by Liz Wiley
Herbal tonics are great for warming your bones and curing your sniffles, ailments and more. This month we wanted to highlight a couple of our favorite go-to herbal tonics to keep you healthy and happy this winter. My favorite to make when a cold comes on strong and fast is a tea made with ginger, garlic, lemon, thyme and honey. This tea is infused with powerful immune boosting properties that will help soothe the throat, calm the cough, and clear the sinuses. Thyme is a delicious culinary herb but its reputation for its medicinal properties is also quite impressive and extends back through time. It is a great herb for remedying sore throats and calming coughs, as it is packed with Vitamin C and is a good source of Vitamin A. The more I learn about this diminutive herb, the more impressed I am by it. Additional health benefits of thyme range from treating acne to lowering blood pressure to stimulating the thymus, a major gland of the immune system. Using fresh thyme is best but you can certainly substitute with dried if necessary.
Immune Boosting Tea
1 good sized chunk of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 whole lemon
2-3 sprigs of thyme or 1-2 tsp. dried
Add all your ingredients to a large jar or pitcher. Fill with hot water and steep. I usually let it steep for 10-20 minutes before I take my first cup…place a tea towel over the remaining and let it continue to steep. Finish the contents over the course of the day/evening. Feel free to add local honey to make it sweeter.
Recently, in an effort to incorporate more turmeric into our diets, we have begun to experiment with a variety of Golden Milk recipes. The anti-inflammatory qualities of turmeric’s active ingredient curcumin make it one of nature’s most powerful spices. These days it seems like inflammation is running wild in our bodies; leading to all kinds of problems from joint pain to food allergies to digestive issues. Curcumin gives the spice its trademark deep yellow color and is being praised for additional health benefits such as: antioxidant, antitumor, antibacterial and antiviral. Golden Milk is a great beverage to warm and soothe your achy, winter bones. So drink up, go outside, and enjoy winter!
Golden Milk Recipe
Bring to a simmer the following ingredients:
2-3 cups milk (we use raw at the farm but organic almond or coconut milk work great too)
1 tsp of organic ground turmeric
1 tsp of organic ground ginger
Heaping tablespoon of organic coconut oil
Off heat, add a Tbsp. of local honey, if desired
Adding cinnamon and cardamom is yummy too!
