5 Smoothies To Boost Your Immune System

The immune system is the body’s incredible defense network against infections, viruses, and bacteria that enter the body. The stronger your immune system is, the less chance you have of getting sick and the faster you can recover if you do. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables containing immune-boosting antioxidants and vitamins will help you achieve a healthy immune system with all-natural, plant-powered ingredients.

Believe it or not, you can drink your way to a stronger immune system—by indulging in some veggie- and fruit-loaded smoothies, that is. By incorporating fresh produce (and some other boosters) into your daily diet, you’ll not only get some necessary nutritional benefits, but you’ll also help to fight off that dreaded cold and flu. Bonus: We have a hangover-fighting recipe, too!

Check out these 5 healthy smoothies from Simple Green Smoothies and help recharge your first line of defense.

For all recipes, use at least one frozen fruit to make a cold green smoothie.

Banana Spice

This all-natural superfood smoothie is the ultimate in boosting immunity. Adding just a ½-inch chunk of fresh ginger to your green smoothies provides amazing health benefits, like reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, and helping the body naturally detoxify. It may also help alleviate pain—from arthritis to menstrual pain and more. It’s like an all-natural ibuprofen, immunity booster, and anti-inflammatory.

Banana Spice
(Makes 2 servings)

2 c spinach
2 c unsweetened coconut milk
3 bananas
1 piece (½-inch) fresh ginger, peeled
½ tsp ground cinnamon
⅛ tsp ground cardamom

1. BLENDthe spinach and coconut milk until smooth.
2.  ADDthe bananas, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom and blend again.

Tips: For a gut-healing super boost, swap 1 cup coconut milk for 1 cup coconut yogurt. A little ginger goes a long way, so if you’re not used to using fresh ginger, start off small and add more as your tastebuds adjust. If you’re feeling the sniffles or a cold coming on, ginger will help kick that cold to the curb just a bit faster.

Watermelon Mojito

Watermelon and mint are a superhealing combo, and when blended together in a smoothie, they taste indulgent. Watermelon contains lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant that can protect against degenerative diseases and help cells function better. Mint contains menthol, which is a natural decongestant that helps break up phlegm and mucus. Blend up this treat when you are feeling under the weather or need to clear your sinuses.

Watermelon Mojito
(Makes 2 servings)

2 c Swiss chard, stems removed
¼ c fresh mint, stems removed
2 c chopped watermelon
2 c chopped mango
Juice of ½ lime

1. BLENDthe Swiss chard, mint, and watermelon until smooth.
2.  ADDthe mango and lime juice and blend again.

Tip: There’s no need for an added liquid base in this recipe; once you blend your watermelon, it will liquefy and make melon “juice.”

Purple Power Healer

Boost your health with this healing elixir! Red cabbage (the purple kind) contains anthocyanins, which studies have shown help suppress inflammation. Elderberry extract is a natural cold and flu fighter, which is why it’s always in our fridge! It is also called Sambucus and is considered a natural alternative to synthetic cough-and-cold syrups.

1.  Purple Power Healer
   (Makes 2 servings)
2.  2 c chopped red cabbage
   1 c water
   1 orange, peeled
   1 c blackberries
   1 banana
   1 tsp elderberry extract
3.  BLENDthe cabbage, water, and orange until smooth.
4.  ADD the blackberries, banana, and elderberry extract and blend again.
5.  Tip:Try red cabbage microgreens—studies show that they can have more vitamin C than full-grown cabbage.

Citrus Cold Recovery

Catch a cold? Try this green smoothie to help nurse yourself back to health. Beets are loaded with antioxidants like vitamin C, which can help boost your immune system. Flaxseed oil contains both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids; having a proper balance of these fatty acids is important for brain function and heart health.

Citrus Cold Recovery
(Makes 2 servings)

2 c green cabbage
1 c water
2 oranges, peeled
2 c chopped pineapple
¼ c peeled and cubed raw golden beet
Juice of ½ lemon
2 Tbsp flaxseed oil

1. BLENDthe cabbage, water, and oranges until smooth.
2.  ADDthe pineapple, beet, lemon juice, and flaxseed oil and blend again.

Tropical Mango-Rita

Meet the tastiest, healthiest hangover cure we know. You’ll need to strengthen your immune system if you’ve been partying a little too long (or drink this instead of alcohol at your next party!). In just 1 cup of pineapple, you’ll find 52% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin B6. This vitamin plays a key role in nerve cell communication, red blood cell formation, and antibody combinations that are needed to fight various diseases. Oh, and the coconut water base is great for replenishing lost electrolytes to help you stay hydrated.

Tropical Mango-Rita
(Makes 2 servings)

2 c fresh spinach
1 c unsweetened coconut water
1 orange, peeled
2 c chopped mango
1 c chopped pineapple
Juice of ½ lime, plus 2 lime slices for garnish
Coarse salt for rim of glasses (optional)

1. BLENDthe spinach, coconut water, and orange until smooth.
2.  ADDthe mango, pineapple, and lime juice, and blend again. If desired, rub the rims of two margarita glasses with the squeezed lime, and then dip the rims in coarse salt. Pour the smoothie into the glasses and garnish each with a lime slice.

source:www.prevention.com

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Can a supplement boost my child's learning powers?

Starting a new school year can be simultaneously exciting and petrifying for both children and their parents. I can still remember watching my little brother proudly walking up the school drive in his new uniform, and as I see my nephews growing up, my appreciation that starting at a new school is a major life event is being reinforced.

My siblings and I always began the day with a good breakfast, my parents being of the belief that going to school on an egg, cereal or toast was one of the best ways of setting us on the right road to both enjoying school and succeeding there.
They were right: studies have long shown that having breakfast helps to boost children's concentration, mental-arithmetic skills and moods. Going to school with an empty stomach, by contrast, can make children feel weak and crotchety, and if they then obtain a chocolate bar or fizzy drink from a snack machine at school, they'll receive a sugar, caffeine and additive hit that can worsen their moods, cause dental cavities and headaches and compromise their bone growth.
So encourage your child to start the day with some wholegrain toast spread with butter and a pure-fruit jam, a bowl of wholegrain cereal, a banana and yoghurt, fresh fruit or a fruit smoothie that is bursting with vitamins and minerals.
Kids and supplementsThe interest surrounding the issue of whether children should take vitamin and mineral supplements has sharpened recently, partly as a result of a number of articles suggesting that such supplements can increase children's brain power and performance.
Although you may think that it follows that the more vitamin and minerals you ingest, the brainier you'll become, the evidence doesn't stack up. A pill can't boost your child's intelligence or health unless he or she is suffering from a medical condition that goes hand in hand with a vitamin or mineral deficiency, such as scurvy (caused by lack of vitamin C), which would be revealed by obvious clinical signs that your doctor should have detected.
If you give your child a varied diet, including five small portions of fresh fruits or vegetables spread throughout the course of a day (as a guide, a couple of pieces of apple, a few dried apricots or cherry tomatoes or a small helping of my strawberry and passionfruit fool all constitute a portion), he or she should receive a sufficient dose of vitamins and minerals to support healthy growth.
In accordance with a Department of Health recommendation, however, children aged between six months and five years of age should be given vitamins A, D and C in liquid form (vitamins A and C promote growth and bone development and vitamin D aids the body's absorption of calcium, which builds healthy bones and teeth) as a safety net.
While children rarely need to take vitamin and mineral supplements to help them to succeed in class, some interesting research is focusing on omega oils (essential for brain development), the concentration and learning abilities of children whose diets were lacking omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids having been shown to have improved once the deficiency was corrected.
I must stress that the evidence indicates that only children whose diets largely consist of highly processed foods will benefit from this correction, so there's no point in trying to force-feed children omega oils unless their diets are relatively poor.
Although there's evidence to suggest that ingesting more omega oils may lessen the negative effects of such conditions as dyslexia and dyspraxia, taking an omega-oil supplement is similarly only likely to have a dramatic effect in children who are poorly nourished to start with.
I would therefore recommend simply ensuring that your child's diet includes more oily fish, perhaps in the form of tuna sandwiches or salmon fishcakes, and nuts (but keep a vigilant eye open for nut allergies and choking and don¿t give nuts to children under the age of eight months), which you could throw into salads and casseroles or combine with dried fruits and seeds to provide a potent, brain-boosting snack.

sourse:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/

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