Did you know you can boost your immune system with these healthy drinks?
No matter if you catch a cold or not, your immune system is always working. However, you can always boost your immune system with certain types of natural and healthy foods. To be able to keep up with your immune system, and if you want to help it, you need to make sure that you provide it with the necessary dose of minerals and vitamins!
The easiest way in which your immune system can benefit from this boost is to get it through natural juices or smoothies that you make with fresh ingredients. Like this, these delicious natural juice recipes and smoothie recipes can easily help you get a lot of the essential nutrients needed for the body to function and efficiently fight against viruses and colds.
The way in which these beverages are made is easy to replicate at home, as you will either need a blender or a juicer and a few key ingredients. All of these fresh fruits and veggies are packed full of good vitamins and nutrients, and whether you prefer them to come in the form of juice or smoothie, they will boost your immune system in the morning and help you battle against colds and cases of flu!
The best thing yet? They can prove to be effective against other diseases and afflictions as well, due to how nutrient-packed they are! Keep on reading to discover some amazing juice and/or smoothie recipes!
Do you have any other recipes you make in order to get your vitamin intake high? Share it with us all in the comments below!
Juice 1: Beet, carrot, ginger, and apple
Important nutrients present in one serving:
- vitamin A: from beets and carrots;
- vitamin B-6: from carrots;
- vitamin C: from apples;
- folate (vitamin B-9): from beets;
- potassium: from beets.
This amazing boost to your immune system is going to help you both combat colds and the flu and also target inflammatory symptoms you may have from other diseases, mainly crediting these reactions to the three root veggies that are part of it.
Since a lot of the inflammation in our body can be caused by bacteria or viruses as a reaction from our immune systems, this juice is going to target those as well as other types of inflammation.
What’s more, flu and cold symptoms like coughs, body aches, and a runny nose are also targeted by this type of juice. If you happen to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, this particular juice may be extremely beneficial due to the ginger that has been discovered to have amazing anti-inflammatory properties!
All you will need to make it is an apple, a carrot, a knob (about 1 tsp) of ginger, and a quarter of beetroot, and you will be ready to seize the day with this nutrient-packed juice.
Juice 2: Orange, grapefruit, and other citrus
Important nutrients present in one serving:
- vitamin A: from grapefruit and oranges;
- vitamin B-6:oranges;
- vitamin C: from all the citrus fruits you may want to add;
- folate (vitamin B-9): from oranges;
- potassium: from oranges;
- zinc: from oranges.
If you want to combat any cold or flu virus coming your way with vitamin C, then this citrus juice is just what your immune system needs. Citrus fruits, no matter which they are, are known to be filled with vitamin C, and they also have a ton of other health properties, making them a key ally when it comes to fortifying your immune system.
A deficit of vitamin C in the body can lead to an impaired immune system response, delays in healing wounds, and even the body’s inability to accurately fight infections that it detects. This vitamin is so important that research has shown that administering it intravenously (through IVs) to COVID-19 patients has proven to be beneficial to patients.
However, when it comes to everyday life, you should consider making one of the juices that you drink in the morning alongside your breakfast a citrus one, due to all the vitamin C you will get from them and how effective it can be when it comes to battling colds.
This is one of the reasons why, when you are cold, you should drink orange juice (though any other citrus juice will suffice), as the vitamin aids in the recovery from the cold and lessens any severe symptoms you may be exhibiting!
Make sure you keep in mind that you should not have more than 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C a day (for healthy adults).
If any of these recipes sound appealing to you and you would like to make them, but you do not have a reliable juicer on hand, there is no need to fret! This one, which you can easily buy from Amazon is both effective and affordable. Get to juicing!
Juice 3: Tomato (with celery)
Important nutrients present in one serving:
- vitamin A from tomatoes;
- vitamin B-6 from tomatoes;
- vitamin C: tomatoes;
- vitamin K: from celery and tomatoes;
- folate (vitamin B-9): from tomatoes;
- magnesium: from tomatoes;
- potassium: from tomatoes.
This is one of the juices that boost your immune system that not a lot of people mention, despite being one of the easiest ones that you can make yourself. In the end, with any of the juices and smoothies on our list, it is always better to make them yourself than to rely on store-bought ones (as a lot of them can secretly add extra sugar to the beverage).
You should always strive to make your tomato juice fresh and add to it a little bit of celery for a boost in nutrients and taste (there are multiple easy-to-follow recipes online that only have a couple of ingredients; choose the one that most appeal to you).
One of the perks of this type of juice is that you can easily make it without needing a blender or juicer, as you will have to cook the tomatoes on the stove first, along with some celery stalks and leaves, some onion, salt, and pepper to taste (along with sugar if needed), and some tabasco for an extra kick (you can leave it out if you want). Just boil them all together for about 25 minutes, then strain them through a sieve, and you are done!
Tomato juice will help you lower the chance of getting an infection due to how rich in folate they are, and it also has magnesium, which helps against inflammation and is also a mood booster!
Juice 4: Strawberry and kiwi
Important nutrients present in one serving:
- calcium: from milk;
- folate (vitamin B-9): from strawberries;
- manganese: from strawberries;
- potassium: from strawberries;
- vitamin B-12: from milk;
- vitamin C: from strawberries and kiwis;
- vitamin D: from skim milk;
- vitamin K from kiwi;
- zinc from milk.
This one best serves as a smoothie and is one that we love to make since strawberries and kiwis are packed with vitamin C and thus an alternative to the many citrus juices you can make, which also include milk. It may sound a bit weird, but milk is a great source of protein, vitamin D, and calcium, and you can also swap it for a plant-based one or yogurt!
A lot of us are vitamin D deficient, as this is the vitamin that you can mainly get through sunlight exposure and, in way smaller quantities, from animal products. The reason why you should make this type of smoothie with milk or yogurt is to make sure that you can add that vitamin to your daily nutrients without having to take a lot of supplements.
Vitamin D is great to keep under control, and it reduces the risk of getting the flu and even pneumonia.
What’s more, if you opt for Greek yogurt, you can also get the added benefit of probiotics, which will help you maintain the antimicrobial barriers in your stomach!
Not to mention, it is delicious! Add a cup of strawberries and a kiwi to a blender with milk or yogurt, and you’ve got yourself a tasty morning treat or even an afternoon snack! You can even add more fruits or veggies to your smoothie to make it more to your liking, and even oats if you want it to be more filling.
Getting to make these juices when you are sick is going to help your immune system get back on track. However, you may also want to make something hot, like soup, to be able to feel better. When you are sick, cooking is one of the last things on your mind, so we suggest you pick a premade soup! Read all about the healthiest premade soups that even nutritionists approve of here!
