Winter Cold, Meet Your Match

Winter Cold, Meet Your Match

By Samatha B. Cassetty, M.S., R. D., GHRI Nutrition Director

Sip a berry smoothie, and fight the sniffles. While recent roundup of more than 30 research studies conclude that taking vitamin C supplements doesn't decrease the number of colds people are hit with, a new study from Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that getting the nutrient from food helps a lot: Women whose diet includes more than 200 mg of vitamin C per day had a 49% lower chance of coming down with a cold or the flu than those who consumed less than 100 mg.  Reaching the virus-fighting level is as easy as having a smoothie made with 1 cup of frozen strawberries for breakfast (61 mg), three red pepper rings in a lunchtime turkey wrap (38 mg), and a cup of cooked broccoli at dinner (101 mg).