What to Eat to Beat a Cold
Never curse a cold or treat it with lab made drugs! Why? Because it is nature’s way of telling you that there is waste matter (mucous) built up in your body that needs to be eliminated, not treated. A cold is the result of too much accumulated waste being secreted, and insufficient and improper elimination.
The best foods to help eliminate this mucous (the common cold) are fruit juices and raw food. In fact, even fasting for a day or two with nothing but water and fruit juices has proven to be very successful. This may come as a shock to some of you, who are used to hearing that the best way to cure the common cold is with chicken soup recipes handed down from your great grand-parents. I am not saying to avoid some nice broths if that helps you feel better, but the goal here is to eliminate mucous.
We’re not able to do that if we are spending time trying to digest (break food down into nutrients) while the body is already in a weakened state. Cooked foods, especially proteins, are more difficult to break down and digest. Since we do not want to add more work to our system, but rather help our body with the elimination of mucous, raw foods and lots of fluids is the way to go. If the cold has progressed to a flu-like state, a home enema or colonic irrigation can be a great way to help rid the body of toxins.
The most important foods to avoid when battling the common cold or flu are meats, dairy products, processed foods, and refined sugars. These foods are high in fat and carry a possibility of bacterial and chemical contamination. There are many articles written today boasting the value and miraculous healing energy of certain foods. This is strictly a marketing ploy to get you to buy into a certain brand. There is not one nutrient that works well alone. We need a family of vitamins and minerals working together to provide immune support.
Eating a grapefruit every morning is not enough. You need to eat a variety of fruits to benefit from their nutritional value. Vitamin C may be the single most important vitamin for the immune system. It has a direct effect on bacteria and viruses, so yes when battling a cold you may benefit from increasing your intake of this vitamin. Vitamin C is found in berries, citrus fruits, and green vegetables. Good sources of this vitamin are asparagus, avocados, beet greens, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cantaloupe, collards, dandelion greens, dulse, grapefruit, kale, lemons, mangoes, mustard greens, onions, oranges, green peas, pineapple, radishes, rose hips, spinach, strawberries, Swiss chard, tomatoes, turnip greens, and watercress. As you can see, there are lots of options for different salads, juices, or smoothies that you can gravitate to when run down with a cold.
Please note that if you take Vitamin C in supplement form, it should be combined with bioflavonoids, natural plant substances that enhance the absorption and reinforce the action of this vitamin. Loading your body with Vitamin C from a bottle even if it says organic, is never as beneficial as getting it from real life in the form of raw fruits and vegetables.
I like to recommend that my clients stick to foods that move the lymph well when sick. These include grapes, watermelon and lemons. An easy and refreshing way to load up on liquids when fighting a cold is to add 4 lemons and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup to one liter of water with a dash of cayenne pepper. Aim for 3-5 liters and drink throughout the day. Drinking herbal teas and adding chlorophyll to your water is also very beneficial when fighting a cold.
To avoid getting sick, keep your immune system healthy and strong. Taking spirulina regularly, for example, a naturally digestible food, aids in protecting the immune system. It supplies many nutrients plus protein needed for cleansing and healing. It is important to understand that consuming raw foods provides the body with live disease-fighting phytochemicals and fiber. Cooking depletes vitamins and minerals and phytochemicals and destroys enzymes necessary for easy digestion.
Raw food explodes with life paving the way for health and vitality!