Wellness Blast! A Health Drink

A few years ago I used to drink this every morning! It was introduced to me by a friend that worked at my favorite cafe. She was kind enough to notice I was quite unwell and made me this! I was fighting a reoccurring damp, wet cold and it was like an oasis of warmth and healing. At the time, we called it the 'sick drink', because she would make it for me when I was sick. I changed the name because 'sick drink' could sound like something that makes you sick and who wants to drink that?

I named it the Wellness Blast because that's how it feels to drink it. It feels like a blast of wellness. After becoming homeless for a stint due to indoor allergies, I had no way to make this drink so I promptly forgot all about it, but recently I've been looking into alternatives to taking lots of ibuprofen for pain and I recalled this drink!

It is such a wonderful drink and I've gotten such great benefit out of it that I wanted to be sure to share it with you all in the Lyme community.

Enjoy!



Ingredients

Cayenne
Fresh ginger
Fresh lemon
Peppermint tea
Honey or Stevia

Cayenne:  It is one of the best things to use for moving the bowel, for getting the digestive process going. It also stimulates circulation. Without circulation, areas of the body get diseased because they are cut off from the flow of oxygen. The stimulating effect of cayenne is important for life & healing, to reach not only vital organs but to cleanse them, which helps bring circulation to the rest of the body. It will never effect your good flora like garlic does. We all know it is very hot, but it is just heat and won't damage the stomach. I put a lot of cayenne in because I love the effects of it, however it makes my drink very hot. I deal with this by sipping it and taking my time to drink it. As it gets things stimulated and moving it can feel uncomfortable, especially for Lymies because our bodies are rather stagnated. But, it's worth the discomfort, which goes away after things are moving, because stagnation is very much a part of what causes a lot of the pain we feel.

When you make your first drink, use just a little cayenne. You don't want to scare yourself away! You will find that each time you drink it, you body's circulation will improve, the stagnant areas will become more free-flowing, and your body will become more tolerant to the heat, thus you will probably end up adding more cayenne. But there is no need to rush it or push it.

Fresh Ginger:  Ginger has been acclaimed for it's medicinal benefits since ancient times. It is widely used in herbal medicine to reduce inflammation, which I would say is the root cause of suffering in Lyme disease. It is also used to prevent and relieve nausea, indigestion, heart rhythm irregularities, arthritic symptoms and pain.

I've only ever used fresh ginger in this drink. It's better in this instance than dried ginger in that fresh ginger has all of it's natural constituents, whereas dried ginger does not. Also, the constitution of dried ginger is much hotter than fresh and the cayenne is already very hot.

First you peel the ginger. I do this with a small sharp knife. Maybe you can use a pearing tool, but I've never done that so I can't vouche for how it will go. The knobbiness leads me to believe it won't go well. Once it's peeled, you can slice the ginger or dice the ginger into your drink, but I prefer to either grate it or scrape it with a spoon into the drink as this releases more of the juice inside the root.

Fresh Lemon: Lemon helps to control blood pressure, purifies blood, reduces swollen spleen, gets the digestive process started, and strengthens the immune system. It also balances out the heat of the cayenne, cooling it down a bit.

I put in a lot of lemon because it is delicious with the honey. Honestly, without the lemon, the Wellness Blast would be pretty unpleasurable to drink, but with the lemon, it's like a delicious, natural hot toddy. Along with the honey, the lemon lifts the drink out of the purely medicinal category and into the yummy treat category.

I use Meyer lemons because they are the tastiest. I squeeze the juice into it and then just throw the squeezed lemon in. If you're hardcore, you can eat the lemon after you drink the drink. The pith and outer peel have bioflavonoids and, among other things, those help reduce allergic reactions. Its a good way to be low-impact even if you don't compost!

If you are allergic to citrus, you can put in apple juice instead. I happen to be allergic to apple, so I haven't done this, but I hear it's also delish!

Peppermint Tea: Peppermint is soothing and relaxing to the intestines. It can relieve nausea and gas. It helps to further cool the heat of the cayenne and contributes to the taste of the drink.

I use loose-leaf, but you can use bags if you want. I prefer loose-leaf tea because there is no bag that might have chemicals in it and no glue or staple. I really don't want to steep glue and staples. Sue me...;-) Using fresh peppermint is also an option. I've never done it because it doesn't keep very long, but I bet it would be the tastiest option...freshness always is...

Honey/Stevia: I use local honey because it helps with local allergies, and it also helps with local economy! Just add to taste. Sometimes I really can't use any sugar at all, which of course, honey is a form of, however natural. In that case, I use a bit of stevia. There's something more soothing about honey to me, but stevia is a powerful herb in it's own right and can be very beneficial to the body, especially if the body is fighting chronic illness.

Preparation

Put all these ingredients together in a container and add boiling water. Let steep at least 4 minutes and drink! You can do this any way you like. I prefer to load the ingredients into a 16 oz mug and then drink with a bombilla, but you can also use a french press. If you use a press however, leave the squeezed lemons out and put them in your mug after you've strained the drink, otherwise the press won't press properly! I also like to add two thin slices of peeled ginger to my mug purely for the aesthetic quality! Is that silly? Maybe, but I think, the happier I am while I drink it, the better it works and I get joy out of the ginger slices floating in my drink...;-)


*If you are allergic to or simply have bad reactions to any of the ingredients, you can just leave that ingredient out. This drink is made up of things people often imbibe singularly. You know what works for your body, so adjust it to work for you.

*People who don't have chronic illness drink this when they have a cold or somesuch, as it's powerful at combating an excess of mucus. Lymies, who experience health issues every day all day can benefit greatly from drinking it daily!


*I find drinking it first thing in the morning is best, for a few reasons: 1) It jump-starts the digestive process(cilia moving, etc...) and so you'll digest your first meal MUCH better, 2) it cleanses so drinking it on a full stomach could feel uncomfortable and just won't work as well, 3) it helps to reduce the inflammation and congestion that occurs in Lyme sleep, 4) it's stimulating effects wake you up!

Disclaimer with an attitude: I am not a doctor. What that means is, I have  to be clear and say now that I have no authority to say I can cure you. Well, I admit that as true. I don't have a license that says I can hide behind scientific studies that say I can tell you what cures you even when I don't really know. I'm fine with that. What I will say is this. I'm just a human being sharing information that may or may not be helpful. As with everything we put in our bodies, please be conscientious. Listen to your body. Do what works for you. YOU are the expert on what works for your body. I am not in the business of curing Lyme disease. I am simply committed to the power of community and the sharing of information and experience.