How To Measure Leafy Greens
I often get the question, “How do you measure leafy greens?!” It’s a great question, yet the answer varies depending on the person. If you are new to green smoothies, I recommend a lightly packed 1 cup serving of spinach. If you’re a #greensmoothiequeen, then stuff those greens in as much as you can! Seriously though, if you need to start with 2 spinach leaves and work your way to more, then that’s great. I know that you’ll be adding more greens to each smoothie in no time, just like I did! These days, I just grab a few *big* handfuls of spinach for my smoothie, and skip the measuring cup.
A Smoothie A Day Can Help Support Your Child’s Immune System
Power up smoothie. Image / Supplied.
Anchor ImmunoHalo
Anchor ImmunoHalo is a great way to provide immune support for kids plus probiotics & prebiotics.
As kids get ready to start a new school year, maintaining and supporting their immune system is more important than ever. A healthy immune system will help ward off the germs we all come into contact with in our daily lives. It’s our body’s in-built defence system against illness and infection. As kids enter the hustle and bustle of a new school year they increase the chance they’ll pick up bugs and other nasties. The good news is that giving your kids that extra nutrition support is easier than you think.
Indeed it can be as simple as one serve a day of Anchor’s new vanilla flavoured fortified milk powder blend lmmunoHalo in something like a smoothie. That single serving will give your child a boost of essential vitamins and minerals to help support a healthy immune system*.
Easy to prepareBest of all you can whip up a tasty serving in minutes just add three tablespoons of Anchor lmmunoHalo to three quarters of a cup of drinking water and stir thoroughly or try incorporating it into a delicious smoothie. Made-up milk can be frozen, so Anchor lmmunoHalo is also great for milky ice blocks to keep kids cool this summer. You can find Anchor lmmunoHalo located next to the toddler milk section at Countdown, New World, and Pak’nSave. Find a stockist near you here.
Smoothie Ingredients That Have Calming Effects
Berries, citrus, spinach, and yogurt
As I mentioned above, smoothies should have a healthy blend of fruits, vegetables and protein. In each of the smoothie ingredients listed above, milk and/or yogurt was mentioned as an ingredient that provides multiple nutritional benefits. So, in the Immune Boosting Smoothies I am going to share with you, they will each have milk and/or yogurt.
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Special Immune Boosting Smoothie
This immune boosting smoothie recipe employs the natural power of black elderberries, which have nearly double the anthocyanins as other berries. This special type of flavanoid promotes immune support, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer benefits. Blended with antioxidant rich fruits to support a healthy immune system, this recipe is a winner.
For a few years, my family had no health insurance and I took a proactive approach to health care. We boosted our immune system to help us not get sick in the first place. From green smoothies to plant based meals to natural remedies we did anything we could to not get sick….and it worked.
Kids have started going back to school , restaurants are opening and new COVID cases are still making the headlines, it’s vital to build up your body’s natural defense: the immune system.
One of the key immune supporting ingredients I added to our smoothies was elderberry syrup. I’ve partnered with Sambucol Black Elderberry Syrup to create a tasty immune boosting smoothie recipe.
Q My Child Has A Weak Immune System He Was Born Prematurely And I Believe This Is The Cause He Is Constantly Sick And His Colds Last For At Least Two Weeks What Can I Do To Help Boost His Immune System
A. Your suspicions are correct. Premature babies tend to have immature immune systems, which makes them prone to frequent infections. A classic word that describes the care of preemies is morethey need more holding, more food for growth, and more protection against infections. Try these tricks to boost your childs immunity:
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Encourage Active Play Exercise And Time Outside
Colds and flus occur most often during the winter months. While it may seem counterintuitive to go outside with the family when it is cold out, it is very important that the whole family stays active and spends time outdoors all year long.
There are several reasons why active play and time outdoors is beneficial for your childs immune system. For one, physical activity strengthens immune function.1112 Additionally, getting outside allows your kid to get some fresh air away from all of the germs and bacteria that are trapped inside.11 And time in the sun also boosts vitamin D, one of the best nutrients for immune system health.7
Being active on a regular basis can help to keep the cold, flu, and other illnesses at bay. So make sure to encourage your children to play, get active, and spend time outside all year long. Just be sure to bundle them up in proper gear if the weather calls for it.
How To Make An Orange Carrot Smoothie:
Like with all of my veggie smoothie recipes, I start with a base of frozen fruit here I used pineapple.
Add in carrot puree and orange juice to make for immunity boosting concotion your kids will love.
In an effort to keep the vibrant orange color, I skipped any dairy making this a dairy free and vegan. You could easily add 1/4 cup of yogurt or sub in some milk of the orange juice if you want a creamier drink. Youd also get the added benefit of bumping up the vitamin d!
If youre making this cold-fighting drink in response to a drippy nose, I highly recommend skipping the dairy.
Dairy can thicken mucus, which is no good when youre already stuffed up.
How do you blend carrots?
When blending into a smoothie, I recommend using cooked, cooled carrots. Fresh or frozen varieties will blend in as well, but it might take a bit longer to get fully incorporated.
What fruit mixes well with carrots?
Carrots are a pretty sweet vegetable, so most every fruit mixes well. My personal favorites are orange, apple, strawberry, pineapple, and mango.
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Berry Smoothie With Citrus
The very first green smoothie recipe I ever tried was this one, the Very Berry Smoothie and it changed my life. At that time, my husband and I were financially struggling as he transitioned to a new job as a pastor. We had no health insurance and our kids were at that age when all they did was pass colds back and forth . This berry smoothie recipe gave us the immunity boost we needed to stay healthy, as well as caused us to fall in love with green smoothies.
How To Meal Prep Healthy Smoothies
Smoothies are a meal prep star! Its so easy to measure out and chop your ingredients, then place them in a zip top freezer bag. Pop the bag into the freezer and then pull it out the morning you want to use it, dump directly into the blender and get it combined. Youll be enjoying your smoothie in no time at all. I love that this avoids lugging out my cutting board and chopping all the fruit on a busy weekday morning. Before I load up my freezer bag, I label it and include the steps, too.
If youve already made your smoothie but you have leftovers you can pour the leftover smoothie into ice cube trays and put it into the freezer. Then simply pop your cubes out and lightly blend before serving.
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Adding More Color To Your Diet Is Easy With Healthy Smoothies
Immune health is a hot topic. But the truth is that there is no one food or supplement that can boost the immune system, says Rye, New Yorkbased Malina Malkani, RDN, the creator of Solve Picky Eating and a media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Instead, its important to eat a well-balanced diet that includes a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds. This way, you can be sure youre getting all the essential nutrients that support overall health and normal immune function, such as protein, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and D, Malkani says.
That said, eating a well-balanced diet is often easier said than done. In fact, only 1 in 10 adults get the 1½ to 2 cups of fruit and 2 to 3 cups of veggies that are recommended per day, according to November 2017 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you struggle to get enough fruits and vegetables in your diet, smoothies are a tasty, convenient way to boost intake, Malkani says. Plus, if you dont enjoy the bitter flavor of certain vegetables , blending them with fruits, spices, and different types of milk can help make them more enjoyable to consume. And if access to fresh fruits and veggies is limited, frozen versions are just as nutritious and give smoothies a great texture, Malkani adds.
To incorporate more immune-supporting nutrients into your diet, try one of these tasty smoothie recipes.
Tips For Making The Best Green Smoothie
I used the unsweetened original Almond Breeze almondmilk flavor in this immune boosting smoothie recipe, but you could easily swap it with the coconut or vanilla flavor too.
The key to a well blended green smoothie is blending the liquid with the greens really well before adding the rest of the ingredients. Its the best way to avoid green chunks in your slurping straw and later in your toothy smile.
A lot of smoothies add banana for creaminess, but here simply freezing the fruit before blending does the job. If youre making this smoothie with fresh instead of frozen fruit, simply add 3-4 ice cubes when blending the liquid and greens and blend well.
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Immunity Boosting Juices For Toddlers + Kids
on5 stars
Three juices that are colorful, healthy and fully loaded with nutrients to help boost your kiddos immunity. Bonus points all three juices taste incredible and will be a hit with the little ones!!
Its 5 degrees outside as I write this and the sickness board at the girls school has about seven different sicknesses listed on it! All those sicknesses listed in bright red marker, lined up in a row, taunting me every time I walk in the door < and in case you dont have a sickness board at your school/daycare, its a white board that is posted right by the front door where they write down all the sicknesses that have been reported to school that week, its pretty much a hypochondriacs worst nightmare.
If you are a regular to this blog, you know by this post that I am serious about boosting my familys immunity this year to help us not get sick. And so far, knock-on-wood, we have stayed pretty healthy.
I am going to give big credit to these three different juices for helping us stay healthy.
Filled with immunity builders such as lemon, ginger, turmeric, carrots, oranges and beets these three juices are packed with nutrients. They are also delicious, and my girls will happily drink them every morning along with their breakfast.
Before we get to the recipes, lets back up a minute and talk about juicers. Whenever I post a picture of our homemade juices on Instagram, I always get the follow up question of which juicer is my favorite.
Yummy Immune Boosting Smoothie Recipes
Smoothies offer an amazing way to boost your immune system and replenish important vitamins. Stress, lack of sleep, and poor diet are major causes of a weakened immune system in modern society.
Rather than taking a bunch of medicine after you get sick, a better long-term preventative approach is blending specific whole foods that have high levels of nutrients and minerals which strengthen your immune system.
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Feed Your Child Immune
Omega 3 fats, particularly those found in coldwater fish are valuable immune boosters and maintain the overall health of just about every organ of the body. They increase the activity of macrophages, the white cells that eat up bacteria. Grandmothers knew this fact years ago in the pre-antibiotic era when they prescribed that awful tasting cod liver oil. Feed your child at least three ounces of wild salmon three times a week. If coldwater fish is not available to you, give your child a high-quality fish oil capsule. One capsule a day should be enough.
Mexican Chocolate Smoothie Bowl
Thanks to Greek yogurt, tofu, and roasted almonds, along with the almond milk, this smoothie bowl packs a powerful 11 grams of protein, no meat required. And if you substitute the Greek yogurt for a plant-based option, the recipe can be made vegan, too.
Get the recipe for our Mexican Chocolate Smoothie Bowl.
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Immune Boosting Smoothie Recipes For Kids
Other Recipes Youll Like
These immune boosting smoothie recipes will help keep your little one healthy during the cold season because each one contains many of the nutrients that keep your immune system strong. According to Cleveland Clinic, those immune-boosting vitamins and minerals are:
- Vitamin C
- Selenium
- Zinc
Indulge in these immune-boosting smoothies this winter between big bowls of warm soup and cozy cups of hot chocolate.
Instructions For Making Spinach Smoothie For Kids
- Firstly tip the sliced bananas and chopped kiwi pieces into the food processor or smoothie maker.
- Next tip the fresh baby spinach leaves into the food processor with the banana and kiwi fruit.
- Add the natural yogurt to the food processor/blender along with the bananas, kiwi and fresh baby spinach leaves.
- Blitz the bananas, kiwi, spinach and natural yogurt until smooth.
When I make this smoothie it tends to serve two of the kids I like them to drink homemade smoothies but obviously I know its better for them to eat the actual fruits whole not blitzed so I do keep portion sizes on the smaller side.
Spinach and Kiwi smoothie is a really good breakfast smoothie for kids, naturally sweet so it appeals to them and I feel good because it counts towards their 5-a-day.
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Kale Tomato And Celery
Kale is a staple in many green juices, but the Kale Mary Tescos take on a bloody Mary is truly one of a kind.
Instead of cutting the taste of kale with sweet fruits, this recipe uses tomato juice, adding more than enough vitamin A.
Adding some spicy horseradish to this recipe may also provide anti-inflammatory benefits, according to some research. Blend it up for a drink thatll awaken your senses.
Strawberries and kiwis are other healthy options to include in a vitamin C-packed drink. Since it takes about 4 cups of strawberries to make 1 cup of juice, you may want to blend these fruits into a smoothie rather than a juice.
We love this recipe by Well Plated, which includes skim milk. Milk is a good source of protein and vitamin D, which is hard to come by in juices that use only fruits or vegetables.
Many people are deficient in vitamin D, which is largely found in sunlight and in smaller amounts in animal products. Healthy levels, achieved through sunlight, diet, or supplements, reduce your risk of respiratory infections like pneumonia or the flu.
Some recent research suggests a connection between vitamin D deficiency and infection rates and severity. Clinical trials are needed to determine whether it has the same effect on SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus.
Not only is watermelon rich in vitamin C and arginine , but it also can help relieve muscle soreness. Muscle soreness is a common symptom of the flu, especially in older adults.
Healthy Citrus Smoothie Ingredients
I LOVE this particular smoothie recipe because it can be made the night before and refrigerated until the next morning. I pour about two cups into these plastic freezer jars, making them a simple grab-and-go breakfast option.
My kids are CRAZY about them! And I love that each ingredient plays a role in keeping your immune system healthy:
Oranges Oranges are known for providing plenty of Vitamin C. I used two whole peeled navel oranges in this recipe for extra fiber. You can actually throw in whole unpeeled oranges for even more health benefits, but I really only recommend doing so if youre using organic oranges.
Mango Did you know that mangos actually contain twice the daily recommended value of Vitamin C? They add natural sweetness to this smoothie, so you wont find any added sugar in this recipe. I pick up the big bags of frozen mango chunks at Costco. Theyre great for a healthy snack option, too!
Bananas I almost always add a frozen banana to my smoothies because they make them so deliciously creamy. Theyre also great for extra energy and high in potassium , making them ideal for active kids.
Unsweetened Almond or Coconut Milk Every smoothie needs some liquid for blending, and refrigerated almond or coconut milk are both good choices for adding some plant-based protein. Choose your favorite, just make sure to pick up the unsweetened variety. Im loving this toasted coconut almond milk lately, its the best of both!
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