All-Natural Flu-Fighting Tea

Flu Fighting Tea is perfect for fever, aches, pains, a wracking cough, or a sore throat. Sounds like the flu to me! It’s never fun to feel under the weather, but so many of the cold and flu remedies available are full of chemicals that you wouldn’t otherwise put in your body. One of my favorite all-natural ways to feel better is to drink a big cup of honey lemon flu fighting tea. This is a recipe that my  husband has perfected over the years, it tastes great and it’s very effective at soothing a cough and sore throat. Not only that, but the the ingredients in this flu fighting tea are also excellent at fighting cold and flu symptoms at the root!

For this flu fighting tea:
Start off by steeping a good quality, organic echinacea tea bag and several thin slices of fresh organic ginger root in some hot water. Then, stir in freshly squeezed lemon juice and raw honey. Finally, add the spices. Clove and cinnamon add a wonderful flavor to the tea, and a little cayenne pepper adds zip! The great thing about these ingredients is that they not only make the flu fighting tea taste great, they also contain compounds that work to help you feel better…and hopefully GET better quicker.

Benefits of echinacea tea for cold and flu:
Echinacea is an herb (Purple Coneflower, it’s actually quite pretty!) that is traditionally used as a cold and flu remedy.

• Studies are mixed as to its effectiveness, but it has been shown to increase white blood cells…which helps your immune system fight off germs.

Benefits of ginger for fighting the flu:
Ginger tastes great with the lemon and honey, but it also has many properties that help when you’ve got a cold or the flu.

• Ginger has long been known for settling upset tummies, but did you know that it also contains a powerful painkiller and acts as an anti-inflammatory? It’s also used to fight the upper respiratory woes that come with  colds and the flu.
• Ginger has been known to display anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities, indicating its promising role as a chemopreventive agent. 
• There is scientific support that ginger may alleviate the symptoms of nausea and vomiting following pregnancy, surgery, cancer therapy, or motion sickness and suggestive evidence that ginger reduces inflammation and pain. 
• It is suggested that at least one of the mechanisms by which ginger shows its ameliorative effects could be related to inhibition of prostaglandin and leukotriene biosynthesis, i.e. it works as a dual inhibitor of eicosanoid biosynthesis. 
• It’s also commonly used to support digestive discomfort
• For more info here is a fantastic post on all the benefits of ginger

Benefits of lemon, honey, and spices:
More than just a trio of delicious flavors, these three ingredients pack a powerful punch in supporting you immune system.

• Lemon and honey are a great combination, they taste wonderful and the lemon juice is full of vitamin C.
• Honey has antimicrobial properties, and has been shown to be more effective in soothing a cough than the active ingredient in most cough syrups (here’s how to harness honey’s cough suppressing power in a homemade cough drop).
• And did you know that cinnamon is as healthy as it is tasty? Studies show that this sweet spice also reduces inflammation, and his antibacterial properties.
• You may know that clove was used to ease the pain of toothaches, you can harness clove’s anesthetic properties to soothe your sore throat too. It’s good for your cough, becuase it acts as an expectorant.
• Finally, the cayenne pepper helps clear out your sinuses.

My husband has been making this tea for years, and I had always thought that he’d just put together the ingredients based on taste and how soothing they were to a sore throat and cough. Turns out, he’d done his research too!  Don’t you love it when something you love turns out to be good for you? Me, too!

Flu Fighting Tea Recipe (Andrew's Hot Lemon) 
This flu fighting tea recipe is an effective way to say "goodbye" the cold and flu. It boosts the immune system and is yummy, too.

Ingredients

• 1 bag good quality organic echinacea tea (optional)
• 3 or 4 thin slices of fresh organic ginger root
• 3 tablespoons organic lemon juice, fresh squeezed
• 2 tablespoons raw organic honey
• ½ teaspoon organic ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon organic ground clove
• Cayenne pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a large cup of hot filtered water, steep the tea bag and the sliced ginger (you may omit the tea bag if you’d like).
2. Add the lemon juice, honey and spices and stir well. The tea will be cloudy.
3. If you’d like, you may strain the tea through cheesecloth to remove the ground spices and ginger. At our house, we just drink it as is.

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