LAURA WARREN: ‘Banish your winter blues and flu – go with your good gut feeling’

CHUNKY knits, crunchy leaves and mugs of hot chocolate by a roaring fire – I just love this time of year!

But as we begin to feel the chill of falling temperatures it’s time to take out the long johns and woolly socks.

It seems the whole country is suffering from a runny nose, sandpaper throat or aching limbs – and there’s nothing fun about feeling under the weather.

But fear not: there are a few simple steps you can take to boost your immunity and prevent the cold and dreaded flu from returning.

While it’s important to stock up on Vitamin C, I recommend taking 1,000mg of Vitamin C daily for adults. Modern lifestyles and increased stress can have a huge impact on our gut bacteria and this can affect our overall health. A weak immune system puts us at greater risk of nasty colds and cases of flu and – surprise, surprise – healthy diet is your immune system’s best defence.

To have a healthy diet, try to stay away from processed foods, sugars, and refined carbohydrates.

This is a bit of a bugbear with me: I know most of my own family are sick of me banging on about it (and hide their unhealthy food when they see me coming!) all the time, but the facts are simple.

Processed foods feed on unwanted bacteria and yeast in the gut, encouraging multiple growths and generally making you feel as if you’ve been run over by a bus.

I always encourage my clients always to plate high with phytonutrient-rich foods, fresh fruit and vegetables that have antiviral properties.

For good gut health – and for anyone that suffers from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) – drinking probiotics such as natural yogurt will also soothe your stomach.

If you suffer from IBS, try to eat wholesome, nutrient-rich organic foods such as fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, oily fish, non-starchy vegetables and whole grains. I would also encourage you to eliminate caffeine, alcohol, and sugars from your diet. All these invite inflammations of the body and interfere with normal digestion and, of course, invite bad bacteria into the gut.

Probiotics impress and restore the gut flora, which in turn improves gut function which will make you feel naturally good.

A healthy digestive system is the key to good health and longevity.

It’s good to go with your gut – but go the healthy way and it’ll go a long way towards banishing the winter blues, and flu, that go with it.

*For more fun foodie and nutritional tips, visit: http://www.elitelivingnutrition.com