From the category archives:

Immune system

What to Eat When You’re Sick

by laurel on January 8, 2011

I came down with a little cold the past few days. Ugh. As soon as I got back to NY it hit me hard. At the end of my FL vacation, I was running around between different families, traveling, and then flying back to a drastically different climate. But, after a few days of rest [...]

{ 4 comments }

Unhealthy Ingredients to Avoid

by laurel on July 1, 2010

Reading labels can be pretty tricky, especially when it comes to ingredients. But it’s important to read the list of ingredients in the foods we purchase, because we can’t trust the health claims advertised on the box. It’s easy for a company to say their food is “heart healthy” or “natural” without having any real [...]

{ 9 comments }

Feel Better Veggie Bean Soup

by laurel on April 21, 2010

I made an all veggie soup last week and it came out pretty good. I wasn’t in love with it (I thought I made it too spicy), but my boyfriend seems to think it’s super yummy, so I figured it was worth a share. I can tell you one thing, this soup is super nutritious [...]

{ 1 comment }

Power Supplement: Resveratrol

by laurel on February 10, 2010

I’ve been hearing more and more about resveratrol over the past couple of years. It’s a powerful antioxidant compound found naturally in foods like grapes, cranberries, blueberries, peanuts, and wine. It’s also found naturally in a Chinese herb called Hu zhang and a Japanese plant called knotweed. According to Natural News, Hu zhang is actually [...]

{ 6 comments }

Comfort Foods

by laurel on January 5, 2010

Here’s a nice segment from the Today Show where Pam O’Brien from Fitness Magazine gives suggestions of foods to eat when you’re stressed, have a headache, have a stomach ache, or are suffering from a cold. I love that this segment focuses on using foods to cure and prevent illnesses (instead of immediately turning to [...]

{ 4 comments }

Eating Enough Garlic?

by laurel on October 21, 2009

NY Times recently posted a short article checking this claim: “Garlic Can Be Helpful in Warding Off a Cold.” The good news is that there are some promising studies to support the claim. For example, a 2001 double-blind study found that healthy adults who took daily garlic supplements were less likely to get a cold [...]

{ 0 comments }

Tried Something New: Aloe Vera

by laurel on August 11, 2009

One of my favorite new books is Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future by David Wolfe. I heard David speak at my school earlier this year and had to know more about superfoods and his living raw food diet. What are superfoods, you say? They are the most nutritious foods on Earth. When [...]

{ 3 comments }

Honey to the Rescue

by laurel on October 29, 2008

Well, I got completely knocked down with a cold this past weekend and I’m finally starting to feel normal again. Even though I was scarfing down vegetables last week, my immune system was no match for a group of people at my work who came in and spread their cold and flu germs. Note to [...]

{ 3 comments }

Almonds for Digestion and Immunity

by laurel on October 23, 2008

I feel like I keep talking about almonds lately…but there’s a good reason for it. They’re so good for you and they’re one of the easiest foods to keep at your desk, in your car, or anytime you need something filling and fast. A study published in the Applied and Environmental Microbiology journal found that [...]

{ 6 comments }

Honey Can Ease Your Cough

by laurel on February 19, 2008

Cold and flu season is in full swing and you or your family may be plagued with a nasty cough. Reuters wrote about a new study from Pennsylvania State University that found honey helps ease a nighttime cough and improves sleep. The researchers compared buckwheat honey to the cough syrup ingredient dextromethorphan, and honey was [...]

{ 7 comments }