Healing Ingredients and Benefits

All the ingredients have health benefits which I have described briefly below with the main nutritional benefits and some of the conditions they can help with.

Lemon Juice

Lemon water (or herbal tea) is the best way to hydrate, purify and revitalise your body every morning before eating or drinking anything else. It reverses sluggish fatty livers, cleans the kidneys, spleen, thyroid and gallbladder. It also purifies the lymphatic system.

A daily cup of lemon juice will wake up your tissues and cells so that they can carry nutrients and compounds to where they are most needed more efficiently. Lemon juice is a fantastic source of absorbable vitamin C, it is highly mineralised and loaded with calcium so it's good for your teeth and kills any bacteria that causes tooth decay.

Lemon or Grapefruit Rind (frozen if possible)

The peel of lemon contains more nutrients than the juice together with compounds that fight against many diseases. The best way to get maximum benefits is to freeze them. You can do this whole and grate onto your food or into your smoothies, or (as I do) cut the remaining lemon peel from a juiced lemon into small squares and freeze them to add to your herbal tea.

Frozen lemon peel contains essential compounds that boost the immune system, normalise cholesterol levels and prevent cancer development. They are rich in nutrients like vitamins A, B6, C and E, iron, zinc, potassium, fibre and protein and also contain flavonoids and limonoids which strengthen the cells and fight free radicals.

Ginger

Ginger contains a bioactive called Gingerol which is a natural component of ginger root. This supports gastrointestinal motility which is the rate at which food exits the stomach and continues along the digestive system. Ginger is known to soothe an upset stomach and it speeds up digestion and prevents food lingering too long in the gut. Gingerol contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. which boost immunity with antimicrobial and antifungal properties.

Ginger is known to exert a variety of powerful therapeutic and preventive effects. It has been used for thousands of years for the treatment of hundreds of ailments from colds to cancer. A few thin slices in your first herbal tea of the day can be highly beneficial. 

Raw Honey

Raw Honey is naturally collected honey hasn't been pasteurised (heated to high temperature), processed or micro-filtered (filtered under high pressure through a micro-filter to remove small particles like pollen). I buy my Raw Honey and Propolis Tincture from Raw Artisan Honey because it tastes so delicious and is produced by independent beekeepers who filter their honey only with a coarse filter to remove large particles like beeswax.

Raw Propolis

Bees make Propolis by gathering resin from cone-producing evergreen trees. They blend the resin with wax flakes and pollen then take it back to the hive to patch holes, seal cracks and build panels in the hive. This antiseptic barrier protects the hive from contamination and external invaders.

Used for thousands of years by folk medicine practitioners, Propolis has a wide range of antibacterial, antifungal and anti-viral properties used to prevent respiratory tract infections, common cold symptoms and middle ear infections. The key here is prevention with 10 drops in my lemon cleansing tea every morning has permanently removed my hay fever.

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Lemon Verbena

Lemon Verbena is a powerful medicinal herb containing a high concentration of antioxidant compounds, including verbascoside, nerol, geraniol, and citral. Traditionally used to make as a soothing tea to aid digestion and to alleviate colds, flu and break a fever, Lemon Verbena can also be made into an ointment or a poultice to disinfect wounds and speed up healing, and to relieve joint pain caused by inflammation.

Lemon Balm

This beautifully abundant herb with a soft lemon flavour looks like mint and grows just as well in a large pot topped up with plenty of water. Considered a heal-all by naturopaths due to being high in trace minerals such as boron, manganese, copper, chromium, molybdenum, selenium and iron.It is a B12 conserving herb which means it monitors your stores of this vitamin and keeps your body from using it all up.

The gentle cleansing properties of this herb reduces sensitivity in the gut and digestive organs which helps to improve sleep, reduce anxiousness and counteract histamine reactions.

Thyme

This powerful medicinal and potent anti-bug herb destroys pathogens such as the flu, enteroviruses and noroviruses and pathogens that may have crossed the blood-brain barrier or spinal cord to cause neurological problems. It also helps to remove bacterial and fungal infections with a high vitamin C content for increased immunity, potassium for healthy cells and manganese for bone development and blood health.

Red Clover

Red clover produces wonderfully brightly coloured flowers which contain many nutrients, including calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine, zinc and vitamin C and A, and some B vitamins. They also provide a rich source of isoflavones which are compounds that act as phytoestrogens - plant chemicals similar to the female hormone estgrogen.

Red Clover is used in herbal medicine as a blood cleanser, for balancing estrogen levels, to treat whooping cough, and to soothe skin inflammation such as eczema. It is also used as part of anti-cancer herbal preparations due to the isoflavones being found to potentially stop cancer cells from growing and killing cancer cells in test tubes.

Nettles

The nettle leaf is an effective antiflammatory herb that revives the organs with healing phytochemicals and alkaloids. Rich with bone-building and bone-protecting herbs such as silica, the nettle leaf has a further 40 trace minerals which means it can be used as a pain reliever and cleansing agent for a host of infections, skin conditions and hormone imbalances.

Nettle tea in particular supports the kidneys, helps to reduce inflammations and alleviate skin conditions. It is also a rich source of iron and other beneficial minerals which may help anaemia with the vitamin C helping the body to absorb the iron it needs. Due to being rich in cholorophyl, nettle leaves help in converting sunlight into energy which makes it idea for building up the blood.

Dandelions

Every single part of this miraculous plant full of healthy acids and healing alkaloids is a powerful spring cleaner for our bodies in Spring and any time of year. Each part of the plant has a varying degree of bitterness and this very feature lends its restorative properties.

Raw or braised or added to stews, the leaves purify the blood; the stems are the second bitterest part of the plant providing powerful cleaning action for the spleen, liver and brain; the root is the bitterest which forces the organs to purge on the deepest level for an intensified purification. 

My favourite is picking fresh Dandelion flowers and steeping them in cold filtered water overnight to release their minerals ready for a nutritious cleanse and boost in the morning.

I hope you enjoy this simple (or deluxe) cleansing herbal tea. It is best served first thing with thyme, dandelion flowers, dandelion leaves or nettles, or just before bedtime as a relaxing end-of-day cleanse with the addition of Lemon Balm and/or Lemon Verbena.

First published on the Spiral Leaf  on 3 May 2022.