Immunity Boosting Smoothie Recipes for Cold & Flu Season

Sure, there are hundreds of recipes currently on the Internet for smoothies. But, did you know you can make immune boosting smoothies that prevent you from getting sick from the comfort of your own kitchen? Yes! The rich goodness of a properly blended and balanced smoothie can be that magical. Lucky for us, many smoothie recipes contain foods that boost your immune system, and we’re here to share some of our favorites.

Why Are Smoothies Good When You Are Sick?

Consuming smoothies is a great way to get a lot of immune-boosting vitamins and nutrients — essential to keeping your immune system operating at its best, especially during cold and flu season. These immune-boosting smoothies have many antioxidants that help fend off bad bacteria and viruses lurking around ready to make you sick.

Best Green Smoothie Recipe

Green smoothies come from natural fruits and vegetables carrying a plethora of nutrients. The best green antioxidant smoothie is a kale and spinach smoothie. These two greens offer vitamin C, calcium, folate, and fiber, which can all help boost your immunity and fight off illness. Here's how to make it:

After adding in 1 cup of kale and spinach to a blender, add in 1 1/2 cups of mango, pineapple, and kiwi for even more vitamin C benefits. You can add in 1/2 cup of lemon juice for more citrus and add in a bit of ginger to help with inflammation and nausea. For the base of the smoothie, use 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk.¹ Blend until smooth. 

Vitamin C Smoothie Recipe

There is a wide range of vitamin C smoothies you can choose from. The fruits you can use for vitamin C smoothies are endless, so you can make your smoothie suit your tastes. You can make a vitamin C immune-boosting smoothie by extracting juices from oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, strawberries, carrots, apples, and mangoes.²

Choose any three types of fruits and cut them into chunks. Use 1 cup of coconut milk or coconut water, in the mixture. Mix everything in a blender and blend until you get your desired consistency. The combination provides all types of nutrients to boost your vitamin C levels for maximum immunity.

A strawberry and blackberry vitamin C smoothie is also a great recipe. You get great flavors and antioxidants from this smoothie. Blend together pineapples, bananas, mangoes, blackberries, and strawberries and enjoy!²

Very Berry Smoothie Recipe

The very berry smoothie has many vitamin-boosting ingredients great for preventing flu-like symptoms. You will need 1 cup of frozen blueberries, 1 cup of frozen raspberries, 1 cup of almond milk or coconut milk, a frozen banana, a tablespoon of honey, a teaspoon of flaxseed, and a 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.³

The preparation is relatively simple. Mix all the fruits and milk in a blender and slowly process the juice. Start by using the low speeds in the blender and increase the speed as the smoothie becomes smoother. The flax seeds give you a vitamin boost, especially if you are not consuming these daily.⁴ Enjoy this antioxidant smoothie during breakfast or lunch.

Everyday Turmeric Smoothie Recipe

Turmeric offers all sorts of immune-boosting properties supporting your body's overall health, and is known for its anti inflammatory properties.⁵ The everyday turmeric antioxidant smoothie is a non-dairy smoothie, so vegans can enjoy it, too.

The prep time for this smoothie is only five minutes, so you can enjoy it anytime you want. Cut and freeze one frozen banana, then in a blender add, 1 cup of coconut oil, a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, a pinch of black pepper, 1/8 of a teaspoon of ground ginger, a 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, and 1/8 of a teaspoon of cinnamon.⁶  You can add a couple of drops of sweetener if you like, but it’s usually not necessary. Blend everything and keep adding coconut milk until it is thin and smooth to your desired consistency.

While we’ve tried many immune boosting smoothies — these are our favorites for maintaining our overall wellness, preventing illness, and promoting a healthy morning. And the flavors make being healthy easy and fun! Make these smoothies part of your daily diet to ensure your body is getting the vitamins and nutrients you need to be at your very best.

RESOURCES:

1 https://www.foodiecrush.com/immune-booster-sweet-green-smoothie
2 https://stylecaster.com/vitamin-c-smoothies/#slide-2
3 https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/very-berry-smoothie
4 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-flaxseeds#TOC_TITLE_HDR_2
5 https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric#TOC_TITLE_HDR_4
6 https://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/turmeric-smoothie