Especially in autumn and winter, the ever-colder temperatures can damage your immune system. The result is often a sore throat, cold, cough, and much more. But with just a few tips, you can protect your body from the cold temperatures and support it with natural home remedies and tricks.
So that you can get through the cold season well-equipped, we have put together the 5 most important tips for a strong immune defense.
1. Hot breakfast strengthens the immune system
You may be wondering now how warm foods can boost your immune system. This is because your body uses much less energy to digest already preheated foods than it does with cold dishes. The reason for this is that the food is already at the operating temperature of the body and thus does not have to be warmed up by the body.
In addition, warm food is easier to digest and better tolerated – this protects your intestines. This also has a positive effect on your immune system, as a large part of it is in your intestines. The large intestine, in particular, plays a major role in the immune system. It contains a high number of so-called lymph follicles in its mucosa, which recognize bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens and fight them with antibodies. The antibodies play a particularly important role in the immune system, as they mark pathogens as "dangerous."
As you can see, some points speak for a hot breakfast . If you want to give it a try, porridge is the fastest and easiest option. You only need a few ingredients, and the preparation only takes a maximum of 10 minutes.
A delicious recipe for warm oatmeal that provides you with all the nutrients for the day can be found here:
Pumpkin Spice Porridge
Accessories
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Blender
Ingredients
- 80 g Verival Classic Porridge optional oatmeal
- 300 ml plant-based drink
- 100 ml water
- 2 tsp Pumpkin Spice Spice
- ½ Hokkaido pumpkin
- 1 handful of almonds
- ½ apple optional
- Agave syrup optional
Pumpkin Spice Spice
- 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 ½ tsp ground allspice
- 2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cloves
Preparation
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At the beginning, divide the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and then cut it into small cubes. Then boil in a saucepan for about 10 minutes.
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Meanwhile, you can bring the oatmeal to a simmer with the oat drink and the water. If necessary, you can add more oat drink or water – depending on how creamy the consistency of your porridge should be.
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After the pumpkin has been soft-cooked, you can drain it and finely puree it with a blender or in a blender.
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Then mix the pumpkin puree with the porridge and season the mixture with pumpkin spice.
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As a topping, you can garnish your porridge with apple slices and chopped almonds. A little tip: if you roast the chopped almonds in a pan, your porridge will taste even better!
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Optionally, you can sweeten your porridge with honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup.
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Done – Bon appétit!
2. The Ideal Immune Booster: Superfood Oats
According to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) , oats are the ideal immune booster because they not only provide energy throughout the day, but also warm from the inside out. According to TCM, oats also have the strongest warming effect of all cereals and are therefore the ideal basis for a hot breakfast in the cold season.
You can find out more about different cereals such as oats, spelt, and rice and their importance in traditional Chinese medicine here.
3. Effectively prevent colds with freshly squeezed orange juice
For many, a glass of orange juice in the morning is probably already an integral part of breakfast, but it is especially important that you drink freshly squeezed orange juice and do not use fruit juice concentrate. The vitamins are completely retained in the freshly squeezed juice, as vitamin C is very sensitive to heat, and the juice is often heated when concentrates are produced.
Vitamin C is rich in antioxidants and protects your cells from free radicals. With an adequate intake of vitamin C, you can minimize certain disease risks and susceptibility to infection. Freshly squeezed orange juice can thus strengthen your immune system through its high vitamin C content and actively helps to prevent colds.
4. Delicious spices warm from the inside
Various spices that warm your body from the inside also protect you from a cold in the cold season. Especially cinnamon (Ceylon cinnamon), cloves, fresh ginger, and turmeric are real wonders for autumn, as they warm you by widening your blood vessels and thus stimulating blood circulation.
With a teaspoon of cinnamon on your breakfast, your body is well prepared for the cold autumn and winter days. Or try the delicious Verival rice porridge with turmeric according to the 5-element teaching of TCM. This is how you take your daily dose of healthy nutrients with breakfast.
5. Morning walks for a strong immune system
To strengthen the immune system, it is worthwhile to brave the cold weather, go for a walk in the cool air before breakfast and, with luck, get some vitamin D in the sun. A little morning walk or some exercise in the fresh air will get your circulation going. This also increases the blood flow to your lungs and lowers the concentration of inflammatory pathogens in your body.
We guarantee you: a warming breakfast with oats and cinnamon has never tasted better after a nice morning walk.
As you can see, it's easy to boost your immune system and get ready for the cold season with a few tips. Your diet, in particular, plays an important role in this. A balanced diet with a high fruit and vegetable content provides you with all the important vitamins and thus protects you and your body from pathogens.
