This simple tea combines three easy to find ingredients to help your immune system. Best taken at the early signs of feeling unwell, this tea can help when you have a sore throat or beginning of a cold. Fresh ginger, garlic, and honey combine to make a powerful trio to give your immune system a boost.
Homemade Immune Tea Recipe
2-4c water
2-3 slices fresh ginger
1-2 garlic cloves sliced
Honey to taste
Directions
Bring small pot of water to a boil
Add ginger and garlic slices to boiling water, reduce to simmer and cover
Simmer for 15-20min to keep aromatics inside the pot
Add small amount of honey to taste
Drink as tea
Garlic is yet another very common household remedy with many uses in cuisines throughout the world. The distinctive scent associated with garlic is a sulfur-containing amino acid called alliin, which converts to allicin when the garlic is crushed or chopped. Allicin is then converted to several other constituents during preparation, many of which are under study. Garlic may have cardioprotective affects, has demonstrated anti-oxidant properties, and interestingly for our purposes here may also help stimulate and regulate the immune system.
Ginger is also a highly useful food-grade herb found in many medical traditions throughout the world. Perhaps best known for its anti-nausea effects, ginger has other properties that help to relieve indigestion and calm the digestive tract, reduce inflammation, and may even help support the respiratory tract in protecting against viral infections.
Honey also has a long history of both culinary and medicinal use. It has historically been used throughout many cultures as a topical preparation to support wound healing and prevent bacterial infections. Flavonoids in honey have demonstrated anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties, and many other chemical constituents are undergoing study for a wide variety of their properties and potential applications.
We hope you enjoy this tea and that you and yours stay warm and healthy this fall and winter season! Acupuncture is also a wonderful way to give your immune system a boost, we hope to see you in the clinic soon!
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2020, January 24). About Herbs: Garlic. Retrieved from https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/garlic
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2021, June 30). About Herbs: Ginger. Retrieved from https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/ginger
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2021, June 30). About Herbs: Manuka Honey. Retrieved from https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/manuka-honey