Whenever winter is approaching, it is in your best interest to fortify your immune system. So, the very first thing you have to do if you have a cold (or if you want to avoid cold) is to visit your doctor and take that shot. Right after that, you can further fortify your immune system by taking any of the following foods that can help you nurse yourself back to good health.
1. Water
We all know that water is good for our health, but not a lot of us understand how effective it is in fighting sicknesses like cold and flu. There’s a lot of scientific statements about how water can help you get over a cold. The punch line, however, is that staying hydrated can help loosen trapped mucus in your body.
Drink at least 8 cups of water per day as conventionally recommended. You can even take more than that seeing as we tend to lose a lot of fluids when sick.
2. Eggs
For a really long while, we all believed that the yellow part of an egg is not so good for our health because of its high cholesterol content. But that information is flat wrong according to a lot of more recent and reliable researches. So, go ahead and have some eggs, they will do you good and help you fight cold.
Experts believe that eggs are one of the best foods for cold because they are very rich in protein, which is a very important nutrient for the body, sick or not. Eggs also contain a high amount of vitamin D which helps in regulating and strengthening your immunity, especially when you’re battling with a sickness.
3. Bananas
Banana is a powerhouse of nutrients that have a lot of health benefit. You should eat bananas as often as possible if you really intend to keep cold away or at least maintain a healthy immune system. It is high in potassium, which is good for the heart and the brain. It also has electrolytes which have notable energy-boosting benefits.
4. Berries
You can never go wrong with vitamin C when you have a cold or flu. Eat as many berries as possible for a natural vitamin C intake to help drive away the cold. There are different types of berries, and all of them are equally nutritious. So it doesn’t matter what type of berry you eat.
Just like many other sources of vitamin C on this list, eating berries will help you boost your immune system and treat cough and cold. They can lower your cholesterol level, aid digestion, and are good for your skin.
5. Ginger tea
Ginger tea, made from ginger roots, is extremely effective for fighting the cold. It’s a natural way to load up on vitamin C, magnesium, and anti-oxidants. As far as cold is concerned, you stand to gain a lot from taking a piping hot cup of ginger. Some of the benefits include:
- It improves digestion and increases absorption
- Relieves nausea
- Reduces inflammation
- Strengthen immunity
- Relieves congestion, etc.
It’s almost like ginger tea is meant for fighting cold and nothing else. But that would be a lie.
6. Greek yogurt
Yogurt plays a role in the body defense mechanism, which centers on your body’s immune system. It also contains good bacterias that can ease the severity of a cold. It is rich in protein, calcium, and good for your digestive health, as well as your heart.
Greek yogurt is a better option, but you can go for any other yogurt if greek yogurt is not available.
7. Whole grain bread
When your respiratory tract is infected with the cold virus, you may experience an inflammatory response in your body. You’re going to observe signs like fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, a swollen nasal passageway, and brain fog, to mention but a few. That is why it is advised to eat foods that have anti-inflammatory properties like whole grain bread.
The anti-inflammatory properties of whole grain bread bring about the increase in the production of healthy bacteria in your gut. It may interest you to know that 70% of your immune system is in your gut. If you can get to fight it from your gut when you have a cold, then you have a high chance of fending off any cold-causing germs.
8. Dark chocolate
You are free to indulge in a bit of chocolate when you have a cold. It is surprisingly helpful in fighting off cold. It contains a heavy concentration of theobromine, a compound rich in antioxidants. And as you may know, antioxidants are effective in alleviating cough.
Scientific research has it that theobromine is helpful in suppressing cold and other respiratory diseases like cough and flu.
9. Fatty fish
Again, if your immune system is in good condition, then you’ll not be prone to colds and other infections. So, get your immune system to an optimal level by eating a lot of nutritious foods that are good for your immune system. Fatty fish is one of such meals.
Fatty fishes are rich in omega-3 fatty acid which helps to keep cold away. This omega-3 content in fatty fishes helps to boost the activity of the white blood cells, which is notable evidence of the immune system response.
10. Tomatoes
Tomato is another cold-fighting, vitamin C rich, delicious food that can be used to fight cold and flu. It has a lot of properties that can help drive away cold, and contains many healthy components such as vitamin C. Do you know that just a medium sized tomato contains 16mg of vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a vital component of your body’s immune system. Taking a lot of it strengthens your immune system, which in turn drives away cold.
You may not be in the mood to prepare food when you’re sick, which is understandable. Try as much as you can though. You can get someone to do it for you if it’s too hard for you to cook. You can settle for meals that are very easy to prepare but healthy. By all means, try to eat healthily and you’ll recover from cold in no time.
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