Foods to help fight the flu

Homemade remedies to help avoid or relieve the flu symptoms.

It’s the flu season again and time to take preventative action. Here are some foods to eat to boost your immune system and help you resist falling victim to the dreaded lurgy.

Chicken soup

It’s a recommendation passed down the generations, with good reason. Chicken soup not only provides the fluids you need to help fight off viruses, but also reduces the inflammation that triggers symptoms and causes more colds.

Citrus fruits

Citrus fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C, an antioxidant that can reduce cold symptoms. Just one to eight grams of vitamin C daily will help. Get your dose from supplements or from citrus fruits, red bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, butternut squash, papaya, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.


Garlic, onions and leeks

Add more punch to your chicken soup by adding plenty of garlic and onions. Combined, they contain dozens of broad-spectrum antiseptic and immunity-boosting compounds.


Ginger and honey

A homemade ginger ale will do more than just soothe a scratchy throat. Ginger contains chemicals called sesquiterpenes that specifically target rhinoviruses, the most common family of cold viruses, as well as substances that suppress coughing. Honey coats your throat, it can help relieve a sore throat caused by a cold or flu. Its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties help fight infections from viruses, bacteria and fungi.



Mushrooms increase the production of cytokines, which are the cells that help fight off infections. They also contain polysaccharides, another class of compounds that support your immune system.