Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you are well aware that there is a potentially dangerous flu making its way around the world. President Obama has stepped up the United State’s response by recently declaring the swine (or H1N1) flu pandemic as a national emergency. Most people aren’t sure whether to be frightened by all the media and rush to get vaccine, or if there is some other preventative measures should take to fight the flu.

The first step you can to ward of the flu is to ensure you are getting enough proper nutrients. Here are the recommendations for your daily values based on a 2,000 calorie diet:

• Protein: 5.5 ounces.
• Fruit: 2 cups.
• Vegetables: 2.5 cups.
• Grains:  6 ounces.
• Fat: 6 teaspoons.

Make sure you especially focus on getting enough fruits and vegetables because they are the foods most packed full of flu-fighting vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

While foods are probably not the only thing you want to do to prevent or fight the flu, many of the following foods have been used for centuries to battle a wide range of infections and recent scientific studies have supported their immune-boosting and virus-stopping abilities.

• Garlic: Garlic has long been sought after as a powerful herbal remedy. Not only does garlic have super immune boosting powers (and can ward off vampires), but new research has shown that it is effective against a variety of viruses, including the Coxsackie virus, herpes, and flu virus.1

• Ginger: Most people don’t give much thought to ginger except around the fall season when it makes its way into our breads, cookies, and pies. Ginger, though, is a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and it has been shown to work with the immune system to battle the flu virus.2 Ginger has also been shown to help calm an upset stomach, which many people with the H1N1 flu are experiencing.

• Green Tea: Green tea is quickly becoming the most researched herbal medicine on the planet. Research has shown green tea to be a strong antioxidant, a possible cancer fighter, good for the heart, and even beneficial for inflammatory conditions such as arthritis. Green tea has also been shown to inhibit the spread of viruses.3

• Elderberry: The humble elderberry plant seems more like a dessert or a wine than a flu-fighting powerhouse. Long used as a syrup to fight colds, elderberry has been shown in a recent test-tube study to block the replication of the H1N1 virus potentially stopping the spread of the virus.4

The flu should be taken seriously; as of this writing, more than 1,000 people in the United States have died from the infection. You should take a comprehensive approach to fighting the flu including adding in these great flu-fighting foods to your diet.

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1. Tsai Y, Cole LL, Davis LE, Lockwood SJ, Simmons V, Wild GC. Antiviral Properties of Garlic: In vitro Effects on Influenza B, Herpes Simplex and Coxsackie Viruses. Planta Med. 1985 Oct;51(5):460-1. PMID: 17342616
2. Imanishi N, Andoh T, Mantani N, Sakai S, Terasawa K, Shimada Y, Sato M, Katada Y, Ueda K, Ochiai H. Macrophage-mediated inhibitory effect of Zingiber officinale Rosc, a traditional oriental herbal medicine, on the growth of influenza A/Aichi/2/68 virus. Am J Chin Med. 2006;34(1):157-69. PMID: 16437748
3. Kuzuhara, Takashi; Iwai, Yuma; Takahashi, Hironobu; Hatakeyama, Dai; Echigo, Noriko. Green tea catechins inhibit the endonuclease activity of influenza A virus RNA polymerase. PLoS Currents Influenza. 2009 Oct 13:RRN1052.
4. Roschek B Jr, Fink RC, McMichael MD, Li D, Alberte RS. Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro. Phytochemistry. 2009 Jul;70(10):1255-61. Epub 2009 Aug 12. PMID: 19682714