These cultures can help your body fight sicknesses.Yogurts can also have a lot of vitamin D, so look out for those brands.Turmeric Turmeric is a yellow, bitter spice that’sused in a lot of curries.It has been used to keep down swelling in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis formany years.Also, it’s just become known that the curcumin that gives turmeric its color can help withmuscles hurt from exercise.Poultry Chicken soup doesn’t only make you feelgood once you’re sick, but it can also keep you from getting sick.Poultry, like chicken and turkey, has a lot of vitamin B-6.Just 100 grams of light turkey or chicken meat has 40-50 percent of the B-6 you shouldhave every day.Papaya Another fruit full of vitamin C is papaya.One papaya has 224 percent of the vitamin C you should have in a day.Papaya has papain, a digestive enzyme which keeps down swelling in the body.It also has potassium, B vitamins, and folate which are good for your health.
