The quality of your health depends upon many pieces that not only include the health of your bodily systems, but also include a healthy diet, exercise, and spirituality.

Diet. For acute “bugs” such as the flu, it is usually recommended to stick with liquids and easily digestible foods until the infection is resolved.

Dietary recommendations for acute infections include:

• Stick with liquids such as room-temperature water, herbal teas, fruit juice, fruit drinks, and broth-based soups.
• Add mild foods as tolerated, such as oatmeal, applesauce, rice cereal, and plain, sprouted whole-grain toast, until you work yourself up to your normal healthy diet.³

On the other hand, treatment of a chronic infection centers on developing long-term healthy dietary guidelines, in addition to making some key adjustments in your relationship with food.

Dietary recommendations for chronic infections include:

• Increase your omega-3 essential fatty acids by selecting ground flax seed, wild-caught salmon, minimal-mercury albacore tuna, fish oil, avocados, and sprouted walnuts.
• Add nutrient-dense and unprocessed foods such as sprouted nuts and seeds to your diet.
• Eat foods that have antimicrobial properties:
  • Organic virgin coconut oil is a good saturated fat that has antimicrobial properties. Read more about good fats and bad fats.
  • Coriander seeds (come from the cilantro herb)
  • Cilantro – a study in 2004 revealed that it fends off salmonella.⁴
  • Cinnamon – researchers from Kansas State University found that it fends off E. coli.⁵
  • Use crushed garlic, onion, allspice, and oregano liberally, since they are the “best all-around bacteria killers.”⁶

Foods to AVOID include:

• All allergenic substances such as:
  • Wheat and gluten (a wheat protein)
  • Dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese, and processed foods that contain casein (a milk protein)⁸
  • Nightshade vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, and peppers (orange, red, yellow, green, chili)
  • Peanuts (that may contain harmful mytotoxins (mold))
  • Corn, or processed foods containing corn and corn-based ingredients such as malt, malt extract, syrup, sorbitol, food starch, dextrin, fructose and fructose corn syrup, baking powder, monosodium glutamate (MSG), maltodextrin, starch, and confectioner’s sugar.⁹
• All simple or refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, crackers, etc.) – Read more about good carbs and bad carbs.
• All foods containing refined sugar or synthetic sugar-substitutes such as aspartame, Splenda^®, etc. Choose a natural sweetener like Xylosweet instead.
• Alcoholic beverages in excess since alcohol retards the healing process and hinders the immune system
• Fermented foods such as cheese and wine
• Excessive caffeine intake – While moderate amounts of caffeine may be beneficial, excessive consumption can disrupt the body’s systems, causing insomnia and digestive irregularity (constipation or diarrhea).
• Fungi such as mushrooms
• Pickled foods that may contain harmful mytotoxins (molds)
• All fruits and fruit juices if you have Candida
• Carbonated drinks (since they alter your blood pH level, making it more acidic)
• Bottom crawlers such as oysters, clams, and lobster that may contain toxic levels of mercury
• Deep-sea fish such as tuna, mackerel, and swordfish that may contain toxic levels of mercury. Choose minimal-mercury albacore tuna instead.
• Farm-raised fish that contain PCBs and not enough omega-3 essential fatty acids, due to their land-based diets. Choose wild-caught salmon instead.  
• Products made with yeast (breads, crackers, processed snacks, etc.)
• Sodium nitrite found in processed foods such as hot dogs, lunch meats, and bacon
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG) found in many foods as a flavor enhancer
• Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) found in many processed foods, deep-fried foods, fast food, and junk food – Read about good fats and bad fats.

Tips to boost your immune system:

• Eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as guava, papaya, strawberries, kiwi, orange, and grapefruit (unless you need to avoid fruits due to Candida overgrowth).⁷
• Eat foods rich in vitamin E, such as sprouted nuts and seeds.
• Increase your beta carotene found in orange-colored foods such as raw carrots, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin.
• Get more zinc by eating beans, and organic beef.
• Increase bioflavenoids by eating a wide variety of vegetables.
• Increase selenium by eating brown rice, organic egg yolks, and sunflower seeds.⁷
• If you have “silver” dental fillings, get an evaluation from a mercury-free dentist who specializes in the safe removal of mercury amalgam fillings. Exposure to mercury can be a cause of acute and chronic infections. Find a mercury-free dentist in your area now!
  

Exercise. Exercise during an acute infection is not generally recommended, since your body is aggressively trying to fight a foreign invader and it needs all its energy for this purpose. Obtaining plenty of rest and sleep is preferred, to help your body restore itself. Once the acute infection has subsided, then slowly increase your physical activity.

In the case of chronic infections, a long-term approach of dietary changes and an increase in daily activity is highly recommended. Although you may not feel up to it, light exercise, such as a brisk outdoor walk, can provide many healing benefits that boost your immune system such as increased circulation, physical flexibility, and mental improvement.¹⁰

Additional Information about Infection

1. Infection Overview
2. Common symptoms of infection
3. Common causes of infection
4. Help me choose a natural and alternative treatment for infection
5. Conventional or prescription medications used in the treatment of infection
6. Cited Sources and Additional Reading for infection