In the last month my husband and I have nearly gone down with colds 4 times. The worst bit is, my husband never takes any medicine and just loves to complain about “having the flu”.

So to get some sort of immunity boost without him realising, I experimented with the honey/ginger/lemon. Basically I’ve added a bit of cinnamon and a 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric into the drink.

And it worked.

It worked with hubs the first time I’ve made it. Seemed too good to be true but hey, result nevertheless.

It worked for me as I woke up with a sore throat and headache. Still sceptical. Maybe it wasn’t THE COLD after all.

It worked just before my travel when I caught something from the colleagues, who, like most of us, went round with their colds and viruses…

Finally, the cinnamon/turmeric/ginger/lemon concoction seemed to have worked yet again on my return – last night after all the travel and non-stop coughs-and-sneezes of the fellow travellers my throat hurt again and a cold-sore was gathering on the itchy nose. So far – so good, no fever, nothing is running, sore throat is gone.

I’ve done some reading on spices, discovered some amazing high blood pressure and insulin resistance benefits and here’s some brief info plus links to the Authority Nutrition with more detail and linked in research papers.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a great antioxidant; it lowers cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood, helps fight inflammation and lowers blood sugar by improving insulin sensitivity, which is great for diabetics!

http://authoritynutrition.com/10-proven-benefits-of-cinnamon/

Turmeric

Turmeric contains Curcumin – a powerful antioxidant, boosting the body’s antioxidant enzymes; it is also very anti-inflammatory, apparently it matches the effectiveness of some anti-inflammatory drugs! Studies show that it can improve brain function, fight Alzheimer’s, reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, relieve arthritis, fight depression.

http://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric/

Ginger

Ginger has great anti-inflammatory properties too; it helps with pain management – studies shown it has similar effect as taking aspirin or ibuprofen! Also ginger helps against nausea: motion sickness, chemotherapy, morning sickness, etc.

http://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-benefits-of-ginger/

Sage

Sage helps to lower blood glucose, triglycerides and cholesterol.

Recent research shows that sage helps improve brain function and memory function in healthy people, and also it can help people with Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266480.php

Garlic

Garlic has many many benefits and has been used for centuries. Apparently athletes in Ancient Greece were given garlic to “enhance performance”, it was also known as aphrodisiac 🙂

Nowadays garlic is used to help fight sickness, starting with that pesky common cold and including cancers. Elements contained in garlic are important for heart health (see 2nd page of the Medical News Today for the findings from studies), it reduces cholesterol and works well to reduce blood pressure!

http://authoritynutrition.com/11-proven-health-benefits-of-garlic/

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/265853.php?page=2