The Remedy

This week we're taking a radical departure from our usual content. This week we're talking about flu remedies. Or a particular remedy to be precise.

DISCLAIMER:

1. The following information is based on my personal experience, yours may wary.
2. The remedy is not, not a medicine. If you are really sick, go to the doctor! Especially these days. If you suspect that you may have Covid-19, aka Corona virus, follow the guidelines set forth by your government. Let me repeat: This remedy may help you stave off a cold or get better faster, but it is not a medicine and I am not a doctor. See a doctor if you need to. I take no responsibility for your health. Thank you.

Story time. Back in the mists of time known as the early 2000's my wife’s boss gave her the recipe for this remedy, as my wife was getting the flu and she noticed that my wife was sounding a bit hoarse.

She came home and told me, and we tried it out. This was the original:

Squeeze the juice from ½ lemon. Add 1 crushed clove of garlic. Drink. (Serves 1-2 people)

It tasted pretty heinous, but it actually worked. Crushing garlic releases allicin, which is a powerful antioxidant and also helps reduce inflammations. Combined with the Vitamin C bomb from the lemon, it helps your immune system fight off the cold. But it sure ain't fun going down!

Then, a year ago or so, I was coming down with a cold and the wife went to the store to pick up lemon and garlic. But, to everyone's surprise, they were out of lemons. Being a resourceful woman, she got oranges and limes instead. This new version tasted so much better it was crazy. However, the limes here are pretty expensive, so we went back to lemons, but this time with orange included. Besides, lime has less Vitamin C, so oranges and lemons are preferable anyway. The sweetness from the orange balances out the incredible sourness from the lemon and even makes the raw garlic a bit more palatable. With the increased amount of liquid I have also increased the garlic. So the new recipe looks like this:

Squeeze the juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange. Add 1-3 crushed cloves of garlic depending on their size. Drink. (Serves 2 people)

Then recently, I was reading up on ginger, and how healthy that is. Yes, you can sort of see where this is going, but wait! There's more!

I'm a fan of several cooking shows on Youtube, and some info must have slowly fermented and combined in my brain. Our new recipe is this:

Peel a nub of ginger and grate it. Crush a roughly equal amount of garlic. Put both in a small jar and mix. Pour honey to cover and stir to mix. Add 1 teaspoon of the mix to the juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange. Drink. (Serves 2 people)

This new recipe is amazing! The honey and orange are pleasantly sweet while the garlic and ginger adds a nice heat. Honey and ginger are both very good for you and the mixture seems to stay fresh in the fridge a fairly long time. The honey stops air from getting to the garlic and ginger, and honey is essentially a preservative. Use you own judgment though.

A small warning. Fresh citrus juice goes bad pretty fast, so it's not recommendable that you make more than you can drink immediately. Also, I never take this more than once per day and never more than three days in a row, it's pretty strong stuff and you might want to be nice to your stomach.

I have told several people about this recipe and 95% go “Eeww, sounds nasty. I don't want to”. Yeah it's not cake, but every time in the last almost 20 years that I've felt a cold coming and I haven't taken a dose, I've gotten sick. It works, it really does. These days I chug a bit a couple of times a day just to boost the old immune system army. Again, it's not a medicine or a cure, but it helps. Try it out.

That is that. I hope you are all healthy and that you're careful. We are not out of this yet but it is getting better. Until next time, stay strong and have a great week!