Keeping the Seasonal Diseases at Bay.

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As the seasons change from summer to winter, then again from winter to spring, there always seems to be a surge in contagious diseases. Usually colds, but sometimes flu or gastro. This is the time to shore up the immune system and take preventative action. In all honesty, I think keeping healthy to maintain a healthy immune system is an ongoing lifestyle choice, but when everyone is getting sick around me I'll double up on the vitamin C intake. The best sources of vitamin C will come from fresh foods, as the cooking process destroys most of it. I could make a list of the foods which contain the highest amounts, but if you don't like them, then you won't eat them. So keep it fresh and you'll make the most of what the fruit, vegetable or even herb, has to offer. My favourite sources have to be fruits, but most fresh vegetables will have some in too, so salad can be a good way to go. Citrus is a good source, so squeezing fresh orange, lemon or lime juice over meals is a way I like to add more vitamin C. Another way to get that good stuff while keeping up your hydration is by flavouring your water. My daughter likes to keep a bottle of filtered water in the fridge with lemon and cucumber infusing in it. Two great providers of electrolytes and, you can bet, there will be vitamin C in it too.

However, this is all going to go to waste if you're eating food with refined sugar in (it’s in a lot more prepackaged foods than you might realise). Refined sugar mimics vitamin C and will replace it in your immune cells, leaving them firing blanks. You're better off replacing your sweet cravings with fruit. *Now you see why my favourite sources of vitamin C are fruits!* You could, of course, take vitamin C supplements (and we do on occasion), but they generally aren't as readily absorbable as they would be from foods. You also never know what has been added to them and whether their sources are GMO, which they often are, unfortunately. The better supplements are usually the more expensive ones, so fresh fruit and vegetables is an affordable option that is also food, making it multipurpose, ***and I love multipurpose!***

So, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

*** ~○♤○~ *This is my response to the [@naturalmedicine preventative medicine challenge.](https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@naturalmedicine/the-challenge-is-back-win-up-to-40-steem-and-lotus-coin)*
Originally posted here: https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@minismallholding/keeping-the-seasonal-diseases-at-bay