Drink up: beverages to ward off flu

Tuesday - 1/15/2013, 5:40am ET

Drink to your health. Some drinks have powers to fend the flu. (Thinkstock)

WASHINGTON - When it comes to warding off the flu, you can never have enough tips - especially with an epidemic on our hands.

Prevention Magazine says starting your morning with one of these 10 drinks may help.

Hot water with lemon and ginger: Grate a teaspoon of fresh ginger into 8-12 ounces of water and add juice from one or two lemon slices. The drink has immunity-boosting compounds and vitamin C.
Chai: This is a traditional Indian tea that includes cinnamon, pepper, clove, ginger and other spices. It's an energizer and can reduce inflammation.
Smoothie: According to Prevention, low-sugar fruits blended together can be a great medicine. Adding chia seeds to your smoothies can also boost the drink's health benefits.
Super C: Adding vitamin C powder to any drink, particularly smoothies, will boost immune system benefits. Other types of vitamin C or citrus fruit powders also contain antioxidants and nutrients.
Matcha: This powdered form of green tea is super concentrated and helps fight viruses and bad bacteria. It's available at health food stores.
"Magic" mushrooms: A powdered blend of mushrooms can help increase production of white bloods cells, which makes them more aggressive in fighting infections. The powder can simply be mixed with hot water and is found at health food stores.
Airborne: Fizzy drinks, such as Airborne, are packed with vitamins and zinc as well as ginger and echinacea.
Green juices: It may look questionable, but green juice made from grasses and micro-algae is great for the body. It helps make the body an unpleasant environment for germs and other abnormal cells.
Wine: No explanation needed, right? Don't go overboard, too much wine hurts the liver, but studies have long shown that, in moderation, wine is healthy. It's all those antioxidants.
Honey: Add a little bit of this sticky, sweet goodness to your black tea or other immune system drink. It has antioxidants. The darker, the better.