Beat winter colds with ginger, lemon and honey tea
Posted by kathryn in Miscellanea
It’s cold and wet today. I’m working from home, but I’ve had to go out several times. I now have more pairs of wet shoes and socks then I care to think about.
Trilby is in her current favourite position – curled up asleep on Richard’s laptop.
And I’ve been making my way through a big pot of ginger, lemon and honey tea.
The many uses of ginger
In herbal medicine ginger is a really useful herb. It’s used in several different ways:
- as an anti-nausea remedy
- as an antiinflammatory
- plus it’s a warming spice used in colds and respiratory illnesses as a mild expectorant and antimicrobial.
Ginger is really useful at this time of the year – as it guards against winter colds and chills. An easy and comforting way to use it, is to make this ginger, lemon and honey tea.
Ginger, lemon and honey tea
In a big plunger place:
- 1/2 lemon, sliced
- about 4cm of fresh ginger, finely sliced
- a heaped teaspoon of honey
Fill the plunger with hot water.
Leave to steep for 5 – 6 minutes and then drink the tea.
For this to be effective you need to drink a lot – at least 4 – 6 cups per day. However, if you do this at the first sign of a cold, it’s often enough to keep the lurgy at bay.
22 June, 2006
Comments
And hence the reason my fan gets clogged up with cat hair and starts to overheat!
Perhaps Trilby could wear a little hairnet ?
I suspect a little hairnet would be VERY demeaning for Trilby.
[…] 2. Drink lots and lots of this tea. Ginger, lemon and honey – it’s an easy and effective remedy that acts as a mild expectorant and is antimicrobial. […]
[…] Plain water doesn’t seem as attractive in winter, but rather than dropping your liquid intake entirely, why not opt for tea, or keep those colds and flus at bay with a big pot of fresh ginger tea. […]
This sounds great Kathryn, I’m gonna try that out a little later! Your cat looks so gorgeous too!!
Tea is great Melania, I make a pot of it each morning and drink away while I’m at my desk. Trilby is gorgeous – and she knows it too!
Hi Kathryn,
I’ve been a fan of your lemon, honey and ginger tea for awhile now.
I was wondering whether lemon and ginger teabags are just as effective as an anti-nausea and an anti-inflammatory and are they just as good against colds too?
I recently bought a box of Twinnings Lemon and Ginger Herbal infusions, they very convenient at the moment while I don’t have a teapot/coffee plunger.
The main ingredients are ginger root and lemon grass (rather than lemon).
Thanks!
Hi there May Lee – thanks for your comment. It’s the ginger which is responsible for the anti-nausea and anti-inflammatory effects. As long as your tea contains actual ginger, and not just ginger flavour, then it will have this effect. The lemon provide a small amount of vitamin C, which you wouldn’t get from the dried lemongrass. But the teabags are generally a good substitute.
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