How I fix that cold

Soooooooooooooooooo, I can't stand having a cold.  It's just suffering.  Nose all red, throat all sore, voice all nasal, head all hurting, appetite all gone, eyes all watery, cough all mucusy.  Sorry my people, that last one might have been TMI.  But really, it's just mess!

My bug-eyed sick face

I know my body very well.  We're best friends.  We communicate on a regular basis.  She let's me know the facts and then I decide if I want to listen to her, which is most times, yes.  Unfortunately, I can be hard-headed and very disobedient sometimes but she's still so forgiving.  That's my girl right there!  She just tells it plainly:

"Marsha-Gail, you know if you have too much sugar, you feel icky".  
"Marsha-Gail, you know what happens when you don't exercise"
"Marsha-Gail, you feel mentally tired because you only had one liter of water today.  What do you expect?"

So when I get sick, I can usually reason things out and being a doc in the making, I have a differential diagnosis:

• I had dairy
• I had too much sugar
• I wasn't sleeping enough
• I wasn't exercising regularly
• I wasn't eating enough raw veggies and fruit

This is my current predicament at the moment.  Sigh.  But I have found a way to divert the infection pathway away from full blown cold or flu development or dampen it so I'm not sick for the 5-7 or so days that colds may last.

As soon as I see the signs of a cold, ya know, general feeling of "offness", slightly sore throat, fatigue, etc, I start doing stuff in the kitchen.  I make my go-to cold-fighting tea using three specific things:  Lemon, Ginger and Honey.  Here's why they are awesome things:

Photo Credit: 101 Herbs

Lemon - It is loaded with Vitamin C, which you're body absolutely needs.  Sailors and pirates know this.  They, like all plant foods, have compounds that protect your cells from damage and boost the function of your cells.  When you're sick, your cells need boosting!

Photo Credit: Mind Body Green

Ginger - This bomb root has powerful immune-boosting action, which is why it's the main part of my tea.  It's super concentrated with the active substances so you don't have to use that much to get the benefits.  It also has a bit of heat to it, which helps to warm me up.

Photo Credit: Alternative Consumer

Honey - This gooey goodness has compounds that are anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.  Bam, sickness!  Right in your face!  The key is raw honey.  The same compounds that have antimicrobial functions are also anti-cancer, which is the case for all plants.  They just want to protect you, that's all.

Time to power up the body!  This ain't no joke.  We're fighting in a war here, people.

I get over colds in 2-3 days and probably less than two if I adhere fully to my regimen (sometimes I use regular honey).  Maybe my body is genetically pre-disposed to being a boss and handling business when it comes to infections or my bird food living makes my body a less favorable home for vermin.  I thought I would throw in some new vocabulary.  I kinda like that word.  All I know is that drinking this makes me feel much better so my deductive reasoning skills lead me to believe this helps a ton.

My concoction

1 and a half - 2 inches of ginger, shredded (equivalent to 1 and a half - 2 tbsp)

1 tbsp of honey

1 lemon (sometimes I change things and use tangerines and lime)
2 cups of water

Boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan.  When the water begins to boil, add the shredded ginger and turn off the stove.  Cover the saucepan and leave to steep for 10 mins.  While you are waiting for all the ginger goodness to be extracted, juice one lemon into your cup of choice.  Add your honey.  When the ginger has finished steeping, pour it through a strainer into the cup.  Stir until honey is dissolved and enjoy your immune system getting pumped and your infection getting told to relax itself.  

Conclusion:  The best way to stay sickness-free is to be your body's bodyguard so it can be your bodyguard.  Protect it by doing the basics: Sleep enough, Exercise enough, drink enough Water, lessen Stress and eat Plants.  That's the equivalent of paying your bodyguard.  If you don't pay your bodyguard, you have no more bodyguard.      Simple economics :)  

Ohhhh, do I love my cold-fighting tea!

Thank you for reading!  My people, I appreciate you all so much.  Be happy and healthy.  Ciao!