So for the past few days I've been suffering from a sore throat, blocked nose, and other general symptoms of the winter nights drawing in. When I'm ill I always do my hardest to steer clear of medicines until I absolutely need them. Whilst I'm not a far-out advocate of herbal remedies and wacky crazy stuff that's supposed to make you feel 1,000 times better, I'm always keen to find a way of curing myself naturally (using home made methods) if I can before I head for the medicine cabinet.
This week I discovered a new recipe for curing my sore throat courtesy of my other half, Trish. It's basically a natural Lemsip - and with Trish being Irish, she says if it's not this your Mother gives you, it'll be the brandy! So I thought it best to try the non-alcohol based treatment first!
Ingredients and method
Luckily the recipe is really simple. Per hot drink, all you do is cut 1 lemon into quarters, squeeze out the juice into a mug as well as throwing the leftover quarters in as well. Add 5-6 cloves then fill the mug with boiling water. This will taste quite bitter, so gradually add sugar (tasting whilst doing so) to make the drink sweet enough and to your liking. Believe it or not, that's it - drink and enjoy the lovely soothing affect it has on your throat.
It only took a couple natural Lemisps over 3-4 days and my throat was back to normal – Hurrah to my first discovery for a natural alternative to medicine! Did you know that a Lemsip original contains 650mg Paracetamol, 10mg Phenylephrine and hydrochloride? Makes you think doesn't it? How many unpronounceable things do we consume that we don't actually need? Good think I wasn't taking a Lemsip Max All In One (containing 1000mg Paracetamol, 12.2mg Phenylephrine hydrochloride, 200mg Guaifenesin)!
I think I digressed a little there with the ingredients in the leading cold and flu remedy brand, but I hope some of you will give this recipe a go - especially as the cold weather creeps in. My advice - get your lemons in bulk and go easy on the sugar because once you put too much in, you're stuck with it. And if you've still not grown out of not liking bits in your orange juice and yogurts (like me), you make want to sift the lemon pips out and grind the cloves into the drink.
Enjoy!
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