HEALTHY BODY TO THE RESCUE!
Foods to support your immune response around the house.
VITAMIN C
Although vitamin C won’t save you from getting COVID-19, nor will it kill COVID-19 if you have contracted it, but it will help with your body’s immunity RESPONSE if you make contact with the virus. This is likely the reason store shelves are bare of vitamin C. The same goes for zinc, elderberry, and other immunosupportive supplements that are flying off the shelves.
Vitamin C will not keep you from contracting COVID-19, but will help your body fight it if you are exposed to it.
The recipe below will not have as much vitamin C as the top brand vitamin C powders, but it will do in a pinch.
The peel of an orange has nearly double the amount of vitamin C as the fruit; 100 grams of raw orange peel has approximately 136 mg of vitamin C whereas 100 grams of the fruit has approximately 71 mg of vitamin C.
Homemade Vitamin C Powder
2 cups freeze-dried tangerine
1-2 ea. dried organic lemon or orange zest
(Do not dry with heat. Heat breaks down vitamin C.)
1 vit C cap or tab (optional) If available, you can add 1 vitamin C capsule or tablet to this mix. If you use a
tablet, crush it with a spoon and add to grinder
with other ingredients.
- Wash citrus fruits with soap and water and dry.
- Tear or grate citrus peel and pith into small pieces and let them air dry on a counter for 3 – 4 days. They are done when you can snap them when attempting to bend.
- Place dried peel and freeze-dried tangerine in coffee grinder.
- Add contents from vitamin C capsule or tablet and powdered/granulated sweetener of your choice to taste to coffee grinder and pulverize all ingredients. I recommend raw cane sugar or maple sugar (powdered maple syrup).
Add only dry sweeteners to this mix. If you want to use liquid sweetener, add it to the mix AFTER you dissolve it in water.
And, no. Sweet orange essential oil DOES NOT contain vitamin C. Steam distillation kills it. Cold-pressed only contains minute traces of vitamin C and it degrades over time.
SAUERKRAUT (CULTURED VEGGIES)
Along with incredible taste, digestive and immune support, ½ cup of sauerkraut provides:
|
Calories: 14 Fat: 0 grams Carbs: 3.5 grams Fiber: 2 grams Protein: .5 grams Sodium: 19% of the RDI Vitamin C: 17% of the RDI |
Vitamin K: 11% of the RDI Iron: 6% of the RDI Manganese: 6% of the RDI Vitamin B6: 4% of the RDI Folate: 4% of the RDI Copper: 3% of the RDI Potassium: 3% of the RDI |
That’s power-packed action for such a small amount of food!
Some other great brands: Wild Brine, Bubbies, Farmhouse Culture.
They all have different recipes except Bubbies…they stick with traditional cabbage and salt recipe.
Yummmmm!!!
WILD BRIND
You can find Wild Brine at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Costco (original only, but a larger size than the other stores).
FARMHOUSE CULTURE
You can find Farmhouse Culture at Whole Foods and Sprouts.
BUBBIES
You can find Bubbies at local grocery stores in the deli section, and at Whole Foods, Sprouts, and on occasion, I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s.
Each day, I eat ¼ cup of sauerkraut, and on top I add ½ chopped avocado with a teaspoon of caraway seeds. Try it! Mmm…mmmmm…good!
PARSLEY
This herb is highly ignored and always the last to be invited to the veggie crudité. It has an amazing amount of nutrients and one of it’s top benefits is the quantity of vitamin C that’s packed into it’s tiny little leaves! Along with the vitamin K content, antioxidative and digestive power of this herb, ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley provides you with:
|
Calories: 5 calories Carbs: 1 grams Protein: .5 grams Fat: less than 1 gram Fiber: .5 grams |
Vitamin A: 56% of the RDI Vitamin C: 26% of the RDI Vitamin K: 272% of the RDI Folate: 5% of the RDI Potassium: 2% of the RDI |
Dried parsley has the same nutrient quality as fresh and research shows that many nutrients are considerably more concentrated in the dried herb. Since parsley is usually dried shortly after harvesting, the polyphenols and carotenoids have less time to degrade.
The tricky part is the taste. If a recipe calls for fresh parsley, you may want to stick with fresh because it has a stronger taste. I like to use dried because it’s flavor is more versatile and I can use more than I normally would with fresh parsley. Dried lasts longer, too.
Add it to any egg dish, sprinkle on top of salads, add it to soups, or chew on a fresh sprig of parsley after a meal to aid digestion.
NOTE: As with everything, moderation is key. If you intake too much parsley you can get “tired” blood (anemia). The amount you add to foods is safe even if you use more than the recipe calls for. I note this caution for those of you who may attempt to use it medicinally by supplementation or as an essential oil. This really isn’t necessary, but if you really want to try it, please consult a healthcare professional first before adding supplements to your diet.
CITRUS
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s VITAMIN C! Any citrus fruit will give you a punch o’ vitamin C power!
When it comes to citrus, you can use the whole fruit! Instead of only eating the juicy bits, keep the peels and dry them for 3-4 days (not grapefruit, see above). Pulverize them into a powder with a coffee grinder and add them to smoothies or stir fry recipes or make your own vitamin C powder. The peels are somewhat bitter so remember this in your kitchen creations!
1 ORANGE
51 mg of vitamin C
68% RDI for adult women
1 LEMON
45 mg of vitamin C
60% RDI for adult women
1 CLEMENTINE
48 mg of vitamin C
64% RDI for adult women
1 GRAPEFRUIT
It’s probably great, but I’m not a big grapefruit fan and I don’t feel like doing the research (it’s my prerogative, Bobby). I know the juice has a lot of sugar and I don’t know many who eat the fruit like an orange because the pith is so bitter, so I’ll leave it out. It probably has loads of vitamin C, though.
Just saying.
Eat freeze-dried tangerines instead of gummy bears or fruit snacks.
BLUEBERRIES
One of my favorite fruits! They are so tasty that Robert Frost wrote a poem about them. (Lucky fruit.)
Like to hear it? Here it goes!
Blueberries have:
24% RDI vitamin C
5% RDI vitamin B6
36% RDI vitamin K
WHAT!?! Amaaazing!
BLUEBERRIES
“You ought to have seen what I
saw on my way
To the village, through
Mortenson’s pasture to-day:
Blueberries as big as the end of
your thumb,
Real sky-blue, and heavy, and
ready to drum
In the cavernous pail of the first
one to come!
And all ripe together, not some
of them green
And some of them ripe! You
ought to have seen!”
— Robert Frost
PEPPERS
I can’t eat these precious foods, but I wish I could because they have tons of valuable nutrients and they taste like Harvesting Day in the Garden of Eaten (it’s EJ’s version of the Garden of Eden, ok? Yes. I just referred to myself in the third person).
1/2 CUP CHOPPED RED PEPPER
85 mg of vitamin C
113% RDI for adult women
Slice raw yellow and orange peppers, remove seeds, and dip in hummus or ranch dressing instead of eating chips (crisps for my Brit friends)!
1/2 CUP CHOPPED YELLOW PEPPER
138 mg vitamin C
184% RDI for adult women
0 Comments