Winter is coming, that’s clear! And it comes with wonderful landscapes torn from stories, mulled wine, warm blankets, and warm cakes, but also with a chain of colds that will keep you nailed to the bed with your nose in a handkerchief and dizziness. But this winter can be like summer! Really!
Update your weekly shopping list by adding these 12 delicious superfoods for the immune system and not only will you not get any viruses, but you will also have more efficient digestion, an extra square on your abdomen, and a magazine skin.
Drink a glass of smoothie in the morning and another as a snack during the day and cleanse your diet of junk foods and other “wonders” that besides the taste do not offer anything good to your body, they even make dust and powder not only diet plans but also the immune system you need so much during this period.
What are the superfoods?
We all know how important it is to eat well. But what exactly are superfoods? A superfood is a nutrient-dense food that contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants than most other foods.
Superfoods are foods that can help support your health, wellness, and weight loss goals. Some of these foods have been used for centuries in traditional diets while others are more recent discoveries.
While some superfoods do have specific health benefits, there is no one-size-fits-all definition. More than 80 different foods have been identified as superfoods and many experts agree on their nutritional and health benefits.
These foods have been linked with reducing the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.
Superfoods can be found in many different types of foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.
Recommended read: Superfoods – The Complete Guide: What Are They? Benefits, Importance, Types, Use, RecipesÂ
Proper nutrition helps to strengthen the immune system
Like any other weapon of war, the army of the immune system depends on how well it works and how strong the stomach is. Thus, the “soldiers” of the immune system need good food administered regularly.
Scientists have long ago noticed that people who live in poverty or have a low-nutrient diet are much more vulnerable to the attack of infectious diseases.
When you make a smoothie from a variety of healthy ingredients, you are on the right track to having a well-functioning immune system.
Many of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients found in these foods are essential for the functioning of the immune system. Some of the essential nutrients for immunity include antioxidants, vitamins (A, group of vitamins B, C, D, E), and minerals (calcium, magnesium, selenium, zinc, iodine, iron, and potassium).
Make sure you vary your smoothie drinks daily so that you include as many foods rich in these nutrients in your daily diet.
That being said, take a pen and paper and put together the shopping list with the best 12 superfoods to be added to smoothies that will keep you safe from the disease this winter and give you a huge boost to your immunity.
Recommended read: How to Boost Your Immune System Naturally and Fast
1. Probiotics, friendly intestinal bacteria
Probiotics is the term used for good, friendly bacteria. These are small creatures that live in the gastrointestinal tract and help digest food. Foods that are rich in probiotics and that you can add to smoothies are kefir and yogurt.
2. Berries
If you haven’t been able to fill your freezer or pantry with berries, buy them at the supermarket because they fall into the category of foods that your body loves.
Full of antioxidants, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, berries are a must for your daily smoothies, where you still find them so tasty.
3. Acai, Nature’s SuperFood No 1
Acai is the fruit of a palm tree that grows in the Amazon and has the highest amount of antioxidants of all foods. Acai berries have even more antioxidants than blueberries, but they are not as easy to find.
As they lose their nutritional properties 24 hours after being harvested, it is recommended to consume them in the form of frozen acai paste or fruit juice with pulp.
When you buy acai juice, make sure that it comes from certified organic crops, does not contain additives, sugar, or sweeteners, and is prepared 100% from acai fruit (i.e. without other added fruits).
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4. Ginger
Prepare in advance a delicious mixture of grated ginger and good honey that you can soak as long as you want in a cupboard and that will be the icing on the cake of any winter smoothie. The combination of honey and ginger is a basic one in Ayurvedic medicine and is mainly used to treat viral infections.
Honey is an unbeatable antiseptic, but also an incredible sedative if combined in the evening with a little warm milk. And if honey has been known to us since childhood, ginger is a newcomer in the diet of many, but believe me, it is worth receiving it on your table with open arms because it is one of the most versatile and medicinal roots you have ever seen.
Ginger detoxifies and energizes the body bothered by stress or well shaken by colds and goes wonderfully with fruit smoothies.
You may also read: The natural remedy that cleans arteries and liver: detox recipe with garlic, lemon, ginger, and honey
5. Goji, the fruit of longevity
Goji berries have long been revered in Asia for their healthy properties. There are two varieties of Goji: Chinese Goji (Lycium Chinense) and Tibetan Goji (Lycium Barbarum).
Goji has been an important pillar of Chinese medicine, but only recently have scientists around the world discovered why the fruit is so effective.
One of the reasons is the presence of compounds, called polysaccharides, which have the role of stimulating the immune system. The polysaccharides contained in fruits provide cells with special sugars that support immune health and improve inter-cellular communication.
It also appears that goji can help the immune system better distinguish between its cells and invaders. This makes these goji berries an exceptionally valuable ingredient for smoothies if you suffer from an autoimmune disease.
6. Green tea maintains mental tone and immunity
Another ingredient for smoothies, also full of antioxidants, is green tea.
Green tea has been used by the Chinese for more than 2,000 years as a soft drink, due to the many therapeutic properties of this plant. Green tea is also a natural reservoir of vitamins (group B, A, E, C) and minerals (iron, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium), amino acids, carbohydrates, tannins, volatile oils, theine, flavonoids, and alkaloids.
The therapeutic effects of tea are primarily due to the presence of polyphenols, which provide antioxidant action, protecting cells from oxidative stress (excessive production of free radicals in the body). With the antioxidants, it contains, it reduces the risk of cancer, for example, esophageal cancer, by up to 60%. Green tea has a clinically proven anti-cancer effect.
Green tea can be drunk as an infusion, mixed with ginger, to which you add a slice of lemon and honey, to taste.
Provides the feeling of warmth, protecting the body from colds.
Hot tea is the most suitable drink in the cold season: it moisturizes, increases general and respiratory immunity, warms the body, and relaxes and tones. Replace water or juice from any smoothie recipe with green tea to give an extra boost to your immune system.
7. Green leaves, many green leaves
Spinach, broccoli, and dark salads like arugula are the perfect ingredients for smoothies that abound in chlorophyll, the antioxidant that we, like plants, need so much.
But dark green plants abound not only in chlorophyll, vitamins A, C, and E but also in fiber, calcium, or minerals such as iron.
Make as many green smoothies as possible and you will see how you will bloom despite the sun with your teeth out. I couldn’t forget the kale, the super-cabbage that everyone in the diet talks about all the time. It’s a rather hard leaf, so chop it finely before adding it to the blender.
Recommended read: · 7 Green Smoothie Recipes for Natural Detoxification, Weight Loss, and a Huge Energy Boost
8. Sprouts
Sprouts are embryonic plants, so they contain much more nutrients than mature plants. Unfortunately, the process of fermenting seeds can make a person jump because of the horrible smell (if you don’t believe it means you haven’t tried to germinate mung beans).
Our good fortune is that most supermarkets offer an incredible diversity of sprouts that are tastier and tastier. Add them to salads, not just smoothies.
- Bean sprouts: mung bean, kidney bean, black bean, lentil
- Vegetable sprouts: broccoli, alfalfa, mustard green, and red clover sprouts
- Nut and seed sprouts: pumpkin seed, sesame seed, sunflower seed sprouts
- Sprouted grains: wheatgrass and quinoa sprouts.
9. Citrus
Whether they are oranges, tangerines, lemons, or any other sun-colored fruit you love, add them small to large in your smoothies for an energy boost and antioxidants that will work wonders not just for your mood. , but also for the body’s resistance to disease attack and oxidative stress that causes premature aging.
10. Pomegranate
It is not for nothing that the ancient Egyptians used it to treat all kinds of infections, pomegranate is not only a delicious fruit and an elixir of beauty due to antioxidants but also a panacea that destroys viruses that want to make a fuss in the human body.
Clean the pomegranate underwater so it doesn’t get dirty or buy pomegranate juice for salad from the supermarket.
11. Pumpkin for iron immunity and a young skin
A surprising and tasty addition to the smoothie is pumpkin, a rich source of antioxidants and beta-carotene.
Pumpkin pulp contains vitamins, especially provitamin A, vitamins E and C, mineral salts, carbohydrates, proteins, and the seeds contain oil, proteins, lecithin, resins, and enzymes with anthelmintic properties.
Beta-carotene is a provitamin that the body converts to vitamin A. Vitamin A has several beneficial roles in the body, including a significant influence on subcategories of cells important for immunity, with a role in the production of antibodies and the destruction of cells dangerous to the body.
Vitamin A also helps keep the respiratory tract in good shape. Pumpkin is preferable to be eaten fresh, plain, and without sugar.
You can keep the pumpkin in canned form, by a method similar to pickles, and in this way, you have it available in any season.
You may also read: Autumn Flavors in A Glass: Creamy and Antioxidant Smoothie with Baked Pumpkin, Blueberries, and Spices
12. Seeds & nuts.
When you start an adventure smoothie, don’t forget this motto: “No glass of smoothie without nuts and/ or seeds!”. That being said, refuel at health food stores or the nut market, full of beneficial oils and minerals that will improve brain activity.
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Flaxseed
• Hemp seeds
• Chia seeds
• Poppy seeds
• Fir buds
Pumpkin seeds are ideal for streamlining lazy digestion or putting any infection in the stomach under the slipper.
Do not avoid sunflower seeds, a source of calm for the person stressed by the mix of B6 and magnesium.
And so that the winter doesn’t dehydrate you completely, but also to satisfy your body with the best fat so that later you don’t ask for junk food, add to the mix of smoothies and ground flax seeds (otherwise they are too small to be processed by the body) or hemp seeds, both of which feed on those Omega fatty acids that everyone loves.
Let’s not forget the fabulous chia seeds.
Nuts are generally good sources of fat, fiber, and protein. Most nut fats are monounsaturated fats, as well as polyunsaturated Omega-6 and Omega-3 fats. However, they do contain some saturated fat. Nuts also contain several vitamins and minerals, including magnesium and vitamin E.
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Peanuts
• Brazilian nuts
• Pecan nuts
• Pistachio
• Almonds
• Caju
• Macadamia nuts.
Any type of nut is very valuable to the human body. Therefore, they should be included regularly in the diet, either in the form of snacks or in various dishes.
Moreover, you can eat each type of nut separately, or a few different nuts together.
Don’t forget one very important thing about nuts: they are high in calories! so pay attention to the quantities! otherwise, you will gain weight!
Last Thoughts:
The best and most natural way to have invincible immunity and avoid diseases is through an adequate and balanced diet. When your body receives a balanced and complex supply of nutrients every day, all the body’s systems are functional.
Once your immunity is strong, you will avoid colds, flu, fever, and many of the diseases that can be transmitted, both viral and bacterial
Now you are armed with the knowledge of antioxidants, phytonutrients, and other nutrients that can help bring you better health. Start throwing shakes together with a combination of these superfoods to help boost your immune system, and enjoy the positive side effects associated with them.
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