Pump Up Nutrition

"Go for the nutritional superstars  -- most often foods high in vitamins A, B, C, and E  -- that truly help boost immunity," says Annemarie Colbin, founder of the Natural Gourmet Cookery School and author of Food and Healing. She recommends eating plenty of orange and yellow produce (one or two of the recommended five total daily fruit and vegetable servings), which are naturally high in disease-fighting flavonoids and carotenoids  -- such as butternut and acorn squashes, sweet potatoes, and carrots, or brightly colored fruits like kiwis, mangoes, clementines, and pink grapefruit.

Drinking 100 percent fruit juices is a good way to up your vitamin intake. To make sure you get a wide range of nutrients, vary the type of juice that you serve: Instead of giving your toddler a daily dose of apple juice, go for a mango-guava mix or banana-kiwi blend. Most supermarkets now offer ready-to-serve exotic juice combinations.

If you can't get fresh fruits and vegetables, are canned or frozen as good? "In general, yes, although frozen vegetables and fruits are slightly more likely to retain valuable nutrients than canned varieties, which may leach out some vitamins during processing," says Michael Morse, M.D., professor of clinical family medicine at the University of Virginia. "But since the difference is negligible, canned produce is fine."

Minerals also play a key role in health. Many kid staples, such as cereals and breads, are fortified with extra vitamins, but don't contain substantial minerals, says Luke Bucci, Ph.D., a nutritionist in Salt Lake City. So include foods high in calcium (milk, yogurt, tofu, cheese, broccoli); potassium (bananas, baked potatoes, raisins, grapes); zinc and protein (lamb chops and other red meats, seafood, peanut butter, chicken); and magnesium (brown rice, whole-wheat bagels, pastas, milk, yogurt, nuts, and seeds).

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