With the colder season rapidly approaching, fighting the common cold and steering clear of swine flu, or any flu, is on the minds of many. To fight these harmful viruses, creating a strong, healthy immune system is the ticket staying sick-free. Keep these superfoods in your diet to keep your insides in tip top fighting shape.

Chicken Soup:

Not only is it our favorite comfort food, but researchers at the University of Nebraska found that chicken soup held the amino acids necessary for blocking the inflamed immunity cells that travel your body and build up in your trachea causing cold and flu symptoms associated with the throat. Chicken soup is a hearty and scrumptious way to celebrate cold weather. Eat chicken soup whenever you want.

Yogurt:

You have long heard that probiotics help assemble the good bacteria in your stomach to keep diseases away, and the flu is no different. Full of “live active cultures,” yogurt helps in keeping the stomach and intestines free of germs that cause harmful bacteria to grow. Yogurt that contains the strain Lactobacillus reuteri, has proved to be most effective, and can be found in Stonyfield Farms yogurt sold in the United States.

Garlic:

The power clove that you love to put in your favorite dishes has also been used to fight bad bacteria as well as infections. Professionals encourage eating two cloves a day or slice up a few in your meals a couple times a week in order to get their full effect.

Oats and Barley:

This duo contains a fiber that holds a lot of antimicrobial and antioxidant properties more akin to taking Echinacea. These super grains help speed up the healing process and boost immunity which is needed to prevent a virus like the flu from spreading. Eat one serving per day of oats or barley to attain the daily recommended dosage to keep bugs out of your system.

Sweet Potatoes:

Foods that contain beta-carotene, found in sweet potatoes, help your body turn them into vitamin A which helps protect your body overall. If you detest the sweet potato, other sources of beta-carotene that carry vitamin A are found in other orange tinted foods like carrots and squash.

xx, Grace Daniel

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