So! I’m pretty pleased (more than pleased) to finally share this recipe on the blog! I’ve been meaning to for…. oh….I don’t know, maybe a year now? Pft, time flies. This little recipe of mine has been a savior for myself (and Alex) more times than I can count— I’ve been using it (as needed) for about five plus years now and it’s been amazing.I’m going to have a few disclaimers in this post, but let me start off with this one: I’m not against modern medicine, I think it has a right and place for many things— but I do believe in doing what you can to avoid getting to that step as often as you can. Luckily, there are a lot of natural ways to do so. This way works for me— really, really, (really!) well. Β Do I think you should say, “screw medicine, I’ve got this recipe!”— errrr no. But if you’ve got that itch and cough in your throat and you feel the inevitable *my body is about to shut down and give out* on me feeling, then I do highly suggest you try this!

You know those old movies or sitcoms where a person throws a bunch of crap in a blender and demands, “here drink this” to a sick or hungover person? Then the sick person hesitantly grabs it, drinks it, gags all over the place, but then feels amazingly better? That’s this. I love the intense-ness of it, but it might be a bit hard to swallow for some, literally. BUT it will give your cold a good kick in the butt if you do it. I’ve handed this to a lethargic and cold fighting Alex numerous amounts of times—- and he always comes back about 20 minutes later asking, “What was in that? I feel awesome.” My response every time: “Tada, I’m magic. You’re welcome”

You’ll need:
1 clove garlic,Β peeledΒ (about 1/2 tsp when grated)
1 thumb size piece of ginger,Β peeledΒ (about 1/2 tsp when grated)
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 – 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
juice of half lemon (or more if desired)
optional:
1 thumb tumeric root, Β peeledΒ (about 1/2 tsp when grated)
water for diluting
2 drops oregano essential oil (please read below before trying*)
tools:
cup and spoon for mixing
How to:
-with zester, finely grate garlic, ginger, and turmeric (if using) into cup. If you don’t have a microplane zester, you can easily use a mortar and pestle, but it will be a bit of a workout.
-add honey and mix
-add lemon juice and apple cider vinegar and mix
-if you’d like, add a bit of water or extra lemon juice to dilute
-chug and karate chop

side note: I have turmeric listed as ‘optional’ only becauseΒ turmericΒ root is not common in our everyday fridge, whileΒ all the other items on the list are our everyday staples. But I would addΒ turmericΒ 100% of the time if I had it in my fridge.


Some food facts and general knowledge:
ginger is an immune booster and digestive aid to help cleanse toxins. As well as anΒ anti-inflammatoryΒ aid.
garlic is an immune booster and containsΒ antioxidants and sulfuric compounds to help fight against bacteria and infection
raw honey (sorry strict vegans), is a wonderful super food packed withΒ antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids. It has both, antibacterial and antiviral properties.
apple cider vinegar helps to detoxify the body.
lemon containsΒ antioxidants and is packed with vitamin C.

And voila! You’re on your way to combating the winter (or any time of the year) sicknesses! You don’t have to be super strict about measurements. This is really just a general guideline of what we use in our home. And luckily, we have all these items in our fridge and pantry on a daily basis— and the good news is—you probably, maybe do too! Especially if you purchased the vinegar to wash your hairΒ πŸ˜‰
Please note: I haven’t mentioned Marlowe in this. It’s not that I don’t give this to her, because I do give her a very watered down, extra honey version of this— but I do recommend beingΒ extraΒ cautious about giving this to little ones. Raw ginger and garlic can be pretty intense on the stomach for anyone, especially small humans with small stomachs. I wouldn’t give it to babies or toddlers in general and just be sure to be cautious with smaller kids. Also, I’m sure you know this, but I’ll say it just in case: it’s recommended to Β NOT give raw honey to children under two.
Also, if you have a weaker stomach yourself, please be cautious and make sure to drink this on a full stomach! And no, coffee doesn’t count as something that fills your stomach.

*I’ve debated back and forth whether I should add oregano essential oil to the list. Here’s why: most oregano essential oil is NOT safe to consume. Please (please!) do not run out to the store, buy oregano oil, and take it without properly reading labels. It is NOT safe.
I’ve added it to the list, because if (and only if) you buy oregano oil that is safe for digestion: it is really, really good for you and for boosting your immunity. Essential oil of oregano is anti-bacterial, antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and an antioxidant to name a few—- so yes, it basically helps with everything. But again, you absolutely need to be sure that the oil you buy is intended for consumption— please ask for help in the store and check labels!
As always, practice caution with home remedies– not just with things on ohdeardrea, but all over the internet. It is the internet after-all! This isn’t intended to cure disease or replace medication— I’m just sharing this loved and often used trick we use in our own home and within my own family!
One shot of this drink and one shot of elderberry syrup and you will practically be a superhero. You can also try this everything tea recipe that is wonderful for… well, everything. It’s similar to this recipe, but not nearly as potent and cold fighting.
Enjoy. Be safe. Be healthy. Fight the bad stuff. Superfood all natural karate chop.

24 Comments

  1. Hi!
    I have three small kids and I have been getting sick every winter since they were born (I do not get much rest either so I guess my inmune system is weak currently).

    Could I have this like once a week as a preventive measure?

    And also…stomach bug land here once they start kindergarden…do you have any remedies for that?

    Thanks πŸ™‚

  2. Just finished my cup now. Oh my gosh…. at first it burns but by the end it is kind of good, call me crazy! I guess I just love garlic. Hoping this works… thanks for the post!!

  3. Hey I tried this at lunch and felt a little better just like ya said! Do you think it'd be ok to do again tonight and tomorrow, as well? Is there a limit?

    • If you're stomach can handle it, you're good! Having too much would maybe be comparable to having too much salad— you can't really have too much salad— right? πŸ™‚ I mean, like any food, you don't want to over do it, but you should be good taking it as needed, and as your stomach can handle. I wouldn't recommend adding the oregano oil each time though! πŸ™‚

  4. I'm not sure if this is a silly question, but do you think this is okay to do if I'm currently breastfeeding?

    • Not silly! I got a few emails about this! In general, its a rule that you shouldn't have anything too spicy with smaller babies. With older babies it tends to be okay, depending on your babies stomach sensitivity level. Marlowe was absolutely okay with me basically over-dosing on garlic (I couldn't eat lentils or brussel sprouts though!), but I do know moms who have struggling babies with just garlic, so it's good to be cautious. Hope that helps! πŸ™‚

  5. Thank you for the recipe. I have some questions though: 1. can i make a small batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days? 2. instead of fresh turmeric, can i use powdered?

    • Hi! I wouldn't keep it for longer than a day! I'm not exactly sure to be quite honest, but I have heard it can make you sick rather quickly if it goes bad. Personally, I don't take my chances with it. Tumeric: totally.

    • Born? Ethnicity? Raised? Not sure what you mean. But I was born in florida. My mom is Colombian my dad is french-canadian.

  6. Hi Andrea! How are you? I will try it for sure because I always get sick during the winter here in ireland. Thank you! I loved it!

  7. I just discovered apple cider vinegar about a month ago (I did #NoPoo September – thanks for the inspiration for that, btw) and will definitely be trying this out as well! I love learning about home remedies like these πŸ™‚ Thanks for sharing!
    ~ Samantha
    samsamcherie.blogspot.com

  8. Do you have any ideas for replacing the honey with something else. (Strict vegan here.) I love the idea of this recipe but would need to swap that out with something else.

    • You could just skip it! But if you're wanting that bit of sweetness to help it down, maybe molasses could be the other healthy alternative?

    • The reason I don't recommend agave is because it doesn't actually add any nutritional value. It is a sweetener replacement for honey and even though I'm not actually against it, it'd probably be more beneficial for the body to just skip it.

  9. I've had a drink similar to this when I was younger! My grandmother had a penchant for anything natural/organic, so she makes most things from scratch. This post made me miss her. πŸ™

    Jae
    SCATTERBRAIN

    • aww <3<3 grandmas are the best. My grandma on my dads side was the opposite, everything was canned or boxed– but still, the best. It's nice to remember all the good things πŸ™‚

    • I managed a health food store maybe 7-8 (??) years ago and whenever I would start to feel an itch I would take a shot of straight pressed ginger juice— I also noticed a few people asking for pressed garlic in their drinks– and that just never seemed like something I'd want in an entire drink– but it did seem like a brilliant cold fighting idea so I starting working on other things I could add and eventually got to this πŸ™‚ I only stared with the fresh turmeric this year– but everything else evolved before that πŸ™‚

    • Just asking because I got the idea from a Japanese lady about 5 years ago. She said to gargle garlic for a cold, or drink honey with lemon tea, and I just mixed them together and made garlic, ginger, honey tea. A pretty rare combination so I was impressed! I posted the recipe on my blog but your pictures are prettier. Turmeric is a nice addition.

    • oh very cool! A tea would be good too. I have a mellow tea version on the blog too. The reason why I recommend just doing this as a shot vs. in tea is because garlic is a lot more potent when raw, unheated, and undiluted by water. Of course it will still be incredibly beneficial in any form though! Garlic is wonderful.