Good Morning Everyone!

Combat the cold and flu season with food!  That’s right, there are foods you can eat that will help support your immune system.  Below is a list of some of the foods recommended by Dr. Oz and Dr.Mercola with a brief description of their benefits.  You can click on the links below for more information 🙂

1. Kale, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce – Cruciferous vegetables such as kale, broccoli, lettuce and cabbage support your liver and immune function by boosting the liver’s ability to flush out toxins.
2. Avocados – Adding ½ cup of avocados to your diet is an easy way to support adrenal function and health and keep your immune system happy. Avocados contain essential amino acids, antioxidants and some healthy fats to help balance hormone production.
3. Ginger – According to Ayurvedic traditions, ginger warms the body and helps to break down the accumulation of toxins in the organs, particularly in the lungs and sinuses. 
4. Sage Extract – Sage extract works as an expectorant, which helps your body move mucus out of your respiratory tract and helps to calm your cough. As a good alternative to an over-the-counter expectorant, try a drop of sage extract in tea or hot water.
5. Mushrooms – Mushrooms strengthen your immune system because they are rich in protein, fiber, vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, and other minerals.
6. Garlic – Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal!
7. Coconut Oil, Water and Milk – Coconuts are an antiviral and is rich in lauric acid, which converts in your body to monolaurin which is known to strength the immune system.
8. Honeysuckle and Chrysanthemum  – You can drink this as a tea. They both are antiviral!
9. Turmeric – General immune system booster due to its high antioxidant capacity, and an anticancer agent as well; turmeric is five to eight times stronger than vitamins C and E, and even strong enough to scavenge the hydroxyl radical, which is considered by some to be the most reactive of all oxidants.

10. Cinnamon – Powerful antimicrobial agent—found to kill E. coli and many other bacteria; also has anti-inflammatory compounds.
11. Elderberry Extract – Used for its antioxidant activity, to lower cholesterol, improve vision, boost the immune system, improve heart health and for coughs, colds, flu, bacterial and viral infections and tonsillitis. Elderberry juice was used to treat a flu epidemic in Panama in 1995.

http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-elderberry.html

Dr. Oz:

http://www.doctoroz.com/slideshow/boost-your-immunity-naturally?gallery=true

Dr. Mercola:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/12/08/top-12-foods-for-healthy-immune-response.aspx

Don’t forget to sanitize the devices you use daily.  Take your phone for example.  You would have less germs on your face/cheek if you were to use your shoe as a phone as oppose to your actual phone.  Your phone goes everywhere with you so it only makes sense that your phone would be one of the most germ infested things you own.  I would recommend you sanitize the following DAILY:

• Phone and phone case (take the case off to sanitize)
• Tablet
• Computer keyboard and mouse
• TV Remote
• Door handles