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!

10 Ways to Eat More Veggies (and Love it!):

People always say to me: "I should eat more vegetables, Tess!" I invariably smile at them and say "Shouldn't we all!" But it's so true...eating lots of fresh, organic vegetables makes a world of difference in our health. Good ol' veggies give our skin a glow, keep our digestive system on track, and keep our weight in the happy place. It's also striking to me how much of a difference the consumption of more fresh vegetables would make in the health of our society. Many of the diseases people suffer from are due to diet - a diet that usually includes far too few whole foods and vegetables. So, my advice? Make eating vegetables a joy! If you begin eating your vegetables daily, I promise you'll notice a big difference in how you look and feel. And I also promise that you'll love it!

So here are a few tips on getting more veggies into your daily diet. Ideally, 6 cups of fresh vegetables daily is my recommendation, although even half of that is great!

10 Ways to Eat More Veggies (and Love it!):

1. Make a list of your favorite vegetables. Start there, rather than with ones you "should" like.
2. Try tossing your favorite vegetables with a little olive oil (and garlic) and baking at 400F, until browned and well roasted. Almost any veggies are surprisingly delish this way, even broccoli!
3. Discover as many recipes as you can that use vegetables as the main ingredient. Again, go for ones that sound delicious to you. You'll be more likely to stick with a healthy lifestyle if you're actually enjoying it! There are several delicious vegetable recipes on this blog, in my book, and on VegWeb.
4. Make "snack bags" for when you're on the go. For example, if I know I'll be gone for several hours, I'll often pack some organic celery, pea pods, and carrot sticks (ready to go) so that I can keep up with my veggie intake while I'm away from home.
5. Soup out! Many soups make a great medium for vegetables. Tomato Soup, vegetable barley, and Green Chili-Garlic-Potato are just a few that are veggie-packed delights.
6. Discover your happy salad! Everyone has one. What kind(s) of dressing do you love? What toppings make you smile? As long as you're using mainly whole foods ingredients, you can build a delicious salad that will love you back. For example, one of my happy salads consists of: romaine lettuce, sliced onions, kalamata olives, grape tomatoes, diced cucumber, lemon-marinated tofu, and a garlic-olive oil-lemon vinaigrette. Oooh, my mouth just started watering...
7. Try mixing fruits with vegetables for added interest. For example, some sliced pear in your arugula salad adds a delicious, nutritious element.
8. If you need a place to begin, you can also juice your vegetables to help increase your daily intake. Juicers are available for under $50 and can help you stay vitalized with veggie power! Personally, I don't feel the need to juice daily, though - I juice when I feel my immune system needs a kick, or once in a while when my body asks for it (yes, it talks to me...just like yours talks to you!).
9. Make an Asian stirfry for dinner - with a simple sauce made from tamari, garlic, toasted sesame oil, and fresh ginger, your veggies will taste divine. Just make sure to keep their nutrition intact by only cooking them until they're crisp-tender.
10. Wrap them up! Whether in rice paper (for fresh spring rolls), phyllo (for baked pockets), or whole grain tortillas (for veggie wraps), the right combination of seasonings and sauces will make you want to eat veggies til the cows come home! (And they will come home, once they find out you're eating all those veggies.)

Eating lots of vegetables is a great way to prevent illnesses and keep your immune system at its peak! The Kathleen Show has a program called Preventions Not Prescriptions every Tuesday that I really recommend checking out. Lots of great bloggers with wonderful ideas on wellness and health are always involved.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and please let me know your favorite way to incorporate vegetables into your life!