It’s that time of year when all the cold and flu bugs are circulating.  This cold and flu busting coconut and orange smoothie will stop your cold or flu in it’s tracks in no time.

Since I started drinking smoothies every day 3 years ago, I’ve only had 2 flu type bugs.  Both of those bugs surfaced when I was suffering from extreme baby related sleep deprivation.  I used to get one cold after another all the way through each winter and spent a lot of my childhood in bed with the flu so I’m still amazed that a change in my diet can have such a positive impact on my health.

If you drink smoothies like this one every day, you’ll do wonders for your immune system.  If you already have a cold or the flu, this smoothie contains ingredients that will reduce the length of your cold, plus give you an easy to digest energy source that you will find easy to stomach.

Coconut and  Orange Smoothie Flu busting ingredients

This smoothie contains the following ingredients that have shown to be beneficial for colds and flu:

• Oranges: If you have been exposed to a lot of stress lately, it has been shown that an increase of vitamin C can reduce your likelihood of coming down with a cold or flu by up to half.
• Clementines: Just one clementine contains half the amount of Vitamin C required daily.  One serving of this recipe contains 3 clementines.
• Coconut: Bruce Fife says in his convincing book  that he always prescribes coconut oil for reducing the length of a cold or flu and he has seen some amazing results.  Bruce Fife recommends that you take 4 tablespoons of coconut oil a day while you’ve got a cold.  I now buy my coconut oil in bulk here  or here as it’s half the price of buying it locally.
• Ginger: Ginger has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of colds and flu. You can either add it to your smoothies or steep it in boiling water throughout the day.
• Lemons: Lemons can reduce the severity of your cold and flu symptoms as well as being great for treating congestion and sore throats.  Whenever my husband starts to get a sore throat, I make him a hot honey and lemon tea with ginger and he always feels immediate relief.
• Chia Seeds: Chia seeds are a great addition to your drinks when you are feeling run down as they help to hydrate you which is what you need when you’re feeling run down.  They also help you feel energised all day and keep your blood sugars stable.  I can’t yet find chia seeds locally so I have to buy them online.
• Echinacea: Echinacea can halve your risk of catching a cold and reduce the severity of the symptoms once you’ve got your cold.  You can find a great source of echinacea here or here that can easily be added to your smoothies.
• Honey/ Sweetener: If you are able to eat honey it would be worth adding some honey to your smoothie to sweeten it up and also provide some amazing healing benefits.  I would recommend you use a raw manuka honey as they can be especially good for many aspects of your health and healing.  If you don’t use honey, you can use your favourite healthy sweetener instead to give you an energy boost.  You can also buy your honey or maple syrup here.

This gorgeous coconut and orange smoothie will melt away your cold in no time.

What is your favourite natural remedy for colds and flu?

Cold and Flu Busting Coconut and Orange Smoothie (With 4 Options)

This cold and flu busting coconut and orange smoothie will melt away your cold in no time. It will also give you sustained natural energy to keep you going all day,

• Author: Katherine Kyle
• Prep Time: 5 Minutes
• Total Time: 5 Minutes
• Yield: 2 Servings
• Category: Smoothie
• Method: Blender
• Cuisine: Drink

Ingredients

FRUIT SMOOTHIE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup Orange Juice
• 1 and a half Cups Coconut Milk (or one can) 
• 6  Clementines (3 cups)
• 2 teaspoons of  Ginger (raw root ginger, or dried) 
• Juice of 2 Lemons

OPTIONAL TO BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM AND QUICKLY RELIEVE YOUR COLD:

• 2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds
• 4 Tablespoons of Raw Manuka Honey 
• 20 drops of Echinacea 
• 4 Tablespoons of melted Coconut Oil 
• 1 Cup Spinach, tightly packed or 2 cups loosely packed (or any other mild greens) OR if you run out of fresh greens, add 2 scoops of Amazing Green Powder for an extra healthy green boost.
• 1 Filler (Click here to choose a filler)

Instructions

Blend the ingredients in the following order:

1. Blend the dry ingredients and liquid first for a short time  
2. Blend the greens next for a short time (if using)  
3. Blend the fruit and the rest of the ingredients until smooth (or as smooth as your blender will allow.  High speed blenders may need 2 minutes for a Green Thickie, less powerful blenders may need a lot more, sometimes 5-10 minutes)

More tips:

• Blending this way allows the dry ingredients to be blended for longest, it means the greens will fit in your blender and your fruit gets less blending so it doesn’t become too hot.
• Add more water if required to thin it out.
• Substitute any of the ingredients for whatever you already have.
• If your smoothie is too warm, you can cool it down in the fridge or freeze some of your ingredients before blending. 
• You can also replace half of the liquids with ice.  Add the ice at the end.
• It is better to add frozen ingredients at the end to cool the smoothie down.

Notes

How much should I drink to replace a meal?

• Only use a meal replacement if you’ve added the oats/quinoa. 
• This Green Thickie serves 2 so you should DRINK HALF OF THIS RECIPE.  But if you have higher calorie requirements you may need to drink more.

Suitable for Special Diets:

• Gluten free (Use GF Oats or Quinoa)  
• Raw (Use raw oats/quinoa) 
• Vegetarian, vegan, dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free, wheat free, soya free (don’t use soya milk or tofu) 
• Salt free (don’t add salt)  
• Nut free (replace nuts with sunflower or pumpkin seeds. This doesn’t include coconuts)

More information about making the perfect Green Thickie:

If you are new to Green Thickies and have more questions about making the perfect green thickie, please read this guide on How to make a Green Thickie

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 500 ml/ 1 pint/ 20 oz

I know you may not have time to digest all this right now, so I wanted to give you a handy print out of this blog post so you can stick it on your fridge to help you on your journey to optimal health.

Click here to download your FREE PDF of this blog post now.

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