AS THE TEMPERATURE COOLS, IT’S THE PERFECT TIME TO BOOST YOUR MICROBIOME WITH THis DETOX TEA
(Did you know that 70% of your immune system is in your gut?)
Prepare detox tea in a large thermos, and sip it throughout the day. This tea tastes great and is super healing for our gut.
THE POWER OF DETOX TEA
Temperature – Think of how you clean things - hot water always works better than cold.
Similarly, heat opens the channels inside the body for more efficient waste removal. The body is like a vast network of roads - your major arteries and veins and the channels of lymph that flow just below your skin. These channels are responsible for moving blood and lymph, distributing nutrients to organs, and removing waste from the body. Often these channels get clogged like a freeway pileup. The simple warmth of the tea is a vasodilator opening blood vessels and lymph vessels that widen the roads and clear the way.
Think about what happens when you put your hands in cold water. Your fingers turn white because cold reduces blood flow to the area. When you drink cold liquids, the same thing happens to your digestive system. Blood vessels constrict and blood flows out of the area. You want blood to flow to your digestive tract to facilitate healthy and efficient digestion. This is what warm liquids accomplish.
Spices – cumin, coriander and fennel are three of the most powerful spices for stimulating digestion, increasing metabolism, and waking up a sluggish gut.
· Cumin includes potent antioxidants and fiber and stimulates the enzymes in the body that support strong digestion. Studies have shown that cumin also soothes inflamed mucous membranes in the digestive tract.
· Coriander is a digestive aid, and its properties are enhanced by heat. It relieves gas, indigestion and spasms and reduces inflammation. Coriander has also been shown to inhibit the joint swelling associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
· Fennel relaxes the smooth muscle in the digestive tract. It’s also good for relieving excess gas and indigestion and encouraging the body to burn fat. Fennel also tends to suppress excessive appetite and is particularly good at moving lymph out of the body.
Place one teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and fennel in a loose-leaf paper teabag* and let steep in a thermos of hot water for 15-20 minutes. Remove the bag and sip the tea throughout the day, finishing before 6pm. OR SAVE TIME by adding a half cup each of the spices (while you’re at it, throw in a handful of clover) and seal in a glass jar. Fill a single serving loose leaf tea strainer and steep in the thermos for the same amount of time.
*make sure the teabags you purchase are chlorine free and biodegradable. If using paper tea bags, make about 20 at a time and store them in a glass jar in my cabinet.