Tea for my Cold

Drinking anything hot usually helps drain your sinuses and clear a stuffy nose. Just get a non-caffeinated tea, add some lemon drops and honey, and that should help. You don’t need to spend a bunch of money on “health products”.

Ginger.

Let’s see…ginger warms the body, licorice root and marshmallow root will soothe a sore throat, and if you have one of those chesty coughs white horehound will help clear out the mucus.

Yes, the ginger is the best way to go. Boil some of the ginger pieces and then use the hot ginger water to make an herbal tea. Something with citrus peel, either lemon or orange for the vit c and then add honey and lemon juice. The honey will sooth a throat.

I also like to use the Lemon Ginger echinacea from Trader Joe’s and heat it on the microwave.
Below is the herbal Tea I have in my shop:
*Lemon Ginger – Herbal. A Ginger herbal tea is created for ginger lovers. Dried Lemon Peel (vitamin C) and Lemongrass is balanced with invigorating ginger root (both pieces and fine ground) and eleuthero root (an immune system booster) to create a bold, enticing blend. Great to drink if you feel a cold coming on.

Blended at Kate’s. Naturally caffeine free.

Not a tea but the best thing for me and roommates when we’re sick is just hot water with lemon and honey served in our “healing mug” (http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/gamer/96c6/) <3

I’ve always liked minty stuff to clear out the sinuses … Tazo Refresh has a little aromatic tarragon kick to it.

Fava Tea Co. sells an herbal sore throat soother that works like nothing else I’ve tried. I was really sick 2 years ago w/ a bad sinus/throat/lung thing and I chugged it. Here was my cold kicker:

1 tsp each cold soother, dried ginger, red or green rooibos (rooibos has more antioxidents than even white tea and green has more than red) and dried peppermint plus one bag celestial seasonings echinacea tea (as bad as it tastes it tastes MUCH better than echinacea pills smell and it’s great for the throat) and one bag of Arbonne’s daily detox tea steeped in boiling water for 5 min. Remove the tisane mixture, bring the water to your desired temp for white tea, add a tablespoon of white tea of your choice (white tea helps lower fever and it also has the highest antioxident content of decanted teas), and steep for the desired length of time. Serve w/ a slice of lemon.

What I did was make a BIG batch of it then just reheat it cup by cup as I drank it. Yes, I know people will cringe, but when you’re sick, you don’t want to monkey around.

Also matcha. Hot matcha is great for the throat, but I love matcha shaken into orange juice. I drink it every day actually. Not only is it fast to prepare, but the OJ adds a bunch of vitamin C. Stone ground white tea has even more health benefits than traditional green matcha.

A cup of chai extra strong on the spices. Feel free to sweeten if desired, but skip the milk when you’re sick.

Both matcha and chai are also useful for giving you energy on those days where you’re sick but still need to be productive.

I personally don’t like the way honey coats my throat when I have a cough so I take it by the teaspoon to get the health benefits then wash it down w/ hot tea.

Rum is also a wonderful addition to a hot beverage for the throat and sinuses. Add 1.5oz rum or 1tsp of rum extract to your drink and enjoy.

I like chamomile tea when I’m sick. Chamomile with a little bit of lemon juice is good, or chamomile mixed with mint. The last time I was sick, I drank a lot of rooibos too, which was nice. I don’t usually do a lot of fancy flavors, since I won’t be able to taste them much anyway. Ginger and ginnamon I can usually taste though – you can add a cinnamon stick to your mug, and the tea will become more cinnamony as you drink it!

I usually stick to herbal teas and decaf when I’m sick since I don’t want the diuretic effects of caffeine. I don’t drink teas for their medicinal properties, though. For me, they are just a great way to soothe a sore throat and stay hydrated.

:) My friend just lent me some tea…I think its called Cold Comfort by Karma Blends. I can smell it as I type…Hmm…seems to be relieving to my nasal passages. Not bad! At least it tastes good. I will keep you guys posted on what it really does for me :)

Anyone else tried it?

Yeah this is weird, but how about steeping a tea (preferably something you don’t like) and using that in a neti pot to give your nasal passages a dose of antioxidants?