Hi there. This is Monica Reinagal, the nutrition diva, here once again with your quick and dirty tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Last week, we looked at the science behind some of those popular cold prevention remedies

to see which ones were most likely to actually work.

And today, I'd like to give you three more proven ways to bolster your immune system and stay

healthier this year.

Maybe you already have some tried and true strategies for warding off colds, and the truth is,

if you believe that wearing your pajamas inside out or rubbing

your gums with orange peals keeps you healthy, go for it. There's nothing wrong with taking

advantage of a good placebo effect. But if your special incantation seems to have lost its magic and you're in the market for a new one, why not go for one with some solid scientific proof? I don't know about vampires, but research shows that garlic may actually keep colds away.

In at least one study, people using garlic got only half as many colds as those who didn't.

And those who did get colds, well they were much less severe.

In this study, the subjects took one powdered garlic capsule per day from November,

so right now, until March.

If you want to try this at home, buy a garlic supplement that has a standardized

amount of the active compound Allison. That's not the name. It's spelled A-L-L-I-C-I-N. This is the compound that's thought to have the most potent effect on immune response.

And if you like to eat garlic, this is also a great excuse to ramp up your consumption of the so-called stinking rose.

Actually, whole garlic doesn't contain any Allison.

It's produced by an enzymatic reaction

when raw garlic is cut or crushed,

and then it immediately starts to break down.

So if you want to maximize the Allison hit from eating garlic,

you want to chop or crush some raw garlic

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