Seasons can cause havoc with our immune system, so it’s important to give your immune system all the vitamins and antioxidants it needs to prevent getting ill. Fruit and Vegetables are one of the most efficient ways to give your body immunity and if you're not big on eating your 5 a day, why not try drinking them!
Your immune system is made up of cells, tissues and organs that all come together to help protect the body against unwanted microbes. Microbes can be bacteria, fungi and parasites all of which can cause infections.
The best way to get vitamins and minerals is by combining your fruit and vegetables together, we like to stick to the 80/20 rule which means 80% of your juice should come from vegetables and 20% should come from fruit. A poor immune system will lack vitamins A, B6, E, and C
Grapefruit
Tart and tangy, grapefruit can be an acquired taste but this fruit is in season from winter through to early spring. It has 80% of your recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C, which is a well-known vitamin that strengthens our immune system. Grapefruit also contains more vitamin A than an orange which helps keep your organs in good condition.
Oranges
Grapefruit and oranges are both very high in vitamin C which promotes white blood cells and antibody production, which are two major parts of your immune system that will kill off any unwanted microbes. Oranges also contain a nutrient called choline which helps aid sleep which plays a massive part in your immunity. Sleep can influence how we react to illness as not getting enough sleep can make our immune system weaker.
Carrots
This vegetable is good to juice as you can easily disguise the taste with other fruit and veg. Carrots contain vitamin A which promote the development of “T-cells”. These cells are a type of white blood cell that go around the body finding unwanted microbes.
Tomatoes
To get the most benefits from tomatoes they need to be raw and uncooked as they contain three antioxidant vitamins, Beta-Carotene, vitamin C and E. Beta-Carotene can increase the number of natural killer cells which are a type of white blood cell that contains the virus/infection. Vitamin E helps slow down the microbes that can damage important cells.
Drak leafy greens
Spinach, kale and broccoli are all classed as dark leafy greens which contain phytonutrients which help immune cells in the gut and skin function correctly. Phytonutrients are plant chemicals that give a plant its colour and it contains carotenoids which tackle harmful microbes that damage tissue throughout your body. The more variety of dark leafy greens you have in your diet, the more variety of nutrients and helpful phytonutrients you’ll be consuming.
Ginger
With antibacterial and antiviral properties ginger is a perfect addition to your juice as is it can protect you from the common cold, mucous production and respiratory viruses. Just like carrots ginger helps the production of T cells which can destroy cells infected by viruses as well as tumour cells.
Immune Boosting Juice
2 Oranges
1 Grapefruit
2 Carrots
3 small tomatoes
1 cup of spinach
1 inch of ginger
We hope we have inspired you to drink more juice for winter, as there are so many benefits other than boosting your immunity. We encourage you to try and buy organic fruits and vegetables as the skins aren't contaminated with pesticides. The best part of juicing is that you get to choose the ingredients and quantities, which is great if you love experimenting.