Immunity Tea with Cayenne Pepper: Step by Step Instructions
November 27, 2009
Hey Guys!
Happy Day after Thanksgiving. 
I hope you had a special and relaxing holiday! Now next topic: Immunity Tea. This is something I’ve been making for myself and family members a lot lately, since the running around and changing weather can really give our immunity a run for its money. (Speaking of running around- this is one girl you WON’T catch shopping today on Black Friday, under any circumstances!!! Except food shopping of course ).
This tea is really spectacular to drink through the winter. It works when you are already sick, when there are sick people living in your same house (or tiny apt!) or at work, OR when you feel the beginnings of a pesky cold coming on. This tea boosts immunity because the combination of the lemon and ginger will promote circulation of the blood and lymph and help remove stagnation. In other words, it will help promote toxins constantly circulating to exit the body. The ginger has warming qualities will help burn out harmful bacteria. An organic lemon is packed with over 200 enzymes that will help restore the liver, one of our big detoxifying organs. The cayenne pepper works to break up mucus in the body.
However, the ORDER you make this tea makes all the difference. For instance, you do not want to pour your lemon juice into boiling water, which would destroy the enzymes…and the whole effectiveness of the tea. So here I’ve broken it down for you, step by step:
Step 1: Peel and chop ginger into chunks. For 1 cup, aim for about 1 heaping Tbs. You want to slice it up so the properties of the ginger will seep into the tea, but don’t make the pieces too small- otherwise you’ll get a bunch of “floaters” that will keep coming up to the surface.
Step 2: Heat up water. It can boil, or if you can catch it right before it starts to boil that would be great. Turn off the heat, and let the water cool down for a minute. Pour the hot water over the ginger pieces, which you’ve placed at the bottom of a large coffee mug. Let the hot water steep over the ginger by itself for about 2 minutes. The ginger needs longer time for its flavor to fully unleash.
Step 3. Cut a lemon in half.
Step 4: After waiting at least 2 minutes, the ginger and hot water should be cooled down enough that you could pick up the mug with your hands and start to sip it. At that time, squeeze half a lemon into the mug. If you have a hard time with lemon, do at least 1/4 of a lemon, and build yourself up. But 1/2 would be ideal!
Step 5: Give at least one good shake of cayenne pepper right into the tea. If you can handle spice, like me, you can try 2 shakes! Don’t overdo it though.
Step 6: Sweeten with a packet of Stevia. Another choice is xylitol. Stevia is the best, as it has 0 effect on our blood-sugar levels. Above all, do not use Splenda or any other fake sugars!!!
Step 7: Mix with a tea spoon…and you are ready to go! And ready to start giving your immunity a big boost.
Enjoy and let me know how you do with it!
Happy and Healthy Holidays,
Love, Kimberly
Kimberly:
I use cayenne pepper every day almost and I can vouch for its immune-system boosting effects. This post and recipe is awesome. Thank you for posting it.
Cayenne pepper and ginger are two of the greatest health secrets in the world. Cayenne is great for the heart, venous structure and has been clinically proven in separate studies at U.C.L.A. and the University of Nottingham in England to kill cancer cells, causing them to self-terminate in a process known as “apoptosis.”
Great recipe.
GR
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Hi Kimberly!
I have been getting sick and not getting well for weeks now, ending up with shingles, which the doctor said was rare in younger people unless the immune system was low and they are really stressed–I think that this tea is going to be a must drink for me all winter!
I was wondering–I’ve been given antibiotics and antivirals (for the shingles) and I wonder what you think about increasing the amount of probiotics I take each day to balance that out?
I made this and added some turmeric as well, LOVE IT!
I made this tea yesterday and it was great! Have been run down with stress and have started getting sick, so I’ll be sipping these until I’m better!
Hi Kimberly,
I really enjoy your website! I’ve been trying to eat healthier, and your information is great!=)
I have a question tho, I am allergic to citrus fruits. I get coldsores if I eat too much citric acid. I was wondering if there was something else I could substitute for lemons, etc. That would help my body similarily.
Happy and Healthy Holidays to you too!
P.S. I totally love your Piggy mug…..so cute!
Hey Kim! Hope you had a fab Thanksgiving. I make a similar tea, just without the cayenne. Gonna give your version a whirl–it looks great. Oh, and I’m seconding you on NOT shopping on Black Friday. who needs that stress? Well, actually, I did take advantage of your 2 for 1 offer on The Solution, so technically I did shop today. Hee hee! But it was stress-free and from the comfort of my computer
Great, healing beverage!
Love your sweater!
Hi Kimberly,
I am a registered dietitian and I have to say that I very much enjoy your website and posts. I’m very open minded and agree with many of your teachings. Having worked in research, I was trained to be continually learning and open to new research.
I thought you might be interested in this article from the New York Times on osteoporosis and diet (if you haven’t seen it already). It’s right in line with your approach to nutrition and health. It’s interesting how osteoporosis is relatively rare in Asian countries, where they consume far less dairy products. Countries that consume the most meat and animal products actually have higher fracture rates. These scientists propose that eating a more alkaline diet may be best for bone, not to mention other chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure etc. The researchers here are western medicine doctors by the way. Hope you enjoy the article.
Here’s the link.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/health/24brod.html?scp=1&sq=exploring%20a%20low%20acid%20diet%20for%20bone%20health&st=cse
Lauren
Hi Lauren!
Have you seen my interview with Emily Carlson from a few weeks ago?
Thanks so much for visiting. I am so happy to meet open-minded RD’s.
I have read this article, but thank you for forwarding it again. So many people have been sending it to me that I think I will do another blog post on it.
Thanks again and please come visit again!
xx Kimberly
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