5 Cold-Fighting Juices to Boost Your Immune System

A sore throat, runny nose, headaches, sneezing, coughing are just a few symptoms of a common cold that could last 7-10 days. Statistically, we get 2-3 colds per year, but kids may get sick more frequently. The common cold is one of the main reasons we miss work and our kid’s miss school.

Challenge: Frigid temperatures force us to spend more time indoors, exercise less, stress more about holidays and change our diet. We eat fewer fresh fruits and vegetables and overindulge in processed and comfort foods. The lifestyle changes make us more prone to common colds by lessening our natural defenses.

Solution: Super-charging our immune system by adding raw juices to our diet during cold months.

Juicing and Your Immune System

Our immune system is a collection of structures and processes that protect us from parasites, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens. Various micro-nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, vitamin B6, folate, selenium, and iron are vital for a proper function of a healthy immune system (Credit: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics). How juicing affects our immune function?

Body Cleansing. Raw juices have a tremendous cleansing effect on every system, every organ and every cell in your body. Juice will promote removal of waste and toxins while decreasing the heavy burden on kidney and liver functions.

Micronutrient infusion. Are you too busy to eat your greens? No worries. Juicing will help to boost your vegetable intake. For example, it takes nine medium-size carrots to make 1 cup of carrot juice, or two large bunches of kale to make ½ of green juice. I don`t care how hungry you are, you cannot eat that many veggies, but you certainly can drink them once you juice them (Credit: TheKitchn)

Highly-absorbable form. Raw juices have an unprecedented 99% absorption rate. Juices, unlike synthetic vitamins, can be digested within minutes. When you drink fresh-made green juice, it is almost like receiving an intravenous infusion of phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes because they go straight into your system without having to be broken down (Credit: Dr.Mercola)

5 Cold-Fighting Juice Recipes

The five juices are our favorite during the cold season. I recommend drinking them instead of water, between meals to prevent colds or to speed up your recovery.

Bloody Orange Boost

2 oranges
2 apples
½ raw beet
½ knob of ginger

Spinach Supreme (Credit: Reboot)

1 cucumber
5 cups of spinach
5 stalks of celery
½ parsley
½ lime

Wake Up Baby

1 apple
2 carrots
1 orange
½ lime

Vitamin C Flash

5 oranges
½ lime
1 lemon
½ grapefruit

Green Goddess

One bunch of kale
2 stalks of celery
3 green apples
½ lime
½ knob of ginger

How to Get Started with Juicing:

Buy an inexpensive juicer, under $100 (Amazon Best Sellers)
Buy produce on sale, or use what you have already
Allocate 1-2 hours to juicing a week (we pick weekends)
Wash and chop. Do not peel anything, except oranges
Juice when you are ready to drink it
Enjoy the raw juice or refrigerate extra in a glass mason jar
Wash the juicer parts, air dry

My Story:

We have three kids who attend public school, which makes our home a breeding ground for viruses. During fall, winter, and spring we tend to get sick more, so I was looking for a solution to protect our family from cold viruses.

After reading a lot of medical research literature on the topic of juicing and immune health, we decided to try it. We learned that juicing on weekends significantly reduced the number of colds for our family. Additionally, we noticed, when we do get sick, juicing makes cold pass faster and we have fewer symptoms.

I believe in prevention and our body`s natural ability to heal. I also hate being sick or miss work. For the past ten years, our family explored many natural ways to stay healthy. Raw juicing is another way we promote our family`s health and avoid high medical bills. Juicing once per week works for us. I hope you consider giving a shot too.