Last month I was struck down by a flu virus of some sort which was rather unpleasant. I hadn’t been this ill in years, so it must have felt worse than it actually was. I turned to every natural remedy under the winter sun- raw garlic, ginger, elderberry, lots of zinc, vitamin C, hot lemon, fennel tea with honey, plus mucous releasing capsules from my doctor and lots of green and orange foods for magnesium, chlorophyll, vitamin A, fibre and complex carbohydrates to give me some strength. SLEEP was one of my favourite things to do too. A week on and I am still fighting off the last few bits but it’s nearly gone, which is fabulous, I cannot wait to get back to normal again !
When experimenting with my remedy repertoire I tried out some ginger shots, well I added some turmeric and fresh orange juice for to give my liver some love too. It tastes pretty amazing , so fresh and so good , a real life force giver- I made quite a few batches and I used the pulp to make some pretty damn hot and delicious ginger & turmeric biscuits . I always add the orange juice fresh as and when I am having my shots, otherwise the vitamin C content would just disappear.
Gingers immune boosting qualities lie in the fact that it helps you sweat, which comes at no surprise given the heat you will find in those shots- it’s unreal ! Ginger is also rich in anti-inflammatory gingerols , in combination with equally anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich turmeric, both give some extra strength to the immune system to help fight those free radicals that are being produced in times of stress. The black pepper , or more precisely pepperine in the pepper helps to increase bio availability of the turmeric, which means more of it is absorbed and can be used by the body. Adding a little bit of flaxeed oil increases absorption even more.
All you need is a juicer, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, organic oranges, lemons and a drop of flax seed oil and dash of raw honey if you would like to extra antimicrobial sweetness added.
Ingredients:-ideally organic- makes 10-15 shots
300g fresh ginger roots – washed and roughly chopped
200g fresh turmeric roots – washed
Juice of 5 medium sized oranges
Alternative fruit for juicing that work really well are apples and pears
2-3 lemons cut into slices
raw honey to taste ( optional)
A pinch of freshly ground pepper to work the turmeric magic
Flaxseed oil
Method:
You will need a juicer for this recipe, ideally a masticating one but a normal juicer will do an equally fine job. I like to keep the ginger and turmeric separate, so I can mix the shots to my liking and also use the juices to make hot drinks. All you need to do is to make the ginger juice first, by just feeding the pieces into the juicer and once that is done fill the juice in a sterilised glass bottle. Then move on to the turmeric, repeating the same process. If juicing other fruit, they can now be fed into to the juicer. Pear juice works extremely well with the ginger and turmeric flavour. The shots are very potent, so please be careful when mixing them, best to just start with orange juice and then add a little bit of ginger and turmeric and top with a pinch of freshly ground pepper and a drop of flaxeed oil. If you are already a pro, you can just have the ginger (3/4) and turmeric shots (1/4) straight without diluting it, just add a squeeze of lemon juice, pinch of pepper and a drop of flaxseed oil. It will give you a lot of heat and it’s good to go back to bed for a little sweat afterwards or if you are super well and ready to conquer the day, you’ll be all energised up! 🙂
Enjoy your shot cold first thing in the morning if you prefer a hot drink in the morning, you can extend the shot to make a lovely hot ginger, turmeric, a pinch of pepper and raw honey tea.
As already mentioned, I of course didn’t throw away the ginger and turmeric pulp, I made some delicious and rather moreish ginger& turmeric biscuits dipped in dark organic chocolate instead. So good, click here for the recipe.
Enjoy, keep warm and stay well.
xxx