I’m at home nursing a viral infection. My symptoms are discomfort due to swollen glands, a sore throat, dry cough and fatigue, lots of fatigue. My priority is to take it easy and rest. I also want to reduce symptoms through natural remedies instead of synthetic drugs.

If things get worse, I will seek medical help (again). But meanwhile, to ease symptoms and promote healing, I’ve been drinking this easy-to-make cocktail that combines turmeric (curcumin), black pepper, ginger, lemon and honey. It’s a soothing, cleansing and refreshing concoction with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. When I make it, I purposely add some black ground pepper to increase the absorption of the turmeric.

Should you be suffering from cold or flu symptoms these days, I’m happy to share this drink with you.  Cheers! 🙂

The beverage is great to sip on throughout the day or at night. To help soothe a sore throat, I recommend that you drink it warm (not too hot) or even cold. If you have a lot of throat pain, try adding a few ice cubes.

Cheers again!

Turmeric, ginger, lemon and honey beverage

• 1 tablespoon (1 thumb-size) fresh turmeric root with skin, rinsed & grated *see note below
• 1 tablespoon (1 thumb-size) fresh ginger root with skin, rinsed & grated *see note below
• Ground black pepper, 2-3 turns with pepper mill
• ½  of one lemon, juice squeezed and entire peel added
• ¼ – ½ cup liquid honey, preferably locally produced (pure maple syrup for vegans)
• About 6 cups or more of boiled water

* note:  Turmeric is also called curcuma / curcumin.  You can substitute the ginger and turmeric roots with 1-2 teaspoons of powdered.  But, I prefer going with the roots. With both ginger & turmeric roots, I break them up into thumb-size pieces and store them in a container freezer. Frozen roots grate much easier; all you do is rinse a frozen root piece under hot tap water and immediately grate it with the peel on.  It’s that simple!

Procedure

1.  Bring lots of water to the boil.

2.  In a stainless steel pot or a large tea pot, add all the ingredients. Add the boiled water, stir and cover.  Allow to infuse for at least 10 minutes.

3.  Use a big fine-meshed strainer and transfer the mixture into another stainless steal pot or container.

4.  Ladle into a cup and enjoy right away. Sip this throughout the day.

5.  Once cooled, you can transfer the beverage into a glass bottle or container that fits a lid and store  in the fridge. Whichever way you prefer, enjoy at room temp. or heated in microwave or cold and chilled with ice cubes. I suggest cold and with ice cubes if your throat is very sore.

PS: Don’t worry should you notice a yellow glow to your teeth because of the turmeric, just brushing them after will make them all white again!