Smelly Breath Your Best Defense?

As the seasons move from fall to winter, sometimes I feel like our immune systems move too. Where? Well, far away from our body because every time I look around someone is sniffeling and blowing a nose.

Like most of you, I was brought up as an OJ kid. Orange juice was/is the cure for colds. Whether you chug it like beer on a Gator game day or sip it for your early morning breakfast, it made your throat feel better and regardless of what the studies have shown - you thought it was working.

Studies have shown the FDA's recommended daily dose of vitamin C can shorten the duration of a cold, but the real remedy surprisingly may be in those garlic rolls that make everyone take a step back when you speak to them.

In a study, British scientists followed 146 healthy adults over 12 weeks. Those who had been randomly selected to receive a daily garlic supplement came down with 24 colds during the study period, compared with 65 colds in the placebo group. The garlic group experienced 111 days of sickness, versus 366 for those given a placebo.

Besides scaring people with germs away from you because of bad breath, one possible explanation for the garlic cure is that a compound called allicin, the main biologically active component of garlic, blocks enzymes that play a role in bacterial and viral infections.

However, the best remedy for a cold may simply be EXERCISE. In a recent University of Massachusetts study of 547 people, researchers found that the most physically active people had 25 percent fewer upper-respiratory infections over the course of a year than did the couch potatoes. Researchers believe exercise boosts your white blood cell count, giving you the immunity to fight off colds. Check out other ways to boost your immune system here.

So for optimum health, don't just crush the garlic - crush your work out too.