GINGER LEMON TEA WITH MANUKA HONEY
No one at Main Street Naturals is a medical professional. We found this recipe through our own research, and we always encourage you to do your own. Please do what is best for you and your family.
Ginger Lemon Tea is our favorite recipe for cold and flu season. Not only does is taste good, but it comes packed with amazing medicinal properties through each ingredient.
Ginger: Your mom has probably had you drink Gingerale to ease nausea from the stomach bug when you were younger. That was because ginger is a nausea reliever. Ginger has also been known to reduce inflammation. As an added bonus, it increases serotonin and dopamine levels.
Lemon: Lemons are underrated as a medicinal powerhouse. We will just mention a few pertaining to cold and flu here, but they do so much more. Lemons can boost your immune system since they are packed with vitamin C. They can detoxify the body and help balance your pH levels. Lemons can also aid digestion.
Star Anise: Available at most grocery stores, stat anise is an anti-fungal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and so much more. It is often used in medicine and will make a powerhouse addition to your tea.
Manuka Honey: Mauka honey’s antibacterial properties are what makes this certain type of honey stand out from the rest. It also has antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties to knock back whatever virus you are fighting. Manuka honey can be fairly expensive. We have recently seen it in carried in Walmart at a fair price. If this is still out of your price range, don’t worry. Traditional honey, especially if it is locally gathered, is still very good for your body.
Below are some additional things that we like to add to our tea for both flavor and added medicinal punch.
Clove: Like ginger, cloves can help relieve an upset digestive system. They are an anti-microbial, and they can relieve common respiratory symptoms like a cough.
Cinnamon: Not just a spice for flavor, cinnamon actually packs a punch medicinally as well. Antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and so much more. Cinnamon helps with a lot of other things other than this and deserves some further research to see where else it can help you. To read more about why we like to use it in our skin care products, click here.
How to make the tea
This tea recipe is simple.
1 stick of ginger
1-2 lemons, depending on your citrus preference
1 small pkg. star anise
2 sticks cinnamon, optional
1 tsp. manuka honey
Handful of whole cloves, optional.
Roughly chop lemons and ginger and simmer with all but the honey in a small pot of water for 10-15 minutes. Try not to let it boil. We want to preserve as much of those medicinal properties as possible. Once you have simmer, strain out the liquid and squeeze those lemons, making sure to get all of that juice out. (You can also just add raw lemons instead of adding them to the pot. We just find them easier to juice warm.)
Once you have your tea strained, you can use it as a concentrate, diluting it with water. It stores in the fridge for about a week. We usually take it in the morning or before bed.
Once you have your diluted mixture in your mug, swirl in your tsp. of honey until disolved. Make sure your tea is not more than lukewarm so you don’t kill all of those antibacterial properties that make this honey so good for you.
We hope you stay healthy this cold and flu season, but hopefully this helps you through it a little easier if you do get sick!
