November 2012 Chatter - Townsite of Redwood Meadows

NUTRITIONRest and Good Nutrition Will Help Fight Bugs During Cold and Flu SeasonIt’s here, the dreaded cough, coldand flu season. As I write this, Ihave a bit of a sore throat, a littlecough and a desire for a warm cupof tea, sniff. However, these feelingsaren’t full blown yet, and I plan to run this precursorof a cold right out of my head.The common cold is a virus responsible for lost daysof work, school, and general pleasure in life. Thispesky virus spreads through the air (sneeze) andcontact (touching almost anything), and a compromisedimmune system allows it to get you in itsclutches to wreak havoc on your otherwise healthyand happy life.There are many ways to boost your immune systemand prevent the common cold and other ailmentsfrom infiltrating your system.Let’s start with prevention. Drinking enough waterto flush toxins, transport nutrients and hydrate thebody is a great first step in building the immune systemand preventing a cold. Restful sleep is also importantto maintain the body’s ability to repair itself,and frequent hand washing is a must in communicabledisease prevention.As for nutrition, the usual prescription of vitamin Cis well researched in its ability to keep the cold virusat bay. Eating lots of colourful fruits and vegetableswill ensure you get good amounts of vitamin C andother antioxidants too. However, chugging orangejuice may actually do more harm than good becausejuice is often loaded with sugar without the fibre.Sugar is known to depress the immune system bymaking your white blood cells (protectors of thebody) less effective. Vitamin C is commonly knownto be in citrus fruits and orange and yellow vegetables,but greens, broccoli, beet greens, parsley, peas,and kale also contain lots of vitamin C in addition toall their other health-promoting nutrients. Lemonand garlic stimulate detoxification and also act asimmune system boosters.If you are in the throes of the common cold and reliefis what you seek, then here is the short version:Go to bed. If this simply isn’t possible, here are a fewsimple tips to make you feel better: Brew and drinksome homemade ginger tea (see recipe below);chicken soup IS good for the soul; eat small mealsmade up of all those things mentioned above to helpyour body fight.For relief of a sore throat, gargle with a glass of waterand a few drops of tea tree oil three times perday. After one day your sore throat should begone...this is my personal experience!The common cold is more than a nuisance because itmakes everybody miserable. Take care of yourselffirst and try to nip that misery-making virus in thebud through good lifestyle practices and optimalnutrition. Now I’ll try to give myself a dose of myown advice!Yours in Health,Cathleen FisherHolistic Nutritionist, Personal Trainer, Presenterwww.fitnutrition.caGinger TeaAdd a roughly chopped knob of ginger to amedium sized pot of water, bring it to a boiland simmer for 10 minutes. Remove fromheat and add the juice of half a fresh lemonand a little cayenne pepper. Ginger has antioxidantand antimicrobial properties, whichstimulate the immune system. Lemon is alkalizingto the system; an alkalized system willnot harbour invaders. Cayenne pepper stimulatescirculation, making us sweat and movetoxins out of the body. And, this tea tastesnice too. To entice children into drinking it,add some good quality honey, but not toomuch because it is a sugar and sugar depressesthe immune system, which would counteractthe effects of all your efforts.16 CHATTER IN THE WOODS, November 2012