From Amrita Sondhi’s book The Tastes of Ayurveda is a recipe for a hot tea that will bust a cold before it begins. Ginger warms the body and acts as an anti-inflammatory; turmeric is a natural anti-biotic food; lemon clears toxins, stimulates digestive function and purifies the body; while honey will naturally suppress a cough. Try this effective and yummy tea at the onset of very first symptoms of a cold or cough and you may be surprised at the results.

Immune-Boosting Tea:

8-10 slices fresh ginger, cut into rounds

8 C water

1 tsp ground turmeric

Juice of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp raw honey, or raw manuka honey

Boil ginger and water in a pot on high, then reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add turmeric and lemon juice and let cool slightly before pouring into pitcher through a fine mesh sieve. Add honey. Stir well and drink up to 3 C/day for healing benefits.

Variation: Add a scant 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper to this tea for improved blood circulation - this tea can be drunk as a general anti-inflammatory tea for fertility patients who need improved circulation to reproductive organs - the antioxidants in cayenne & turmeric may help cardiovascular function and improve qualities of sperm and egg cells. Also great for any chronic inflammatory condition.

Food Facts:

Raw Honey (or Manuka honey): The benefits of raw honey, or especially raw manuka honey (from bees who feed off the manuka tree native to New Zealand) are plentiful. It has major anti-bacterial effects, anti-biotic effects, and tonic effects. Manuka honey has been proven to kill dangerous gut bacteria and will also soothe skin burns when applied topically. This is a honey to keep in your medicine cabinet - use it for burns, in hot teas for sore throats and colds/coughs, or use 1 tbsp in warm milk for a natural sleep aid. It’s pricey for honey, but super affordable for medicine. :) It will be the best tasting remedy in the house!

My husband was the first, then passed it on to me, then our poor little babe got his first baby cough last week. While it’s truly heartbreaking to see a 3 month old try to cough up phlegm from his little baby lungs, children are the best responders to herbal remedies and will often not need any further treatment if you catch things quickly - of course, if they are running fever over 100.4 or have labored breathing, that’s a definite visit to your MD. But his cough is all but gone now, and all it seemed to take was some pediatric herbs, some nasal rinse, a lot of patting on the back, and some time. For yourself, try this simple adult concoction to break up your own phlegm and ease a sore throat:

2 parts Local, raw honey

½ part Lemon juice

½ part Apple Cider Vinegar

Pinch of Ginger or Cayenne powder

Mix up a batch of this to your preferred taste (~¼ C) and keep it for a few days, taking spoonfuls up to 3-4x day as needed for cough. ♥

Immune Boosting Turmeric Ginger Tea

Homemade Cough Syrup