Sunday, February 9, 2014

Cold Buster Tea

(From a fellow teacher, Tamara Hill, at the school where I work. We'll be trying this next time we need it; I've long known the health benefits of each of these components. Thankfully we've been very healthy this winter.)

I start with a base of chamomile tea (probably any herbal is fine, but this is a mild tasting one).  I make the tea with two tea bags in about 8-10 ounces of water. 

Then I add cinnamon and stir it in, this is a KEY INGREDIENT.  I read an article about cinnamon working as a natural nasal decongestant and antibiotic.  It clears up the drainage.  Add as much as you can handle--I usually do 3/4 TBS up to 1 TBS.  This is not for the faint-hearted, because the cinnamon makes it quite strong.  But better than suffering with a cold.
Next, add honey.  A good amount of honey.  I don't always measure, but I did once and put in about 1/4 cup, you could do a little less though, as that seemed a bit much, but close.  Honey is another key as I know there is something to the idea about being harvested by bees, coming from the flowers, it all helps.
Last, stir in lemon juice.  Again a good amount 1/4-1/3 cup is about what it ends up being. 
Drink this at the first signs of the cold to catch it early and continue twice a day, morning and evening.  I noticed on Sunday that I was sneezing and starting to blow my nose too much, so I made this at about 5:00 Sunday evening.  Within 15 minutes the runny nose had stopped.  I slept all night without blowing my nose, and have continued twice a day since.  I can feel I still have the cold, but my symptoms have been VERY light.  I have zero congestion, though I can feel it has tried to move into my lungs, there is really not much to move down into the lungs to block them up.  Seriously, the best thing I have found for a cold.  I hate cold medicine and hardly ever take it if I can and this totally makes it so I don't need it.  I have had one cold that was a real whopper that I didn't clear up with this, but I'd say 3 out of 4 colds I can kick with the tea.

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