Ten Surefire Ways to Beat Cold and Flu Season This Year!

Greetings, friends! I hope you're all enjoying the New Year so far. I plan to make this my healthiest year ever and it's off to a great start...creating recipes for my upcoming superfoods book is keeping me focused on healthy, whole, supercharged foods. And this for me is the surest way to avoid illness.

However, most of us are coming off of several weeks of Holiday eating. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve always beckon us to overindulge. Even the best of us often fall short of healthy eating during these times. And unfortunately, several of my readers are not feeling well and have asked for some tips on getting better using natural methods.

So, in the interest of getting and staying healthy, I wanted to let you in on my top ten tips for beating illnesses. If you're already feeling great, these tips will ensure that you stay that way and easily fend off any illnesses. If you, however, are under the weather now, these tips will get you back on track before you can say "miso soup."

These are all tips I've personally used with excellent success and that I believe in 100%. And if you have some tips of your own, I'd love to hear them!

Ten Surefire Ways to Beat Cold and Flu Season This Year:

1. Work in these powerhouse foods whenever possible...I call them my "Fab Five" Immune Boosters. They are: garlic, shiitake mushrooms, kale, hot chili peppers, and miso. In fact, I even created a soup called "Immune Power Soup" that many of my readers swear by. For those of you who have Radiant Health, Inner Wealth, you may want to whip up a batch.

2. Ginger up. Ginger is a great way to dispel colds and mucus (yuck, I know...sorry) as well as boost the immune system. If you have a juicer, ginger juice can rock your world. If you're a serious bad*ss, go ahead and juice the root up and drink it like a shot. Yee-ow! Or make a yummy juice out of carrots, celery, ginger, lemons, and parsley. Liquid medicine.

3. Increase your vitamin C intake. Mama was right - vitamin C helps to boost your reserves and speed up recovery.

4. Reduce or eliminate the following foods and you'll be golden: Meat, dairy products, sugars, and refined foods (especially white flour). The more you can focus on fresh, whole, plant-based foods, the more amazingly bomber your immune system will be.

5. Choose organics. They contain far more nutrients than conventionally grown foods and are free from harmful chemicals that knock your system down.

6. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! If you're under the weather, drink at least a gallon of water a day - made even more effective if you add fresh lemon juice to the water whenever possible.

7. If you're already feeling ill (or think you might be getting sick), herbal remedies can be your best friend. Echinacea, oil of oregano, and osha are all very helpful. For best results, consult your local herbalist (or ask me to hook you up - one of my best friends is the world's best herbalist and makes an amazingly effective immune tonic).

8. There's a tea I once invented that I swear by for clearing up a cold and getting rid of a sore throat. Here's the catch, though - no one ever wants to drink it because it's so strong-tasting! However, I know you're braver than that, right? And if you really want to feel better, give this bad boy a shot: In a teaball, place some loose sage and thyme. Steep in hot water, then add a squirt each of the following tinctures: myrhh and slippery elm. As you drink the tea, you can also gargle it for even better results. Repeat several times per day until your symptoms are gone. I told you it tasted bad, but don't you feel better now?

9. Add probiotic-rich foods to your diet. My favorites are kim chee, kombucha, and Nancy's soy yogurt. YUM. When I eat/drink those things, I can literally feel my body saying "Ahhhhhh" and "Thank you!"

10. Be happy. Think positive. Know that you CAN be healthy. You really DO have the power to choose high-level health for yourself.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope at least one of these suggestions will prove helpful for you as you make 2011 YOUR healthiest year ever!