One easy way to ensure we are getting constant hydration, nourishment, and detoxing aid in the New Year is to be drinking herbal teas and cleansing waters regularly. If you have a tree or plant that you can access from your own garden, this is even better and more powerful for healing and detoxing. If not, you can always purchase teas.
Here are some teas and easy cleansing waters that you can keep in your fridge, or even pour into ice cube trays and place in the freezer—then they are ready to pop out and add to filtered drinking water at any time!
Immune-boosting Tumeric Black Pepper Tea
This stimulating and detoxing tea is a great way to get your daily dose of turmeric and black pepper.
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
2 cups filtered water
1-inch piece of ginger, diced
1 garlic clove, diced
Pinch of cayenne pepper (the beverage should be spicy but comfortable to drink)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Dash of black pepper
1 lemon
1 tablespoon raw honey
How to prepare:
1. Bring the water, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and black pepper to boil in a saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 7 minutes.
2. Strain the liquid as you pour it into a teacup.
3. Squeeze in the lemon juice, add honey, and stir well.
4. Drink warm.
Anti-inflammatory Ginger Tea
I recommend drinking ginger tea every night before bed.
Ginger is an incredibly powerful anti-inflammatory and assists in reducing pain, cramps, aches, and bloating. It also suppresses appetite, so it can help curb sugar cravings at night time.
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups filtered water
2-inch piece of ginger, diced
How to prepare:
1. Boil the water and ginger in a saucepan for 7 minutes.
2. Strain the liquid as you pour it into a teacup.
3. Drink warm.
Tip: Make a huge batch and then let it cool and later place it in the fridge so the next day you have ginger water.
Pain-relieving Tea
Before popping pain relievers, try this remedy for natural pain relief. No worries if you are missing one or two ingredients; make it with what you have on hand and it can still provide some relief. This recipe can also be helpful for neuropathy.
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups filtered water
1-inch piece of ginger, diced
1-inch piece of turmeric, diced
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried valerian root powder
1 teaspoon white willow bark powder
1 teaspoon cat’s claw powder
1 teaspoon Boswellia powder
2 teaspoons cloves
How to prepare:
1. Boil all the ingredients in a saucepan for 15 minutes or until well combined.
2. Strain the liquid as you pour it into a teacup.
3. Drink warm.
Energy Tea
This energizing combo of green tea, mint, and ginseng is bound to leave you pleasantly bouncing off the walls! Ginseng helps the body use oxygen more efficiently, which ultimately gives you more energy.
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups filtered water
1 teaspoon dried green tea leaves
1 small handful of fresh mint or
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon ginseng root or powder
How to prepare:
1. Boil all the ingredients in a saucepan for 5 minutes.
2. Strain the liquid as you pour it into a teacup.
3. Drink warm.
Relaxing Bedtime Tea
All of the ingredients in this blend make for a relaxation tonic. Even just chamomile is a relaxing bedtime tea in itself if you aren’t able to get the other ingredients. Chamomile is used to soothe muscles and has been proven to be effective in treating spasmodic gastrointestinal disorders. And check this out—based on available data, chamomile has appeared useful in mitigating anxiety and depression. Chamomile and other flowers, including lavender, can benefit cancer patients by minimizing medication load and accompanying side effects.
Valerian root has been used in alternative medicine to aid in treating sleep problems including insomnia; it also may alleviate PMS symptoms.
Total prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 2 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups filtered water
2 tablespoons chamomile flowers
1 tablespoon lavender leaves
1 teaspoon dried valerian root powder
1 teaspoon fenugreek powder or fresh leaves
How to prepare:
1. Boil all the ingredients in a saucepan for 5 minutes.
2. Strain the liquid as you pour it into a mug.
3. Drink warm.
Infused Waters
You can infuse water with any fruit, vegetable, herb, or spice you have on hand—even edible essential oils, in moderation. You can infuse them on their own or together. One reason you would infuse your water is to add nutrients, but the main reason is flavor. Staying hydrated is helpful to your elimination systems, so why not make it taste good, too?
Some ideas for infusing your water, help detoxing and making it tasty include:
Orange slices, lemon slices, lime slices, apple slices, halved cherries, halved grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple slices, cucumber slices, rosemary sprigs, mint leaves, and ginger slices
Apple cider vinegar (1 teaspoon or 1 capful per cup of water)
Essential oils, therapeutic grade only (1 to 2 drops per cup) such as cinnamon, clove, copaiba, frankincense, ginger, grapefruit, lemon, lemongrass, orange, peppermint, and spearmint.
Detoxing Water
This blend is great for people who find drinking plain water “boring.” If you are used to drinking soda, this is the recipe for you—not that it is sweet in any way, but it adds an extra kick to your water, so you can feel good about doing some extreme cleansing and detoxing for your body. Woo-hoo, kick it!
Total prep time: 5 minutes
Makes 1 serving
Ingredients:
2 cups filtered water
1 lemon
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt
Sprinkle of turmeric
Sprinkle of black pepper
How to prepare:
1. Pour the water into a pitcher. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze its juice into the water by hand.
2. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir and drink.
This article is meant to be informational and should not be treated as medical advice. You should always consult with your physician for any personal concerns or when feeling ill and before starting any new supplements.
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