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Food and Drink

Putting the shine to colds and flu
glendabyline

If it’s not holiday season that has you all wrapped up in preparations this time of year, then it’s cold and flu season. Given that both maladies are caused by viruses there isn’t much you can do in the way of treatment once your body is overtaken, other than suffocate your suffering under a warm blanket with drugs of choice.

We’ve all heard it for years, but it bears repeating that prevention is your best medicine, and this winter it seems to be more important than ever. Lots of people this season are reporting colds that seem to linger forever. For every day they rally and feel good, there’s payback time of a few more days they feel crappy again. One virus is packing a double wallop at the same time by delivering laryngitis, which is also caused by a virus.

Food and food supplements can play an important role in keeping your defense systems rallied and ready for an assault.

First line of defense: a good diet. It’s no secret that next to sleeping well, eating well, which means eating a wide variety of whole and wholesome foods, is a gal’s best friend during cold season. That includes whole grains as well as seeds and nuts; lots of fresh, preferably organic, fruit and vegetables (don’t forget lots of fresh garlic, ginger and onions); and, if you’re an omnivore, fish for those omega-3s and small but regular quantities of quality meats. If you’re not an omnivore, make sure you balance your vegan or vegetarian intake for complete proteins to keep your good health good.

Among the immunity-boosting antioxidants, vitamin C can be your best friend this time of year. Most of us get about half of our daily dose from tomatoes and citrus fruit, but remember that cooking or improper preparation or storage can destroy a lot of the goodness in your fruits and veggies. For instance, vitamin C is destroyed in water, so don’t chop up a bunch of carrot sticks and leave them in a cold-water bath in the fridge to keep them crunchy like my granny did.

If you’re tired of oranges, oranges and more oranges for your natural vitamin C supply, consider beets, kiwis, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries – in fact all the small, deliciously dark fruits. For one of your cheapest and more delicious supplies of vitamin C, this coming August remember to pick extra blackberries (or whatever kind of berries you can find) and freeze them for the coming winter. It’s so easy to do.

First, don’t wash them! Just pick out the bits of stems and unwanted debris. If you have room in your freezer, lay out the berries on cookie sheets or big pans. Once they’re frozen, store them in tightly sealed freezer bags – double bag if you think they’ll be in there a while so they don’t pick up that icky "fridge" taste.

If you don’t have the freezer space to lay them out in pans and trays, just pour the berries into bags and seal tightly. When it comes time to use them, grab a handful and rinse them under warm water. It washes the berries and melts them at the same time. Add a handful to your cereal or porridge, a fresh salad, pancakes, whatever. You’ll get a healthy hit of summer in the middle of January, including the swell memories of the day you picked them.

New immune system boosters keep you running

Research is adding new credence to foods that have been used for ages to boost people’s immune systems.

If you head to Vancouver’s Chinatown this time of year you may find big ovoid slices of a whitish, fleshy root floating in your soup. Astragalus has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to ward off colds and flu. It comes from the root of Astragalus membranaceous , a member of the pea family. Dried slices are easy to find on grocery store or herbalist shelves, sometimes in a mixture of herbs and spices ready to make your own soup. Astragalus is an especially good idea if you’re one of those people who catches everything that’s going around.

Other new research is finding that certain mushrooms seem to have good anti-viral properties. The greatest potential seems to be locked inside woody conks, those big fleshy fungi you see growing on tree trunks. These are edible, provided you know what you’re doing.

Shiitake, maitake and resihi mushrooms also show good anti-viral properties, as do gypsy mushrooms ( Rozites caperata), found in old growth west coast Douglas fir and pine forests. Gypsy mushrooms are real renegades, showing no sign of growing successfully under cultivation, yet one more reason for protecting the remaining biodiversity we have left on this gentle planet.

If, like me, you tend to shy away from some of the more spectacular looking dried fungi on display in the various Chinese stores in the Lower Mainland, likely for no other reason that pure ignorance, you might be interested in Fungi Perfecti, a company based in Olympia, Washington (www.fungi.com). They offer a host of fungi-based food supplements with anti-viral properties, plus all sorts of mushroomy information.

…And some old standbys

Some people still swear by Echinacea for preventing colds and flu, or keeping symptoms to a manageable level if you do get sick. This native North American plant has a long history of use for its anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties. Find a good brand at your local health food store (most people suggest one that has both species of Echinacea, augustifolia and purpureaI ) and take as directed at the first sign of distress. But health experts warn not to use it for more than 10 consecutive days.

Another standby that’s been getting a lot of publicity and endorsements for its effectiveness, including this one from me, is COLD-fX. The brainchild of a University of Alberta/Beijing university doctorate who also has a background in Chinese medicine, COLD-fX is based on extracts from ginseng. Margaret Atwood swears by it, as do opera singers, Don Cherry and the Edmonton Oilers. One study showed 45 per cent fewer sick days in a study group taking COLD-fX.

But when it comes to the flu, even COLD-fX executives still recommend one last line of defence – the flu shot. It’s still not too late to get yours this season.

Glenda Bartosh is an award-winning freelance writer who enjoyed four winters cold-free until this year.