Your body has its very own natural ways of fighting off colds, right? But wouldn’t it be nice to help your hard-working defences by feeding it the right nutrients? Juicing is an easy way to give your body tons of vitamins, natural anti-inflammatories, antioxidants, and minerals when you are sick, without burdening it with the work of a heavy digestion.
Food has qualities and functions biochemically and energetically that target specific organs. Not only that— in the Chinese Five Element theory each food has a specific action to benefit an organ in terms of taste, colour and temperature. Colour is one way to determine which organ a food will target. Ideally, one eats what is in season and includes a wide variety of flavours and colours. Colours in vegetables have beneficial antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents as well as phytonutrients: green for liver (spinach, lettuce, green beans, broccoli), red/orange for heart (tomatoes, carrots, strawberries), yellow for digestive system (barley, egg yolks, yellow peppers, lemons), white for lungs (radish, cauliflower, potatoes) and black for kidneys (seaweed, black sesame, nigella seeds). Another way to understand the interaction of food in our body is by their polarity or forces, Yin & Yang or the sun and the moon forces. Read more about alchemy in your kitchen here.
These five fresh juice recipes for colds have the nutrients your immune system needs to keep you well and to get you feeling better sooner if you do come down with a cold.
How to make an immune-boosting juice
There’s no specific formula for getting the right juicing combination. There are some basic principles to apply, and after that, it’s all a matter of taste.
Here's the perfect combination for the magic to happen: you start with a hydrating base (veggies and fruits that produce a lot of liquid—cucumbers, celery, carrots, apples). Then add a vitamin booster (beets, leafy greens, fruits), a superfood to enrich the juice with extra vitamins and minerals (this one is optional), and a flavourful ingredient (aromatic herbs, spices). Easy-peasy!
My take on ingredients for fighting the cold
Cold-Fighting Veggies
Beets, carrots, cucumbers, celery, kale, and spinach are all powerful antioxidants with liver detox effects that help to rid your body of free-radicals and strengthen your immune system.
Cold-Fighting Fruits
Basically, all the fruits, including apples, citrus fruits (lemons, grapefruit, lime), pomegranate, berries, and many more. Fruits are loaded with vitamins and hydrating fluids, which your body cells consume in high amounts when your immune system is in flu-alert.
Cold-Fighting Superfoods
Turmeric, chlorella, spirulina, and ginger are powerful foods that bring additional vitamins, minerals, and anti-inflammatories agents to help the activity of your cells and sustain the immune system.
The right proportions of these ingredients vary on what type of nutrient you wish to feed your body on and how the combination tastes. You can add an apple, orange, or carrots to sweeten up the earthy taste of the beetroot. If you want to deeply nourish your body with minerals and antioxidants, add berries and chlorella or spirulina. Or you can simply make a citrus-only juice for that vitamin C kick.
Our Fave Cold-Fighting Juice Recipes
Beet Detox Juice
Beets contain a highly active phytonutrient pigment called betalain, with powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detox effects. Combine them with the vitamin C from apples and spinach, and you’ve got yourself a fantastic cold- and flu-fighting elixir.
Ingredients
1 large beetroot
1 green apple
2 carrots
1 handful fresh spinach leaves
2 cucumbers
2 tsp grated ginger
Pomegranate morning boost
Grapefruits and lemons are packed with vitamin C, which is known to reduce cold symptoms and activate cells in the immune system, while the glucose in pomegranate will give your brain a boost of energy first thing in the morning. Add kale for even more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects from its health-promoting phytochemicals.
Ingredients
1 large pomegranate (the seeds) or organic pomegranate juice when out of season
2 grapefruits
1 lemon
1 bunch of fresh kale
Golden Anti-inflammatory Juice
A delicious cocktail of cold-fighting ingredients. Butternut squash nourishes with beta-carotene and essential fatty acids, both with antioxidant effects. Ginger has antiviral actions and promotes healthy sweating, which can be helpful during respiratory infections, and lemon adds valuable vitamin C. A dose of turmeric provides super antimicrobial benefits that help your body to fight foreign invaders as well as inflammation.
Ingredients
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and seeds removed
3 carrots
2 lemons
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled
2 teaspoons turmeric powder
Vitamin C Boost Juice
The key to keeping colds and flu at bay is to infuse your cells with fresh nutrients to ensure they get enough fuel for supporting an immune system that functions at its best. During cold season, look for ingredients high in immune-boosting superstar vitamin C, like lemons, parsley and apples.
Ingredients
1 handful kale or spinach
1 apple, any variety
1 handful parsley, fresh
2 lemons, juiced
Antioxidant-Rich Juice
Dark leafy greens, red and purple fruits and veggies (especially beets and carrots) are a great source of antioxidants, especially beta-carotene and betalains, involved in the natural detoxification of our cells, energy production and immunity support.
Ingredients
3 carrots
1 small beet
4 celery stalks
1/2-inch piece fresh ginger root
Handful of parsley
1 lemon, juiced
Juice all the ingredients and drink straight away. My take on these one are smoothies—especially because I like to keep the fibre of all these foods—I add all the ingredients into a blender along with coconut water and blend, baby blend.
Fresh juice is best consumed immediately. If needed, you can keep it in the refrigerator in an airtight glass container for up to 24 hours.
No fight in this world brought up such a wonderful natural glow. Keep up natural warriors!
Love,
Sonia x