Beat Back Winter Misery

Americans get a billion colds a year, by some estimates, and there are more than 200 viruses that can cause them. In a worst-case scenario, a cold can send you to the hospital with pneumonia, an ear infection, or an asthma attack. Millions get the influenza virus each year, and about 200,000 people develop complications so severe they have to be hospitalized, while nearly 36,000 people die from it.

Those over-the-counter cold and flu medicines are iffy at best and don’t always work. Luckily, you can ward off winter misery with immunity-boosting foods you already have right at your fingertips. Check out this list of 25 healing foods from The Green Pharmacy Guide to Healing Foods by James A. Duke, PhD (Rodale, 2009).