Want to avoid getting sick? In addition to washing your hands frequently and staying warm (mom was right ... bring a sweater; viruses thrive in cold weather) perhaps the best way to prevent illness is to avoid eating excess sugar. Sugar weakens the immune system.

After you drink a regular soda or eat a piece of cake, or anything else that is loaded with added sugar, your cells, much like your body at large, undergo a sort of sugar lethargy. This effect can last for several hours during which time your immune-fighting cells are impotent against bacteria.

Much of your immune system lies within your digestive tract. There must be a proper balance of good bacteria versus bad bacteria (some research suggests 85% good vs 15% bad is optimal). Eating excess sugar results in the equivalent of having a high-school party at your parent’s house and having it overrun by unwanted party crashers. The party crashers are the bad bacteria, which, when these colonies proliferate, may result in sickness.

If you’re trying to regulate blood sugar, perhaps you already know that consuming excess sugar (especially refined sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup) results in insulin resistance; your body will need to keep pumping more and more insulin to escort the sugar into the cells.

Even fruit, which has natural sugar--fructose--can weaken your immune system if you’re overindulging (suggested reading: Is Fruit Bad to Eat if You’re on a Low-Sugar Diet. Some people refer to fructose as alcohol without the buzz. Just as alcohol has sugar, fructose will lead to a rising blood glucose level. That’s why it’s unwise to eat a large serving of fruit.

Research proves that cancer cells feed on sugar. Sugar lowers HDL cholesterol (commonly referred to as ‘good’ cholesterol) and increases the density of LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol.

Sugar causes systemic inflammation in the body, manifesting as either joint pain, perhaps cancer, organ distress, diabetes, and maybe even a cold.

There’s no guarantee that cutting out refined sugars from your diet will prevent the cold or flu, but the odds are much higher that even if you do get sick, you’ll bounce back quicker if you cut down on the sugar.

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Sugar-free Miracle Noodle would like to save you money and time. We can ship the noodles right to your front door when you select Auto Delivery during checkout. Simply select which products you want, how often you’d like them delivered and you’ll save 15% on every order. Learn more about Miracle Noodle Auto Delivery

Nobody likes getting sick.  But few people take these 5 steps to prevent getting the cold or even worse, the flu. These 5 tips are no guarantee, of course, that you will prevent getting sick, but if followed during late fall and throughout winter, you'll increase your chances of staying healthy. So let's jump right in:

Exercise Regularly ... But not too Much As winter weather bears down, we tend to hibernate and become sedentary. It's very important that we continue to get movement and activity in our daily lives. Exercise has been clinically proven to boost immunity. But what to do if it's dark and 20 below when you wake up in the morning? And just as pitch black and cold as when you get home from work? Take just 5-10 minutes in the morning before you go to work and walk, jog, hop or jump in place. It will speed up your metabolism, make you feel energized and warm your body up. If you feel like you'd rather jump off a tall building rather than doing that, then simply stay in bed and do some deep breathing and stretches. Try to repeat one or two more bouts of brief periods of movement throughout the day. We eat three times a day and we should also get movement/activity three times a day. So before or after lunch, go for a walk. If you live in say, Fargo, North Dakota, and you'd risk hypothermia just stepping outside of your office building, simply walk up and down the steps. And while you're watching TV at night, get off the couch during the commercials and do some pushups or jumping jacks. Make this a daily habit and you'll feel great. But don't do too much exercise! Even though you might be saying, "Aw, shucks, why not?" it's important to note that your body does not distinguish between stress types. If you overdo it, say running a triathlon when you're not properly trained, it will suppress your immune system.

Eat a Low Carb Diet Of course you'd expect Miracle Noodle, leader of low-carb pasta, rice and noodles to tell you to eat low carb. But at no other time of the year is it more important than winter. Because of our hibernation tendencies, we also crave high carb snacks. Eating high carb foods promotes inflammation in the body. Inflammation, in turn, can manifest as a runny nose, or sinusitis or any other "itis" (the suffix, 'itis' means inflammation), or even worse, a full blown cold virus. High carb consumption raises blood sugar levels, which promotes inflammatory conditions in the body and can also result in joint pain or swelling. Elevated blood sugar levels  weaken the immune system. While it's true that cold viruses can thrive in colder conditions, could it be that the prevalence of colds this time of year is more attributable to poor eating habits, lack of exercise and stress? If you crave comfort foods replace them with equally filling and delicious low-carb versions. A big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs can contain well over 50 grams of carbs, maybe 100 grams if you have seconds. That's a lot of carbs. Click here for a great alternative to high-carb spaghetti. You can even use Miracle Rice as an alternative to many high-carb desserts.

Manage Stress Running around frantically driving from strip mall to strip mall shopping for everybody's holiday gifts is stressful. So is every other year-end activity. It's important to take time and do things for yourself that will manage your stress. Go get a massage, take a yoga class, learn some breathing/meditation techniques, listen to classical music, garden (if you can outside), draw, write ... whatever reduces your stress. In this hectic world, it's impossible not to have stress. Stress isn't necessarily bad; it's how you deal with it that can make the difference between catching a bad cold or flu, or staying healthy through the winter. Miracle Noodle has arranged a health pack featuring 3 high-antioxidant products that can help you in preventing getting sick. Click here to learn more. This item is seasonal so order before we sell out.