Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. Today's podcast is brought to you by nutritional weight and

wellness. We are located in Minnesota. We're a local company that prides ourselves on educating

and counseling people to better health and wellness.

Our topic today is a very timely one, staying strong for the cold and flu season.

This time of year, which is back to school for us in Minnesota, it's the start of fall and the transition into winter, seems to be the time of

year when kids and adults are catching bugs that are going around. These bugs can range from

mild and annoying like a cold to a more serious case of either influenza, possibly COVID, or a virus called RSV. And you see commercials on television

and social media all the time promoting drugs and shots for COVID and RSV. RSV, if you're not

familiar with that acronym, it stands for respiratory, sensational virus.

That's kind of a mouthful.

It really is.

And that affects the nose, throat, and lungs.

But did you know there are steps you can put in place today as a prevention plan for both

mild and more severe cases of these illnesses.

Our bodies, they're simply amazing, and they have the capability to protect us from many

disease states. That is, if we're supporting ourselves with the right nutrition.

I'm Kara Carper. I'm a licensed nutritionist and board certified nutrition specialist.

I'm very pleased to be here today with Melanie Beasley, who's a licensed and registered

dietitian. You know, Kara, I'm so glad that we are talking about this today because every

fall, I notice that more and more of my clients mention they are getting sick. Or maybe they're

canceling because they are sick. Or maybe they have a close family member who's sick. And of course,

it tends to affect everyone else in the household, especially when kids get sick and are unable to

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