Preventing Colds and the Flu

Will an apple a day keep the doctor away? Research shows there is some truth in it because healthy foods improve your immune system, which fights cold and the flu virus.

Nutrition tips to help prevent colds and the flu:

Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, which contain antioxidants and phytonutrients which help to keep your immune system strong.

Ideas to increase intake include:

• Add berries or sliced bananas to whole grain cereal or yogurt
• Snack on cut-up fruit or veggies
• Enjoy carrots, peppers and broccoli with humus
• Add a salad with dark green lettuce or spinach and a variety of veggies including tomatoes with dinner

Do not rely on supplements: Studies show that vitamin C and zinc supplements do NOT prevent colds. Taking vitamin C may reduce the duration of the cold but not the severity and is most effective in people who are vitamin C deficient.

Eat a healthy balanced diet to keep your immune system strong. Make sure to include fat free or low fat dairy, lean meats, whole grains and a variety of fruits and veggies to obtain all the essential nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.

Other tips:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your sleeve when you cough or sneeze
• Get plenty of sleep and exercise
• Your mom was right....wash your hands often with soap and water or use alcohol-based hand cleansers.
• Get a flu shot!
• Finally, make sure to stay home from work or school when sick.

Halloween

Halloween is almost here and it’s hard to avoid the endless amounts of candy. Here are some tricks I use to enjoy Halloween treats without feeling guilty.

TRICKS:

1. If you are passing out candy, ONLY buy candy that you do not like (as much). I love chocolate so I always buy gummy bears, Twizzlers or Skittles so I am not as tempted.

2. Make sure you enjoy some of your favorite candy because if we tell ourselves we can’t eat any, it’s the ONLY thing we crave!

3. Choose the mini size candy. It’s hard to eat only half of a fun size candy. It’s the taste we want and by choosing 2 mini candy bars instead of 1 fun size, we can indulge twice as much!

4. Try to stick to less than 100 calories of candy per day and try to get in a little extra cardio or cut back on another food item to avoid weight gain.

TREATS:

Here is a list of portion sizes with less than 100 calories of your favorite candy:

Mini sizes

• 2 of any of the following: Snickers, Reese’s, Twix, Milky Way
• 4 Three Musketeers

Fun sizes

• 1 .5 bags of skittles
• 1 snickers, almond joy or Reese’s cups

Other

• 1 Tootsie pop or caramel apple pops
• 1 Junior Mint box
• 1 package of gummy bears
• 2 boxes of Milk Duds
• 3 small tubes of Whoppers
• 4 Tootsie Rolls

Remember to enjoy Halloween!

Fun Food T-shirts

Clever and fun food T-shirts call my name and the food nerd in me can't resist them. I thought I'd post a few that I have from a store called threadless.com. My current favorite is the "Food Pyramid".

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Apple Sauce Recipe

One of my favorite Fall activities as a child was to go apple picking with my family. There aren’t many orchards where I live now but I still love finding a cider mill to indulge in cider and donuts (yes, dietitians eat donuts too!). I also love making homemade applesauce because it is incredibly easy, tastes delicious, and also makes your home smell wonderful!

Here is a quick and easy applesauce recipe:

• 4 apples peeled (if desired), cored and chopped
• 1 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon (or to taste) ground cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook on high until water boils. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Stir occasionally and mash with a potato masher or use an immersion blender for smoother applesauce.

Use a soft apple such as McIntosh and you can leave some of the apple skins on for extra fiber, vitamins and minerals. Just make sure to wash the skins well and buy organic if possible.

Enjoy!

I'm back!

It's been 4 months since my last post and I apologize for all of those who have been following the blog! It's been a fun and busy summer and am excited about the future blogs I have planned. People have asked specific nutrition questions and I will try to answer as many as I can.

Feel free to send suggestions to liz@nutritionlizard.com.

Thanks for following!