The old saying “prevention is the best medicine” is especially true during cold and flu season.

While it might be tempting to hide behind a bubble of hand sanitizer from everyone who might cough or sneeze on you, the more effective prevention is to add immune-boosting food to your diet!

These 5 incredible foods are packed full of nutrients and can help you fight any viruses that might come your way.

1. Homemade Bone Broth

Bones, marrow, and cartilage have beneficial nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicon, sulphur, and iodine. When cooked, the collagen in bones breaks down, and turns into a protein called gelatin as it cools. Gelatin contains several important essential and nonessential amino acids, including arginine, glycine, and proline.

Cook up a big batch of bone broth and store it in the fridge. When you want some, heat it up and sip it from a mug, like coffee or tea. At least 8 ounces per day will help keep the viruses away. For an extra immunity boost, add some of the other ingredients on this list like garlic, onion, and ginger to your broth.

2. Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits are not only a tasty snack, but that they contain high concentrations of vitamin C, which can help ward off common colds. A Japanese study published in the “European Journal of Clinical Nutrition” in 2006 showed a 60% reduction in contracting three or more colds over a five-year period when subjects consumed 500 mg of vitamin C per day.

Citrus can easily be worked into a daily diet. Eat some grapefruit for breakfast and an orange after lunch. Enjoy a glass of freshly squeezed lemonade or lime juice with an afternoon snack and you will have your daily requirement. Or you can simply take a multivitamin to fulfill your daily requirement.