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NEWS
Boost your immune system with the right food
When viruses and bacteria think they can come over and play in your body, don't just stand by and wait for them to move on. Certain foods may help you keep them out of your internal neighborhood in the first place. That way, you can save your sick days for mental health days.
1. Bell Peppers. They're chock-full of vitamin C, an antioxidant vitamin that helps your immune system fend off disease-causing invaders. Other good C options: oranges, strawberries, cantaloupe and broccoli. Or take 400 milligrams of vitamin C three times daily at the first sign of an invasion (along with your mom's chicken soup).
2. Yogurt. Check labels for types that contain the live, active cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus, a healthy bacterium that helps thwart fungus-related infections. Or take a 20-mg acidophilus or a bacillus coagulans supplement twice daily.
3. Tea. If freshly brewed, it's full of flavonoids, powerful vitaminlike substances (they work like vitamins but aren't essential for life) that reduce immune-system aging. You'll also find them in oats, onions, broccoli, cooked tomatoes, apples and berries.
4. Kidney beans. These contain zinc, a nutrient that helps reduce the average length of the common cold (as well as a lot of other healthy nutrients). These red beans pack 2 mg per half-cup. Also high in zinc: turkey (with 2.6 mg per 3 ounces) and sunflower seeds (1.7 mg per quarter-cup). Still, since we recommend that you get 15 mg per day, you might need a supplement, too. Just know that more than that is not better.
The YOU Docs -- Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz -- are authors of the best-selling "YOU: The Owner's Manual" and "YOU: On a Diet." To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home.
Do you have information to share that will help the Get Healthy Tri-State? Upcoming events, advice, recipes or profile ideas may be e-mailed to lwilcox@herald-dispatch.com.
