It never fails. I start having all kinds of delusions of immune system kick butt-ness after not catching any of the nasties floating around town for months on end. Then boom. Something finds a hole in my defenses and goes for the proverbial achilles heel: lungs. Though I’m still refusing to go see an MD, I can pretty much guarantee this is my old nemesis, bronchitis. After my 4 sleep-lite nights and interminable hours on the couch, Kyle’s gone into health enforcer mode, demanding I do all kinds of lung-clearing, immune boosting things, from a special essential oil blend in the diffuser to researching which smoothie ingredients are good for bronchitis. Enter this video that Kyle found totally amusing but I sat here grumbling at because there’s no way this perky, chipper dude has bronchitis. Perhaps I’m just grumpy. Just maybe. Regardless, some good smoothie ideas:

After looking at multiple other resources for lung-supporting foods and comparing to what we actually have in the house at this moment, here’s where we landed:

Antioxidant Immune Boosting Smoothie

Handful blueberries
Small handful dried goji berries
3 stalks celery
2 carrot
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 T flaxseed oil
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
hearty pinch of cayenne powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cranberry juice
1/2 cup coconut kefir or coconut water
1/2-1 cup water (just enough to get desired smoothie consistency)

Throw everything into your preferred smoothie-makin’ machine and blend (Vitamix, regular blender, whatever).

I didn’t know about the congestion clearing properties of pineapple, so that’s definitely something to add to this mix once one of us makes it to the store…

My super-healthy breakfast of eggs w/spinach, red peppers & cultured veggies, courtesy of my nurse-maid/husband.

If you’re into essential oils, here’s the lung-clearing, virus-killing, immune-boosting blend in our diffuser at the moment:

3 drops each: peppermint, hyssop, frankincense, pine
2 drops each: lemon, eucalyptus, ravensara

OK, might be almost time to continue the movie marathon with a nice mug of green tea to open the airways and reduce inflammation. Though I’ve covered so much ground on the movie front already, from Black Swan to Gnomeo & Juliet, that I’m not sure there’s much more I can bear watching…  In the meantime, Kyle’s continuing his healing foods quest with a crock pot chicken bone broth and veggie soup.