Prevention has five proven ways to counter wintertime ills: 

Keep popping vitamin E. People who take 200 international units a day get 30% fewer colds, flu, and pneumonia, according to researchers at Tufts University in Boston. 

Exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day. Regular; but not overstrenuous (more than an hour), daily exercise helps the immune system fight off colds and flu. 

Suck on zinc. In a 1996 study at the Cleveland Clinic, people who sucked on zinc lozenges every 2 hours cut their cold symptoms almost twice as fast as those without zinc. Use zinc lozenges only when you have a cold, since taking more than the Daily Value of 15 mg over a prolonged period of time may actually impair immune function. (They may be less effective for kids, though. See "Healthy Kids," p 44.) 

Eat your carrots. Betacarotene, the nutrient found in orange and yellow vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, and winter squash, may prevent infections such as colds and flu, according to a British study. As little as 15 mg daily (the equivalent of 1 1/2 medium or 2 small carrots) sharpened immune cell activity, say researchers (Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine, Mar. 1997). 

Take echinacea at first sniffle. This herb's a proven infection fighter, but only if you take it before you get a full-blown cold. 

by Dorothy Foltzray 
PREVENTION NOVEMBER 1998 Pg 35