Fight Colds and Flu with 3 Immune-Boosting Juices

Raw fruit and vegetable juices are great immune system fortifiers, especially during an active infection with a cold or flu. This time of year, it's critical to get plenty of rest, drink lots of water, and bolster the immune system with freshly made juices rich in vitamins, minerals, and important phytochemicals such as flavonoids, which are known to be powerful antiviral agents.

Here are three recipes to make in a juicer. Drink these when you feel a cold or flu coming on.

Fight Colds and Flu with 3 Immune-Boosting JuicesImmune Power Veggie

Rich in carotenes and the immune-enhancing benefits of garlic and ginger, this drink gives your immune system a real shot in the arm. With their high content of the food fiber inulin, the Jerusalem artichokes, if you can find them, provide additional health benefits -- particularly for supporting infection-fighting bacteria in your gut.  

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1/4-inch slice of ginger
  • Handful of parsley
  • 3 carrots
  • 1 apple, cut into wedges
  • 1 cup of Jerusalem artichokes (optional)

Place the garlic and ginger in the center of the parsley, and feed into the juicer with the aid of a carrot. Alternate feeding the remaining carrots, apple, and Jerusalem artichokes (if using) into the juicer.

Immune Power Fruit

This drink is rich in many nutrients vital to the immune system, and it also abounds in flavonoids and other phytochemicals with demonstrated antiviral and antioxidant effects.

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  • 1 orange, peeled
  • 1 cup strawberries
  • 1/4 pineapple with skin, sliced

Juice the orange, followed by the strawberries and pineapple.

Immune Power Veggie Extreme

This formula is a great weapon against an active upper respiratory tract infection. The daikon radish really helps clear the sinuses and nasal passages.

  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 inch slice of ginger
  • Handful of parsley
  • 3 carrots
  • 1/2 daikon radish, cut into lengthwise pieces, or 4 radishes with leafy greens

Place the garlic and ginger in the center of the parsley, and feed into the juicer with the aid of a carrot. Juice the radish and the remaining carrots.

Recommended Book:

The Complete Book of Juicing, Revised and Updated: Your Delicious Guide to Youthful Vitality 
by Michael T. Murray N.D. (Publisher: Clarkson Potter, January 2014).

The Complete Book of Juicing, Revised and Updated: Your Delicious Guide to Youthful Vitality by Michael T. Murray N.D. The first completely revised edition of this juicing classic, The Complete Book of Juicing is packed with new information on super fruits such as pomegranate and papaya, weight-loss and juice fasts, immune function, juicers, and more. Find more information on juicing for healing, detoxing, and weight loss, including more than 150 recipes. This book is a user-friendly and fun necessity for any juicing kitchen.

Click here to order this book on Amazon.com

About the Author

Michael T. Murray N.D., author of: The Complete Book of Juicing.Michael T. Murray ND is a naturopathic physician regarded as one of the world's top authorities on natural medicine. An educator, lecturer, researcher, and health food industry consultant, he is the author of more than 30 books featuring natural approaches to health. His research into the health benefits of proper nutrition is the foundation for a best-selling line of dietary supplements from Natural Factors, where he is Director of Product Development. He is a graduate, former faculty member, and serves on the Board of Regents of Bastyr University in Seattle, Washington. Learn more at www.DrMurray.com.