It’s that time of the year when the sniffles are among us. Here is a simple recipe, combining common ingredients, that can be made AND taken as soon as soon as you feel under the weather. It is a slightly “acquired taste,” but we’re drinking this for our health, not necessarily our taste buds enjoyment.
You’ll Need:
- 1/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar (We like Bragg’s)
- Juice of 2 lemons
- 1 teaspoon ground cayenne
- Fresh jalapeno (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh ginger root or 2-3 drops of Doterra Ginger essential oil also works great!)
- 1 teaspoon fresh horseradish
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or fresh tumeric root if available)
- Sliced sweet onion (1/4 onion)
- 2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, diced
- Pinch of cracked black pepper (or 1-2 drops of DoTerra Black Papper essential oil)
- 1/3 cup of raw honey (buy local, if possible)
Make it YogaLean:
- Add lemon juice, vinegar, and spices to your small jar (like a mason jar)
- Add honey to bring up to 8 ounces
- Add water, as needed, if needing to dilute
- Shake well to mix
- Store in the refrigerator
Fire Cider can stay stable for a few weeks in your refrigerator, getting a little stronger as the days go by. However, it’s likely to be used up throughout the duration of your cold. You can make multiple batches at a time, if you desire. Remember to shake well before each use, as the mixture will begin to settle. We like to use a strainer to avoid large pieces of jalapeno and garlic ending up in your glass.
When congested, we suggest taking 1 teaspoon every 15 minutes for an hour then switching to every 30 minutes, then once an hour. Best taken quickly, bottoms up! The heat from the cayenne opens the sinuses which reduces sinus inflammation. Ginger and tumeric are also wonderful anti-inflammatories. Our body absorbs Vitamin C from the lemon juice, while Black Pepper is here as a synergist to increase absorption. Both honey and apple cider vinegar are well known for their healing properties, plus they help with taste. Keep on the schedule drinking until you go to sleep. This mixture will increase the fire element in the body (Pitta) which as we know from the study of Ayurveda, helps the body sweat out and burn off toxins in the body.
There are many different versions of homemade fire cider, feel free to adapt the recipe to your own needs. If you have a different recipe we would love to hear yours! Share in the YogaLean Facebook group. Facebook.com/groups/YogaLean
