It's cold and flu season! How can you stay healthy? Women's Health website came up with a few random things that you can do to boost your immune system:
1) TRY WHOLE GRAINS
Two or three times a week, make oatmeal part of your morning menu or add barley to a fave soup or stew. Beta-glucans, fibers deep inside these whole grains, strengthen white blood cell activity to drop-kick unwelcome viruses. Plus, oats are a prebiotic, meaning they stimulate the good bacteria living in your gut, which is largely responsible for keeping your immune system all nice and happy.
2) BELT ONE OUT
Is singing alone in your car kinda dorky? Maybe, but those who do it are probably healthier, so there. Both singing and listening to music for half an hour are linked to lower cortisol levels (when stress hormones like cortisol are elevated, it can suppress your immune function). Hearing and playing music are also associated with an uptick in the antibody immunoglobulin A, a first line of defense against bacterial and viral infections, and an increase in "natural killer" white blood cells—the type that seek and destroy germ-infected cells before they can multiply.