Increase Immunity The Healthy Way
Many products on store shelves claim to boost or support immunity. But the concept of boosting immunity actually makes little sense scientifically. In fact, boosting the number of cells in your body immune cells or others is not necessarily a good thing. For example, athletes who engage in “blood doping” pumping blood into their systems to boost their number of blood cells and enhance their performance run the risk of strokes.
Attempting to boost the cells of your immune system is especially complicated because there are so many different kinds of cells in the immune system that respond to so many different microbes in so many ways. Which cells should you boost, and to what number? So far, scientists do not know the answer. What is known is that the body is continually generating immune cells. Certainly, it produces many more lymphocytes than it can possibly use. The extra cells remove themselves through a natural process of cell death called apoptosis some before they see any action, some after the battle is won. No one knows how many cells or what the best mix of cells the immune system needs to function at its optimum level.
Granola And Fruit Smoothie
A high-protein smoothie with the goodness of honey and cinnamon in generous amount makes for a perfect immunity-boosting drink to have in the morning. Honey and cinnamon have a long-standing reputation of being two of the most powerful kitchen ingredients. Their combination has proved to be good for healing wounds, boost immune system and help build tolerance against allergies and infections. Find the full recipe here.
Boost Your Immune System With Healthy Smoothies
The best and most natural way to fight infections and to avoid getting sick during cold and flu season is to let your immune system do the work. Your bodys natural defenses are equipped to recognize, attack, and eliminate a number of foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses.
Although your immune system is elegantly designed to fight off sickness, it is not perfect. You can keep it in top fighting form and boost its effectiveness by eating certain foods. When you add those foods to your smoothies, you can make a potent recipe for staying healthy.
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How To Make These Immune Boosting Smoothies
These immune boosting smoothie bowls are super easy to make.
Start by prepping all of your ingredients. The only ingredients that need a bit of extra prep are the citrus fruits.
To prep fresh citrus for a smoothie, we suggest supreming the citrus, which is a method that removes the bitter pith and peel so you just get the sweet, juicy pulp.
Use a sharp knife and carefully slice off both ends of the orange , revealing just a bit of the flesh. Then, use the knife to completely remove the peel in long vertical strips.
When the peel is removed, carefully use a paring knife to cut between each slice’s membrane to remove each segment.
Next, simply add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth. You may need to scrape down the sides once or twice to make sure the smoothie is fully blended.
Raspberry & Peach Swirled Smoothie
Turmeric is the perfect ingredient for boosting your immune system, and it’s in this smoothie recipe! This two-layer paleo fruit smoothie is almost too pretty to drink. By basically making two distinct recipesa vibrant yellow smoothie featuring peaches and turmeric, and a pink smoothie with beets and cherriesyou get two distinct, delicious layers, as well as an Instagram-worthy healthy breakfast.
Get our recipe for Raspberry & Peach Swirled Smoothies.
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Simple Immune Boosting Smoothie
Each morning when I fire up my laptop, it feels like Im bombarded with articles about the current flu pandemic. Its no secret that this years flu season is the worst in nearly a decade, and experts are saying it hasnt even peaked yet. Scary stuff!
So you can bet Im doing everything in my power to keep these nasties out of our home: common sense things like encouraging my kids to wash their hands more frequently, washing our bedding more often, making sure our humidifier stays at the recommended level, and wiping down remotes, phones, and other germy surfaces with antibacterial wipes regularly.
And of course Im encouraging my kids to up their Vitamin C intake by stocking our produce rack with fresh navel oranges and clementines. But you know what Ive discovered? My kids are a bit lazy, and often peeling an orange just seems like too much work. I know, I know Im rolling my eyes too. But rather than going against the grain, Ive taken to serving them an immune boosting smoothie filled with citrus and mango each morning to pump their systems full of Vitamin C.
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Leafy Greens Are A Great Immune System Booster Food
Leafy greens are the powerhouse nutrition for vitamins A and C, as well as protein, fiber and calcium. They help clear out any toxins, leaving your body able to push past a cold and flu fast without relying on unnatural cough and cold syrups.
Parsley supports kidney function by flushing out excess fluid from the body. It’s LOADED with vitamin K ½ cup is more than 500% the daily value. Whoa! The volatile oils and flavonoids in parsley have also been shown to be powerful antioxidants and may even fight the formation of tumors.
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An Easy Immunity Boosting Smoothie
Smoothies are on my weekly meal plan, even in cold weather. For me, they always feel more like a sweet treat than like the healthy meal they actually are. Bonus my kids love them, too! And, they have no idea how many super foods Im hiding right there in plain sight.
Of course, a cold refreshing, fruit smoothie tastes great on a warm day but dont count them out in the cold months. This immunity boosting smoothie is great to serve your family during cold and flu season.
Healthy Immune System Booster
Enjoy this simple + tasty Immune System Booster that’s packed with vitamin C, healing herbs and essential vitamins and minerals. You can drink it daily since it’s packed with immune system booster foods that support immunity.
Getting sick is no fun at all especially during a pandemic. It can mean missing work or activities, plus who wants to feel yucky anyway? Not us! This Mango Ginger Immune Boost Recipe was submitted by one of our community rawkstars, Gregory. And we’re glad he did! If we can sip up some immune-boosting, leafy green goodness to ward off illness, we’re on board 100%!
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How To Make This Smoothie Thick & Creamy
I have a few tips & tricks for making this immune boosting wellness smoothie thick, cold and perfectly creamy every time:
Smoothies For Healthy Immune Systems
When you build a smoothie out of a variety of healthful ingredients, you are on the right track to having an immune system that functions well. Many of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are found in your smoothie ingredients are needed by your immune system. When you get a complete balance of nutrients every day, your whole body functions better.
Some of the nutrients that are particularly important for immunity include vitamins A, B2, B6, C, D, and E, and the minerals selenium and zinc. Make sure you vary your smoothies every day to get all kinds of good foods and a wide variety of nutrients in your daily diet.
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Beetroot Carrot & Ginger Juice
This spicy juice of root vegetables not only helps your immune system to fight off bacteria and viruses, it helps reduce inflammation as well.
Red beets are rich in bioactive compounds such as betanin, vitamins and minerals Beetroot juice can play an important role in protecting your cardiovascular and renal systems.
Carrots are rich in the antioxidant beta carotene, vitamins A, C and E and minerals . This superfood boosts the production of white blood cells which are crucial to fighting infections.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of chopped beetroot and carrots
- 1 inch of peeled ginger
How to prepare:
Blend all the ingredients in a blender and adjust consistency with water. Do not strain.
Vegetarian Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions:
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Health Benefits Of Yogurt
- Yogurt is high in calcium which promotes bone and teeth health.
- Yogurt is an excellent source of B vitamins.
- Yogurt is commonly fortified with vitamin D which also supports immune system health.
- Yogurt provides almost every nutrient your body needs!
Ready to get blending? Here is my first Immune Boosting Smoothie!
Whats In This Green Smoothie
Lets run down our smoothie benefits. This green smoothie is a far cry from tasting anything like the mega doses of greens and vitamins in it because of the natural sweetness of the fruit weve added to our blend.
I used both kale and spinach in this recipe for a mega doses of vitamin C. They provide a powerful antioxidant punch, plus calcium, folate and fiber to help boost immunity and sometimes even fight off infection.
Next up: the sweet stuff. Vitamin C-packed mango, pineapple and kiwi give this smoothie its sweet slurp. Mango has even been shown to protect against cancer and may help lower cholesterol. An extra squeeze of purifying lemon juice adds a fresh, bright squeeze, too.
To help ward against cold bugs even more, I added fresh ginger to the mix. Ginger has been proven to help with nausea, pain and inflammation. All the extras that come with a cold and general malaise.
Every smoothie needs a liquid and Almond Breeze Original Almondmilkdoes the best job here. I always have a box or two of the shelf stable Almondmilk in my pantry so that smoothie making is always an easy option.
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Is It Healthy To Have A Smoothie For Breakfast
I think so! Look at all those ingredients, theyre full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
If youre looking for a protein punch add some vanilla or plain vegan protein powder, this one is EXCELLENT!
If youve whipped up this Immune Boosting Smoothie or any other recipe on The Well Fed Yogi, please do rate the recipe and leave me a comment below, I would love to hear from you! If you snapped some shots of the smoothie, please do share it with me on so I can repost on my stories!
Immune System And Age
As we age, our immune response capability becomes reduced, which in turn contributes to more infections and more cancer. As life expectancy in developed countries has increased, so too has the incidence of age-related conditions.
While some people age healthily, the conclusion of many studies is that, compared with younger people, the elderly are more likely to contract infectious diseases and, even more importantly, more likely to die from them. Respiratory infections, including, influenza, the COVID-19 virus and particularly pneumonia are a leading cause of death in people over 65 worldwide. No one knows for sure why this happens, but some scientists observe that this increased risk correlates with a decrease in T cells, possibly from the thymus atrophying with age and producing fewer T cells to fight off infection. Whether this decrease in thymus function explains the drop in T cells or whether other changes play a role is not fully understood. Others are interested in whether the bone marrow becomes less efficient at producing the stem cells that give rise to the cells of the immune system.
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Immunity Boosting Smoothie Ingredients
In addition to maintaining a balanced daily diet, you can include some immune system boosters in your smoothies. While nothing is guaranteed, you can include these ingredients in your smoothies and expect to see positive results. Many of these have research to back up their benefits, but in some cases, experts would like to see more rigorous study for absolute proof that they help your immune system function better.
Probiotics:Probiotic is the term used for bacteria that are good for you. These are the little critters that live in your gastrointestinal tract and help you digest food. It is a symbiotic relationship. Research is just beginning to show that these helpful bacteria also work to improve your immune system. More specifically, taking a probiotic supplement has been shown to boost the immune system of participants in research and to reduce symptoms associated with autoimmune diseases and allergies. You can find probiotic supplements in any health food store and you can also eat yogurt or kefir with live and active cultures to get probiotics. See my kefir, yogurt, and fermented beverage smoothie category for recipes.
Gather Your Ingredients To Prepare This Immunity
Gather and prep all your ingredients before starting to make your smoothie. You’ll need to peel and dice a cup’s worth of oranges and a small banana. Also, mince a teaspoon of fresh ginger . Otherwise, simply gather together apple cider vinegar, honey, ground turmeric, pink Himalayan salt, black pepper, and a cup of ice. That’s it!
While you may be tempted to sub ground ginger for freshly minced ginger, try to ignore the temptation. Castellano points out that the drying process removes some of the gingerol content, reducing the spice’s immunity-boosting properties. “Gingerols are phytonutrients that anit-inflammatory properties,” she says. “Fresh ginger is best here for its flavor and immunity-supporting purpose.”
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Stress And Immune Function
Modern medicine has come to appreciate the closely linked relationship of mind and body. A wide variety of maladies, including stomach upset, hives, and even heart disease, are linked to the effects of emotional stress. Despite the challenges, scientists are actively studying the relationship between stress and immune function.
For one thing, stress is difficult to define. What may appear to be a stressful situation for one person is not for another. When people are exposed to situations they regard as stressful, it is difficult for them to measure how much stress they feel, and difficult for the scientist to know if a person’s subjective impression of the amount of stress is accurate. The scientist can only measure things that may reflect stress, such as the number of times the heart beats each minute, but such measures also may reflect other factors.
Most scientists studying the relationship of stress and immune function, however, do not study a sudden, short-lived stressor rather, they try to study more constant and frequent stressors known as chronic stress, such as that caused by relationships with family, friends, and co-workers, or sustained challenges to perform well at one’s work. Some scientists are investigating whether ongoing stress takes a toll on the immune system.
Despite these inevitable difficulties in measuring the relationship of stress to immunity, scientists are making progress.
Improve Immunity With Herbs And Supplements
Walk into a store, and you will find bottles of pills and herbal preparations that claim to “support immunity” or otherwise boost the health of your immune system. Although some preparations have been found to alter some components of immune function, thus far there is no evidence that they actually bolster immunity to the point where you are better protected against infection and disease. Demonstrating whether an herb or any substance, for that matter can enhance immunity is, as yet, a highly complicated matter. Scientists don’t know, for example, whether an herb that seems to raise the levels of antibodies in the blood is actually doing anything beneficial for overall immunity.
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How Do These Smoothies Boost The Immune System
Spring feels like it should be just around the corner, but were technically still in the middle of cold and flu season. During this time of the year, I like to help my clients get an extra immunity boost with vitamin C. Vitamin C plays a key role in the immune system: It stimulates the production of white blood cells, which help fight infections. It may also reduce the amount of time an infection stays in the body.
My smoothie formula of protein, fat, fiber, and greens is guaranteed to nourish your body with what it needs to turn down hunger hormones, keep you satisfied for hours, and limit excessive sugar. Theyre also an easy way to increase your intake of vitamin C, as theyre plentiful in leafy greens, citrus fruits, berries, and even avocado!