Flutrition: Your Prescription for a Healthy Winter

Cold? Chills? Fever? If so, you might be on the verge of getting a cold or the flu. These flu symptoms affect up to 20 percent of Americans each year, and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications annually.

In addition to hand washing and getting adequate sleep, maintaining your immunity through good nutrition is crucial. Here are three easy tips to help you practice “flutrition,” which may just be the remedy you need to ward of the bad bugs of winter.

First, protect your self with probiotics. Probiotics are “live and active cultures” present in dairy foods. The best picks for probiotic foods include Greek yogurt, Kefir, and yogurts that contain Lactobacillus such as Activia or Dannon. 

Second, get plenty of vitamin C through brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as red peppers, broccoli, oranges and strawberries. These foods are the perfect prescription for powerful antioxidants such as vitamins C and A.

Third, vitamin D can boost immunity. Foods such as salmon and milk offer excellent sources of vitamin D. One study showed that participants with the lowest levels of vitamin D were nearly 40 % more likely to report a respiratory infection than those with higher levels of vitamin D. Consuming at least three daily servings of vitamin D-fortified milk is one of the best ways to protect against illness, providing 75 percent of the recommended daily requirements of this D-lightful vitamin.

This winter, arm yourself with simple ways to protect yourself and your family against the flu.  For flu fighting recipes, visit www.southeastdairy.org.

Tracy Noerper, MS, RD, LDN, SNS