Ginger Immune Elixir
The Ginger Decoction:
This decoction is inspired by my favorite hot drink at True Foods Kitchen, the Tulsi Tea. It is so spicy and powerful from the ginger, yet light from the lemon and honey. Its the perfect way to warm yourself up!
Decoction’s are a way of extracting the volatile oils from certain ingredients. The volatile oils, are part of the active ingredients that confer beneficial properties. It essentially is the simmering of a root, herb, seed, leaf, or berry to extract these volatile oils. (as opposed to an infusion- which is just steeping in hot water). If you have lots of ginger on hand, or are wanting to whip up warmth in a bottle, this is the recipe for you!
Key Ingredients:
All of the ingredients in this recipe are healthful and have healing properties, making it the ultimate health elixir! I love to use this decoction to support immune health and gut health. As you can see below, there are so many beneficial properties to these ingredients, they are great to incorporate in other recipes also!
Ginger: Ginger is antimicrobial, and also helps to stimulate the Migrating Motor Complex (MMC) helping digestion to move effectively downward. This helps to keep bowels moving regularly and effectively. This can help to lower bacterial overgrowths and support healthy digestion. Ginger also has anti-nausea and antioxidants properties as well.
Lemon: Lemon is a great source of vitamin C. Lemon also has alkalizing properties and supports digestion by stimulating the release of gastric juices.
Honey: Honey is another anti-microbial component to this elixir. Raw, organic honey is rich in antioxidants, and contains polyphenols that feed our good gut bacteria and kill of the pathogenic bacteria.
Tulsi or Holy Basil (optional): Tulsi is considered an adaptogenic herb, which helps to stabilize stress levels in the body. It’s a powerful plant, rich in polyphenols and has antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.
Hope you enjoy this zingy treat!
Ginger Immune Elixir
Ingredients
- 1 cup of chopped and peeled ginger (see notes on how to peel)
- Juice from 1.5 Lemon (add more if desired)
- 4 cups water
- 2 T Honey (add more, if desired or too spicy) N
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add chopped ginger to the boiling water and once boiling, reduce the water to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 30-45 minutes.
- Once the ginger has simmered for 30-45 minutes let cool. Transfer the ginger water decoction to a high powered blender once cool. Blend on high speed, until you have a mixture that is ginger yellow. Pour the blend, back into the pot, straining out the ginger fiber (if desired- you can also keep it in there if you like the pulp). Squeeze your lemon juice into the mixture. Next, add the honey.
- Adjust the lemon and honey to your liking. (Add more honey, if the ginger is too spicy for you)
- Use ~1/4 cup of the elixir and pour over warm/hot water. Add a tulsi tea bag if desired, and serve warm. You can also use the elixir and pour sparkling water over it, for a refreshing zingy drink.
Notes
To adjust spice from the ginger. Either add water, use less ginger, or use more honey.
To Peel ginger, use the back of a spoon and scrape the skin off. It comes off easy!
