Eating for defense: Foods to avoid when fighting the flu

It means turning to whole food sources such as whole grains, beans and legumes, nuts, seeds, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits and superfoods. When you choose these as your food sources, you are fortifying your body with the vitamins, minerals, healthy oils, fiber and other nutrients it needs to boost its immune system function and fight off the flu.

To see articles and recommendations on superfoods, visit: http://www.WebSeed.com/Superfoods.html.

Virtually every food that is popular in American culture is immunosuppressive, by the way. That's right � practically everything you've been told could be a part of a healthy, balanced diet is, in fact, a food that causes disease and suppresses immune system function.

Foods like pizza and hamburgers are highly immunosuppressive. Anything that's fried is extremely toxic to the human body, and it affects not only your immune system function, but also your cardiovascular health. So, french fries, tater tots, fried chicken, onion blooms or any other fried foods, should absolutely be avoided -- not only by those who are suffering from flu symptoms, but also by anyone who wants to be healthy at all.

Avoid dairy products when fighting the flu
In my opinion, cow�s milk and dairy products are also immunosuppressive. That's because they promote stagnation, including chronic sinus infections and constipation. They create mucus in the body, which is why so many people who suffer from asthma are actually suffering from an allergic reaction to dairy products. Nearly 70 percent of the population of the world is lactose intolerant.

Drinking dairy products when you're trying to fight off the flu is sort of like dumping half a gallon of epoxy into the oil of your car. It will gum up the works. It will make it far more difficult for your body to perform the complex physiological activities on which your health depends. Cow�s milk and dairy products should be strictly avoided by those who don't want to get the flu or who are suffering from flu-like symptoms.

Get the (scary) facts on dairy products at: http://www.WebSeed.com/Dairy_products.html".

Avoid excess salt
There are other ingredients that create stagnation in the body. Processed salt (ordinary salt) is one of them. Salt constricts blood vessels, which is one way it raises blood pressure and produces symptoms of hypertension. It also impairs the mobility of water in your body, because the water will automatically be attracted to the salt. Wherever salt goes, water follows. So, if you're eating a lot of salt, it could mean that water is not going to get to your organs and cells because it's all tied up in the salt.

Often, sick people say, "I'm going to have some chicken soup" because that's supposed to be good for a flu. Chicken soup is actually one of the worst things that you can eat when you're sick due to its high sodium content. There is so much salt in a can of chicken soup that it directly acts as an immune system suppressant.

On top of that, chicken soup often has noodles in it, and those noodles are made with refined white flour, which also depletes vitamins and minerals from your body. So, chicken soup really offers nothing of value except, perhaps, the onions and garlic (the medicinal plants in the broth).

In contrast to processed salt, sea salt or Himalayan salt is very good for you. Mined from natural salt deposits, these salts contain an array of health-promoting minerals (including trace minerals), far beyond the sodium and chloride found in typical processed salt. Find some sources for sea salt and trace minerals at: http://www.WebSeed.com/Trace_minerals.html.

At this point, you're probably getting some ideas about how you can defend yourself against the flu by avoiding many of these stresses. If you could live a stress-free life (which is probably impossible these days), you might never get sick at all.

This article is excerpted from the book How to Beat the Bird Flu by Mike Adams. The full book can be purchased in downloadable or hardcopy editions at www.TruthPublishing.com.