This herbal tea hack has helped me be more consistent with my tea drinking. Which in turn has helped some of my symptoms lessen in severity. Yay!
I definitely consider myself a latecomer to the herbal tea party. I never really understood the draw to drink a mug full of watered down herbs – weird. But then, my health changed. Virtually over night. After having my 3rd child (I have 4 now) my body just crashed. It stopped working. It overreacted to EVERYTHING. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t even drink water without getting sick. My list of symptoms was literally 5 pages long. From swelling organs, to food and chemical allergies, to depression and anxiety I felt totally helpless and so lost.
Anyway, I can go into more detail about that later, but basically because my health drastically changed, I set out on a path to find answers on how to heal my body. The answer was food. Real food. And herbs fell into this category. Herbs offer so many healing benefits and for this reason, they became a part of my healing journey.
This hack came about because I love adding ginger and lemon juice to my herbal tea, but I hated that every night when I wanted to drink it, I had to wash the lemon, cut the lemon, juice the lemon, peel the ginger, slice the ginger…you get the idea. Now, you may be thinking “how lazy can you possibly be Jill?!” Not lazy. Just tired. Oh so tired. I enjoy drinking my tea in the evenings after I get the kids to bed. And as any mom will tell you – that’s an exhausting task! So, by the end of the day, I was finding myself too tired to make myself a cup of tea. And I really noticed a difference when I stopped drinking it.
This brings me to my brilliant herbal tea hack! I spend 5 minutes two to three times a month, juicing lemons and slicing ginger. I place 2-3 slices of ginger in each compartment of my ice cube tray. Then I fill it with lemon juice. Once they’re frozen I place the cubes into an airtight container for storage. This way, when I’m ready to make tea, all I have to do is grab a lemon juice cube and place it in the mug with my tea infuser and hot water. It makes the process so simple and therefore I do it more often! I try to stay away from traditional tea bags because they’re made with plastic. But in a pinch, or while traveling, Traditional Medicinals is my favorite brand.
My favorite herbal tea is a blend of lemon balm, lemon juice, and fresh ginger. The lemon juice brightens up the flavor of the herbs, helps to balance the pH level in the stomach, is high in vitamin C which is great for your skin, and can help with digestion. The ginger is a great addition because of it’s anti-inflammatory properties – and I just love the taste. Lemon balm has MANY health benefits. I’ve listed some of my favorites below:
BENEFITS OF LEMON BALM
– Detoxifying (aids the liver, kidneys and spleen in the removal of toxins)
– High in trace minerals
– Soothes nerves
– Reduces inflammation
– Decreases stress and anxiety
– Aids in digestion
– Restful Sleep
The Best Herbal Tea Hack (and my favorite tea)
Ingredients
- 8 lemons
- Fresh ginger root cut into slices
- lemon zest optional
Instructions
- Juice the lemons and put the liquid into a liquid measuring cup.
- Peel the ginger and slice it into 1/8 inch slices.
- Place 2-3 slices of ginger in each compartment of the ice cube tray.
- Poor the lemon juice into each compartment of the ice tray, covering the ginger.
- Add some lemon zest to each compartment of the ice tray (optional)
- Freeze overnight
- Release the ice cubes and store in the freezer in an airtight container.
Notes
