One a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

We all know the feeling.  Maybe your throat gets hot and swollen, or you start sneezing excessivly within a given day.  Maybe you wake up super tired or your eyes are red and burning.  And then you think to yourself...CRAP it's coming.  I am getting sick.

This happened to me about a year ago.  I was at work...my throat was hot and uncomfortable, and I started to get that defeated feeling when you know a cold is coming full force.  My usual protocol is to take Zicam (which does work wonders btw) and maybe NyQuil at night if needed.  But on this particular occasion I happened to be on the phone with my Mom.  "Ugh I'm getting sick," I told her.

"Well try this," she said.  "I just saw this on Facebook."  

So my wonderful Mother sends me over a text message with a picture of a cup of tea with four simple ingredients on it:  

Lemon 2Tbsp, Honey 2Tbsp, Apple Cider Vinegar 2Tbsp, and a dash of Cinnamon.  Add to hot water.

The caption read "Drink if you have a sore throat.  You will feel better within an hour."

So I thought to myself "Why not?"  I went to the store, and bought the ingredients I didn't already have and made the tea.  I have to say...it was delicious!  Apple Cider Vinegar can be a bit daunting to some, but mixed with the other three ingredients you can't even taste it. 

I woke up the next morning, and noticed that my throat was still a little swollen but no worse than the day before.  Normally my symptoms would be progressing, but so far....so good!  So I made myself another cup of this magical tea.  I did notice that later on my nose started to run a little.  But not from being sick...it was almost like the tea was making my sinuses drain.

The next day I woke up, and I felt 100% better.  My throat was back to normal and the cold was averted.  I couldn't believe it!  Take that germs...HA!  I couldn't wait to tell my husband what had happened...that I had taken this tea with these simple ingredients and it cured me!

Since that day, I make this tea for my husband and myself every single morning.  It is the first thing that I do when I roll out of bed (well after I check my emails and Facebook)  and I drink it on an empty stomach to start my day.  We even bring these ingredients with us when we travel!  I cannot express to you how much this has changed my life.  My husband and I have thwarted more colds and flus than our peers, and I have others who have followed suit with the same success!  

I started to wonder....what is it about these ingredients that makes them so potent?   So I started to do some research:

Lemon:  ~turns body alkaline ~flu fighter ~ antioxidant ~ high vitamin C ~ anti-bacterial 

Honey: ~anti-bacterial ~anti-fungal ~ reduce cough and throat irritation ~Probiotic

Apple Cider Vinegar: ~kills bacteria ~helps with diabetes ~helps with weight loss 

Cinnamon: ~medicinal properties ~antioxidant ~anti-inflammatory

**There are many more benefits to these ingredients but too many to list here**

WOW.  No wonder this tea was kicking my colds ass!  It is full of anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties!  I have also read that apple cider vinegar wards off all kinds of flus including the stomach flu. #winning

So it has been a year since we started this tea...and it has been working like a charm.  But I have to say that one other thing has happened.  In my life I have been super prone to Urinary Tract Infections.  So much so that my doctor had given me an anti-biotic to take as a prophylactic (not something I was too excited about).  But since I have started to drink this tea, I have not had one UTI, and I was able to toss those antibiotics right into the garbage! 

I researched some more and found articles that show that Apple Cider Vinegar actual prevents and cures urinary tract infections!  But this is a topic for another day...

So ladies and gentlemen, get your tea on.  With these all natural ingredients you will not only be warding off those germs, but maybe you'll lose a few pounds as well...and...well.... that never hurts.  

<3 P.S. A lot of these ingredients help to turn the body alkaline which is a MAJOR plus.  Look for a future blog on Alkalinity and how it benefits us.