Posted by kathryn in Winter

You know the signs. You start feeling a bit more tired than usual, maybe a bit achey. You may be off your food. There’s a tickle in your throat and your nose just won’t stop running. These are all sure signs your body is fighting something and a cold may be on its way.

Cold and flu season can be a horrid time for many people. If everyone around you is coughing and spluttering, what can you do to keep the colds and winter lurgies at bay?

1. Get re-acquainted with your couch

As soon as I know something’s coming on, I clear my diary for a few days, restrict my work hours and take it easy. Being tired is guaranteed to make you more susceptible to the viruses going round. Now’s the time to catch up on your sleep and take a bit more care of yourself.

If you have a cold, then don’t soldier on. Take sick leave from work, stay in bed with a hot water bottle, keep warm and keep horizontal.

2. Drink lots and lots of cold and flu tea

I’ve always found this ginger, lemon and honey tea to be a a miracle worker. It’s an easy and effective remedy, that acts as a mild expectorant and is antimicrobial.

You need to drink lots of it though – between four and six cups a day. I often make a large plunger up in the morning, drink that and then refill it after lunch.

Start drinking this at the first sign of a cold and it will often keep the illness at bay.

3. Eat light, nutrient dense foods

Now is the time to feed your body with vitamins and minerals, by eating a good diet. These nutrients will help your body withstand the winter onslaught. A good cold-preventing diet regime could be:

• wholegrain toast with hummous and tomato
• fruit and a few nuts mid morning and afternoon
• some soup at lunch: I most frequently make quick & easy lentil soup and lablabi in winter
• a stir-fry in the evening with protein, lots of vegies, ginger and garlic

4. Keep off the grog

While it might feel like alcohol helps, it doesn’t really. Stick to water and herbal teas and keep well hydrated.

Hot Foods

When unwell I find I crave Tom Yum soup and it’s hot, sour flavour. It’s a craving I’m happy to satisfy. Hot foods, like ginger, chilli, garlic, wasabi and horseradish are fantastic for your immune system. So use them liberally in your cooking:

• make stir-frys with ginger, chilli and garlic
• add wasabi and garlic to mashed potatoes (it’s really good)
• add extra crushed garlic to your shop bought hummous
• add a grating of horseradish, or a couple of dried chillies to tomato-based dishes

It’s quite normal to get one or two colds per year, but if you look after yourself you should also get over them quickly. Eat well, cut back on the grog and get a few good nights of sleep – your body will thank you for it.

What do you do to keep colds and flus at bay during the winter months?

12 April, 2007