If you ever feel like you're coming down with a cold, if you already have a cold or a flu, or even if you just want to boost your immune system simply to help your body be more resilient and less susceptible to catching bacterial infections, viruses and the like this one is for you.
It's a miracle-worker I myself have been using for many years, and it's always proven to be extremely helpful in improving my immune function. I've been sharing this recipe with people for years and I'd love to share it with you with hope that it might help you out as well.
It's easy to make and requires only a few simple ingredients based around turmeric, ginger and lemon.
I personally drink it (interchangeably with my Golden Milk) whenever I feel like I'm not my 100% in the immune departament, preventatively during the change of seasons (when we're generally more likely to catch a cold) as well as whenever, on a rare occasion, I do catch a cold.
It's a miracle worker, indeed, and it will help you out just as it is, but for the best results it does require a little bit of cooperation from you in the form of allowing your body an adequate amount of sleep each night (7.5-9 hours nightly, more if you're fighting a cold) healthy whole-foods fiber-rich diet consisting mainly of vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, drinking plenty of water throughout the day and exercising regularly (when you're not sick that is).
Spending time in nature, and practicing yoga, meditation and pranayama (breathing exercises) also aid immensely in boosting your immune system. They help you reduce your stress levels which in turns allows your body to focus on things like fighting diseases and healthy cell regeneration instead of throwing all of those "secondary" processes out of the window because stress takes center stage making our sympathetic nervous system take over as our body taps into our fight/flight/freeze response. This fight/flight/freeze response can sometimes be extremely helpful, when we're running for our life, but our bodies are designed to be okay with it only occasionally and for short periods of time that are, ideally, followed by longer periods of relaxation. Not the way we experience it nowadays- chronic stress. But more on that in another post.
Here's how you can make the marvelous turmeric ginger lemon drink.
You will need water, fresh ginger root, turmeric powder and lemon juice. This little concoction can have quite a strong taste, especially if you're not used to it, so it's good to add a little sweetened (preferably one that on top of just being sweet provides your body with some antioxidants), if you're not vegan honey is a good option, if you do not use honey I highly recommend molasses, pure maple syrup or agave syrup (although the later has the lowest levels of antioxidants). You can adjust the amount of your sweeter to taste.
It's possible you will need to dilute your drink with water and add more sweetener at the beginning. I remember when I first started making it I needed quite a lot of sweetener to be able to drink it, now I hardly use any. I also recommend using a little bit of freshly ground pepper that helps your body better utilize turmeric with all of it's wonderful properties. I've written a post about the benefits of turmeric (and you can check it out here), but just to recap: both turmeric and ginger have the ability to strengthen your immune system, they have antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. They can help relieve congestion, and turmeric has also been used to alleviate pain. Read more about turmeric over here.
Lemon juice is an good source of vitamin C, and once digested has been shown to be very alkalizing to the body and therefore making your internal environment very unpleasant to any diseases as those generally thrive in acidic environments.
Make sure to drink this potion warm for the maximal benefits for turmeric, but not too hot in order not too loose that Vitamin C!
Immune-boosting Turmeric Ginger Lemon Concoction Recipe
yields: 2 cups
prep time: 5 minutes max!
Ingredients
2 cups (500ml) of water
1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder
a thumb-size piece of ginger
juice of 1/2 lemon
a pinch of freshly ground black pepper
a teaspoon of black-strap molasses, maple syrup or honey (if not vegan)
Method:
Pour the water into a small saucepan and bring to boil.
Grate the fresh ginger, cut it in thin slices or use a garlic presser to "mash" it and squeeze out the juice. Add it to the water and reduce the heat so it just simmers.
Add the turmeric, stir and simmer for about 3 minutes.
Pour the drink into either 2 cups (if making it for two) or 1 cup and leave the rest in the saucepan for later (if making it for one).
To your cup add a pinch of freshly ground black pepper.
Wait until the drink cools down a little bit, approx. less than 70C / 158F, but when it's good enough to drink it should be fine.
Squeeze in the lemon juice and watch the magic happen as the drink changes color! :)
Add in your sweetener of choice and mix well and taste to see whether or not you need to adjust the sweetness.
Drink as warm as possible and enjoy its healing powers!
Notes:
You can dilute your drink with warm water if you find it's a bit too strong.
You can also keep the leftovers in your saucepan for later and warm it up after a few hours.
I recommend drinking this drink daily when you're feeling your immune system needs a little help. If you're really feeling on the verge of a cold or you already have a cold you might want to drink it a couple of times a day.
This drink will make you feel a bit hot inside, that's what it does. I find that even though it sounds counter intuitive it does help me even when I have a fever.
But, as always, please listen to your body and if you find that you've given it a go and your body is not at all into it, don't force it. You do you.
Be well!
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