Strengthening Your Immunity From Head To Toe

Inexpensive garlic, ginger and onions can help you strengthen your immune system.

 

It’s very wise to take the best care of yourself possible at any time of year, but especially now during this time with covid-19 circulating in communities throughout the world. We’ve heard a lot about social distancing, self-quarantine, and other measures to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus. But have you thought about how your diet can help? Health experts are recommending reducing your use of cigarettes and alcohol, as examples, since these both have a negative effect on immunity. With people at home and looking for things to do, one of the best ways to crack boredom and bring your family together is to cook a healthy meal together. And it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. There is a trinity of healthy and inexpensive foods you can put together in the most delicious ways. Next time you go to the grocery store, pick up some onions, garlic and ginger and you have the basics to make meals that both taste great and have a great effect on your immunity. Best of all, they are cheaper than borsch.

Immunity Boosting Garlic

Garlic is a natural antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasitic, anti-fungal, anti-coagulant, and antibiotic. Garlic has been a healing food since the dawn of time. For garlic to do its work to support your immune system, you need to eat it regularly. In his novel Down and Out In Paris and London, George Orwell, living in poverty at the time, said they would rub garlic cloves on bread as the taste of it made one feel fuller through the day. Garlic does have a satisfying taste and can be the difference-maker in soups. It can be kneaded into bread, used on pizza, or made into garlic toast. Roasting garlic makes garlic taste sweet and is an easy way to cook garlic as a side dish.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

You can roast a few whole bulbs at a time. Simply remove the loose skins, and cut off the top of the entire bulb, just enough that the tops of the segments are visible. You’ll still have a whole bulb. Place those in a roasting pan or on a cookie sheet, drizzle some olive oil on the top. Set your oven for 400 degrees, preheat, and pop those bulbs in the oven, stem down, top up. Roast time will be 30-45 minutes. Test doneness by pressing a fork or knife tip onto the top of one of the segments. It should be soft, soft enough to squeeze out of the skin once they are cool enough to handle. Cool them so you can handle them, then squeeze out the soft cloves as a side dish, or on toast, or add into other recipes. They are delicious on their own.

Immunity Boosting Onions

Onions reduce inflammation, improve gut health, improve circulation and digestion, and purify blood. According to Eastern medicine, all disease begins in the colon and onions are great for colon, intestinal and stomach health.

Onions are easy to add to any recipe, and like onions, cooking them to translucency will turn them sweet. There are many kinds of onions, you could include shallots in this category, and some are sweeter than others. If you’re making a salad, red onions or shallots are a better choice than white or yellow. One of the best onion recipes ever invested is onion soup. Done in a slow cooker, you’ll have the most delicious soup of your life in six hours, which you can keep on the slow simmer all day.

How To Not Cry When You Chop Onions

Strong onions make everyone cry once they are cut into. A chef friend of mine once told me to cry or not to cry is all in the direction you cut the onion. Personally, I never found that it mattered which way I cut them; they’d always make me tear up. Until I found some advice that said just don’t cut the onion with your head and face over top of the onion you’re cutting. It might look weird to others watching you, but when you cut your next onion, just keep your head and face from being over top of the onion. You’ll notice you tear up less, if at all, as the onion essence wafting up won’t get into your eyes.

Ginger

Gingerol is the main bioactive compound in ginger, from which ginger derives much of benefits. Ginger’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are well known in Eastern medicine, which gives your immunity a boost and can help relieve the systems of a cold, the flu, and fever. Like garlic and onions, it has an antibacterial benefit and helps to improve blood circulation.

Immunity Boosting Ginger Tea

Ginger tea is a great remedy for a sore throat and discomfort due to colds and flu and it’s easy to make. Simply slice fresh ginger, add boiling water and let stand for three to five minutes. Add a little honey and lemon as desired, or even milk.

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