Beating a Cold

I knew I was getting sick last week and I spent this past weekend and yesterday recovering (except for staying out late at a Halloween party Saturday night...I'm not perfect). But I did a bunch or research (read: looked over a few online articles) about some of the best and worst foods for fighting colds. Here are some of the foods I ate this weekend and why they were good or bad for my cold. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes/good choices.

Do Drink:
1. Cold-Pressed Fresh Juice (aka the ones that are like $6-9 a bottle)
Cold-pressed juice ensures that all of the fruit's nutrients remain intact unlike heated pasteurization which robs the fruit of most of it's nutrients. Drink juice in moderation when you're sick and try to stick to a green juice that will be less sweet than say an apple juice.

Evolution's Super Green Smoothie is delicious and even has a snip of
wheatgrass in it which gives it an extra cold-kicking punch! 

Don't Drink:

2. Most grocery store juices

Even the ones that claim they are "not from concentrate" can still be held up in big metal containers for months before the manufacturer sprinkles in some "natural flavors" and ships it off to you. You can read about how your whole orange-juice drinking childhood was a lie here. Also, the extra sugars inhibit white blood cells from properly fighting infection.

Do Eat:
3. Chicken Soup like this one that I made on Sunday.
Chicken soup has been proven to actually help battle the body's immune system battle early stages of the flu! It also gets your white blood cells all amped up (which helps fight sickness). You can read all about chicken soup here.

Don't Eat:
4. French Onion Soup (especially at 3AM, yep I did that)
Don't get me wrong: I LOVE a good french onion soup, but the amount of sodium and fat from the cheese makes this soup not worth it when it comes to battling a cold.

Do Eat:
5. Garlic
Don't let me tell you. I'll just quote some smart dude: "Dr. Tariq Abdullah, a prominent garlic researcher stated in the August 1987 issue of Prevention: “Garlic has the broadest spectrum of any antimicrobial substance that we know of — it is antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antiprotozoan and antiviral."

Don't Eat
6. Jalapeno Poppers (yes I ate those too)
While spicy foods can help clear up nasal passages for a bit, greasy, fried foods can make you feel sicker and upset your stomach further. (They weren't even that good).

Do Eat
7. Oatmeal
"Animal studies have shown that beta-glucan from oats can help prevent upper respiratory tract infection, and a few controlled trials have suggested that beta-glutan consumption can alter white blood cell activity in humans, as well." -Health.com

Don't Drink:
8. Alcohol
I mean, this is no surprise but it's always good as a reminder. Alcohol dehydrates your body, what's the one thing you definitely shouldn't do while sick? Dehydrate your body. On top of that you are going to be ingesting tons of sugar which will inhibit your white blood cells and it's probably safe to say you will not be resting your body or getting as much sleep as you should if you're drinking. Unless you're rubbing whiskey on your gums like in the olden days, then I say go for it!