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Immunity-boosting shots have grown popular even before the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic began.

American singer-actress Selena Gomez, who had been previously diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease, revealed her obsession with ginger shots in her Carpool Karaoke guesting for The Late Late Show with James Corden show in 2016.

She even drank it with host James Corden, who found it 'absolutely disgusting'. Selena laughed and said, “It's so good though when you just let it sit. It's killing everything inside - all the bad things.”

And what Selena said is true because ginger is known to be a superfood, which has the power to protect against inflammation, period pains, nausea, colds, asthma, dementia, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, platelet aggregation, high cholesterol levels, and certain cardiovascular diseases.

It is also believed to fight off bacteria such as E. coli and shigella, and keep viruses like the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) at bay, according to Web MD.

So, if you want to stay healthy and boost your immune system like Selena Gomez, try this easy 4-step DIY ginger shot recipe by Dee Dine of Green Smoothie Gourmet.

Ingredients:
¼ cup fresh raw ginger knobs (peeled, chopped)
½ cup lemon juice/calamansi juice (squeezed from 3-4 lemons)
1 pinch of ground cayenne pepper (optional)
2 tbsp. coconut water (reduce lemon juice by 2 tbsps. if you intend to use coconut water in this recipe)

How to prepare:
1. Prepare ginger. You can opt to scrap away the skin, press the chunks of ginger in a garlic press, and use only the resulting juice. Or, you can also include the pulp and even the skin, if you have a very strong high-speed blender.
2. Warm the lemons or limes (calamansi). You need to warm the lemons/limes in order to get the most juice off them. You can do so by putting them in the microwave for ten seconds or by letting them sit in a bowl of hot water.
3. Squeeze out the juice. Once warm enough, you can now extract the juice from the lemons or limes by cutting them at an angle and manually squeezing them with your hands or by using a bowl juicer.
4. Blend them together.
Put the ginger and lemon together in the blender. If you plan to use cayenne pepper and coconut water, you may also add them now in the blender.

Blend everything until fairly cloudy, and then pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Push the pulp against the mesh with the back of the spoon to extract as much liquid as possible.

Set aside the pulp and keep it refrigerated, so you can add it to a fruit smoothie mixture withing 24 hours.

Tips for drinking ginger shots

You can store your DIY ginger shot in the fridge for one week, and drink one to two ounces of it a day.

It's recommended to take it in the morning before drinking or eating anything else, just like how Selena Gomez does it.

Remember that you must drink your ginger shots exactly how you would take tequila shots: drinking it all at once.

And as a final tip, have a glass of water ready, in case you need to wash away any burning after drinking your ginger shot.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and recreate this 4-step DIY ginger shot, and drink away for a stronger immune system.

For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

And for updates on the Coronavirus Disease pandemic and the enhanced community quarantine, visit GMA's COVID-19 page and ECQ page.

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