Ginger,mint,lime, honey to open channels

With the cold wet weather on our doorstep, here is a suggestion from Dr Marianne Teitelbaum. A hot tea to open up channels and stoke our digestive fire.  This is most important as the cold weather and winds aggravate Vata and shrink our shrotas and nadis

Warming ginger mint lime tea! Start out the day with warm tea instead of a channel-clogging cold smoothie. Warm ignites the digestive fire which is very dull in the morning. The cold smoothie is putting out this flame as it is trying to ignite after a long night's sleep.

Lime is better to take than lemon as it turns alkaline quickly once entering the digestive tract and it stimulates the flow of bile out of the gallbladder more than lemon.

I have a whole chapter devoted to the gallbladder in my upcoming book, but I will tell you this: the liver dumps all the toxins into the bile for eventual removal into your intestines. Cold thickens the bile turning it into a sludge thus preventing its release. The toxins just sit there then reabsorbed back into your body. Which means your toxins keep building up in your body instead of being released through the bowel movement.

Here's the recipe: boil 2 cups spring water with a few slices of fresh ginger root for five minutes. Turn off the heat and add a bunch of chopped fresh mint. Let steep 10 more minutes. Add 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice and drizzle in raw honey to taste. 

Enjoy!