Smoothie for Cold Prevention
Hi Melissa, Wondering if you have ever used chilled herbal teas as the liquid ingredient in your smoothies? If so, did it work? I am interested in immune boosting and my favourite combo is spinach, apple, banana, lemon juice and add a greens powder. Much Love Pat
So as always, I am a Ph.D. in communications and culture and not a medical doctor. Whenever you are thinking about taking herbs or looking after your health, it is always important to consult a medical professional such as a naturopathic doctor or herbalist.
Astragalus would be a amazing tea to use as a base for your smoothie since astragalus is a powerful immune-system stimulator. It helps to ease the symptoms of the common cold. It increases resistance in your body to disease and stress like an adaptogen. And it normalizes any disturbances in your body so your body can balance yourself.
My Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctor gave me codonopsis and glycyrrhiza (licorice root) to pair with the astragalus.
Codonopsis is used to strengthen the immune system, energy deficiency, and to invigorate the spleen. It is known as “poor man’s ginseng.” 
Licorice Root has a detoxifying effect on the liver, it is great for sore throats, viral infections and respiratory infections. It is used in Chinese Medicine to harmonize all the other medicinal herbs that go into that formula. So my Chinese medicine doctor added here as a harmonizer.
Now, a word of caution here. In traditional Chinese Medicine, you would never make a tea and add it to a smoothie. You would make a tea and drink a hot tea. Smoothies are not in line with Traditional Chinese Medicine’s way of thinking. They are too cold and they would put out the digestive fire. So the two ideas we are mixing here really go against each other. That being said, I think an herbal tea as a base for a green smoothie is a great one. I just wanted to say, that in this line of thinking, you would never eat cold, uncooked food. It would be much better to have a warm cooked soup.
Green smoothies are fantastic in your immunity boost smoothie since leafy greens such as spinach are going to boost your immune system. Apples and lemons are high in vitamin C. So that is also great for your immune system.
Resources: Rosemary Gladstar’s Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide
The Juicing Bible by Pat Crocker
Immunity Boost Smoothie
1 cup of our herbal tea
1 banana
1 apple
juice of half a lemon
1 cup of greens (such as spinach, kale, collards)
blend all together