It is humorously said that curing a common cold takes seven days with medicine and a week without. Common cold is one of the most common ailments that occur during the winter months. Rather than reaching out for the bottle of medicine every time, there are ways to stay prepared and tackle the cold head on. Eating refreshing and zesty citrus foods is one easy method to easily combat the cold winter days. Their naturally occurring high Vitamin C content helps cut short the duration of the cold. Vitamin C also helps the body stay hydrated.
The importance of Vitamin C for people suffering from the cold cannot be emphasised enough. Stuffiness and congestion occurring during a common cold is also significantly reduced with the help of citrus fruits. This includes fruits such as lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit and the likes. Even the vegetable tomato has high Vitamin C content.
If you're wondering how you could include them in your diet to battle the cold, here are a few ideas:
1. As A Smoothie
We've all tried traditional flavoured smoothies such as chocolate, strawberry and butterscotch. How about a citrus smoothie such as orange? Just mix orange juice with a little bit of milk and vanilla ice cream and your power-packed smoothie is good to go.
(Also Read: Watch: Prepare This Easy Keto Smoothie As Your Morning Fix For A Quick Breakfast)
2. In A Salad
As if a salad wasn't already healthy enough, add a citrus punch to it too! An idea could be adding freshly cut citrus fruits to your diet. Even the dressing could get a citrus boost with generous amounts of lemon or lime juice added to the salad.
3. With Water
Water is something so essential - imagine if it had additional nutrients too! Simply add some chopped lime or a whole chopped orange to your regular water bottle. You may take some time to get used to of its taste, but switching to vitamin-packed water would mean your nutrition would never be the same.
4. Add It To Hot Tea
It is during the freezing cold winter days when we just can't get enough of hot drinks - be it tea, or coffee, or even soup! What if we could give the humble tea an added citrus flavour? Honey and lemon tea is one of the best ways to make sure you get your Vitamin C and beat the cold naturally.
(Also Read: Winter Diet: 5 Interesting Tea Recipes To Keep You Warm This Winter)
5. As Fresh Juice Or As A Snack
If nothing else, there's always the option of including citrus fruits in your diet through the means of juice. Freshly-squeezed orange juice is something you just can't get enough of. Oranges are a great option for snacking too, and they can be a much healthier replacement for packaged chips or biscuits.
(Also Read: 6 Benefits Of Fresh Orange Juice, From Weight Loss To Healthy Skin)
Try these easy citrus recipes next time you feel you're catching a cold. But do consult your doctor before adding anything to your diet.