With the cold weather starting to settle in, you might be looking for a way to boost your immune system.

The good news is there are easy changes you can make to get through the winter.

The first step is to add more antioxidants to your diet, and you can find them in a lot of fruits, like citruses, pomegranates, and berries.

If you take a coffee break in the afternoon, try green tea instead – it helps with metabolism, reduces the risk of cancer, and helps with brain health – and it boosts immunity too!

Have more green veggies – the ones loaded with vitamin C – spinach, kale, broccoli, and green beans all help with immunity.

Also, get more sleep – beyond food, good quality sleep helps with overall health, and gives your immune system the best chance at fighting illness and infection.

Finally, stay hydrated – drink plenty of water because being dehydrated slows the immune system down.

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Earlier today, did you hit that afternoon slump at work? You’ve made it through lunch, but all of a sudden things start really dragging?

It happens to most of us right around 3pm – and usually lasts for about a half an hour.

There’s a number of causes – everything from the caffeine wore off from your morning coffee, you’re bored, you need an afternoon snack, or you’re just still tired from a general lack of sleep.

Sitting at your desk for a while and not taking breaks also contributes to it – and that’s usually the first thing we do to break the slump. Or, if you work from home, you might be able to take a nap to get recharged.

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When it comes to seasoning food, you’ll find on every restaurant table salt and pepper. Next time, you might want to just reach for the pepper. It’s been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years, but the health benefits are really being looked at and studied now.

It’s high in antioxidants which helps lessen free radical damage that leads to serious health problems like heart disease and some cancers. And it has great anti-inflammatory benefits and some antibacterial properties which researchers think may help against infectious diseases and foodborne or other drug-resistant pathogens.

Black pepper contains piperine, which in some lab studies has been found to suppress cancer cells in breast, prostate, and colon cancers. And diets high in black pepper have been found to increase high-density lipoprotein – aka the good cholesterol!

Plus, there’ve been more studies related to helping blood sugar control, nutrient absorption, and even boosting brain function.

However, don’t use too much, because you might suffer from gastrointestinal side effects; but if you keep it simple, your body may just thank you.

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