Boost Your Immune System

Give your immune system a boost with one of my top 7 juice recipes. Want a challenge? Try a different one each day of the week for 4 weeks.

Your immune system is your first line of defence against viral infections. A health immune system is always on guard waiting and watching for viral invaders. When we're not eating as well as we should, our immune systems become less responsive and sometimes fail to recognise invading viruses.

Fruit and vegetables contain a group of substances called antioxidants. Some of these include things like vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, lycopene and flavonoids. Each antioxidant does something different but they all work best when combined - this is why the advice you'll often hear is to "eat the rainbow". Typically the colour of a vegetable tells your something about the type of antioxidant it contains. Antioxidants protect the cells of the immune system from free radical damage, helping them to function optimally.

Vegetable juices are a great way of boosting your intake of antioxidants. Both smoothies and juices have their benefits, but the process of juicing means you remove the fibre, meaning your digestive system doesn't have to work as hard to get to the nutrients. Removing the fibre also means more nutrients per serving than you'd get if you made a smoothie.

7 juice combinations for an antioxidant boost

Wash and prepare ingredients appropriately for your juicer

#1

1 medium beetroot, peeled

4 carrots, peeled,

1 apple,

4 celery stalks,

1 inch fresh ginger root,

half a lemon

Contains antioxidants alpha-lipoid-acid, beta-carotene, quercetin, vitamin C, flavonoids. Ginger is well known for its anti-inflammatory effects.

#2

4 carrots, peeled

2 oranges, pith and peel removed

1 red pepper, seeds removed

half a lemon,

half-inch ginger

Rich in antioxidants vitamin C, beta-carotene, lycopene. Ginger for its anti-inflammatory effects.

#3

1 x pineapple, peeled

1 x pear

5 x romaine lettuce leaves

2 x kale leaves

small bunch parsley, leaves and stems

1 x cucumber

Contains quercetin, kaempferol, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, flavonoids, polyphenols. Pineapple (especially the core) also contains bromelain which has various health benefits including reducing inflammation and improving digestion.

#4

2 x granny smith apples

1 x cucumber

4 x celery stalks

half a lemon

1-inch ginger

handful parsley, leaves and stems

Contains quercetin, beta-carotene, flavonoids and vitamin C.

#5

4 carrots, peeled

1 medium beetroot, peeled

1 red pepper, seeds removed

1 orange, peeled

3 celery stalks

1-inch ginger root

Contains beta-carotene, vitamin C, flavonoids and anthocyanins.

#6

2 cups strawberries, hulled

2 cups cantaloupe melon

2 carrots, peeled

5 romaine lettuce leaves

half cup of water melon

Contains beta-carotene, vitamin C, polyphenols, lycopene.

#7

4 celery stalks

1 cucumber

2 packed cups spinach,

2 broccoli florets

1 pear

Contains beta-carotene, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin and flavonoids

#juice #immunesystem #fruit #vegetables #immuneboost #antioxidants