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If you’ve been with me for any length of time, you probably know that foods can be used for healing — but what about beverages? While you’re probably aware that some drinks are NOT good for your healing (alcohol, coffee, soda pop), you may not know that there are some supremely delicious options that will support your health and healing just as much as your meal plan!

Hot Lemon Water

This is based on Ayurvedic practices to help balance and detoxify your body. The warm water (it should be purified and lukewarm, not boiling) warms up your body while the lemon juice helps flush toxins from your body, helps you release excess water (diuretic), boosts your immune system, balances your body’s pH levels because lemons are highly alkalizing, clears up your skin with antioxidants, and even aids weight loss by curbing hunger pains and cravings.

I start my day off first thing with a thermos of warm lemon water. You’ll remember in my other article that I’m lazy in the morning though, right? So, what’s a girl to do when she needs her agua but doesn’t want to get out of bed? She prepares it the evening before. Before I go to bed, I warm some water, squeeze my lemon (and often add sliced ginger) and store this kickstart concoction in a non-leaching thermos …and voila! When I wake up in the morning, it’s right there, next to my bedside, ready for me to sip and still warm.

Just a reminder: you should never microwave your water in any of these recipes. A great way to keep from “burning” or overboiling your water (which causes inflammation) is to use an automatic electric tea pot with temperature control. I have this nifty one right by my bed now.

Bone Broth

It’s not the new wonder drink just because hipsters have discovered it! Haha. 🙂 Bone broth is an essential part of my healing regimen because it contains gelatin — yep! The stuff in Jell-o! Gelatin is essential for healing a leaky gut, and let’s face it, leaky gut is one of the main reasons we’re all here. The gelatin actually sort of spackles over the micro tears in the lining of your gut that allow food particles to enter the bloodstream. Bone broth also contains collagen, which is good for your hair, nails, and skin, and lots of protein, which can help you get enough for your body without chowing down on a heaping plate of meat at every meal!

My breakfast always consists of a chicken and vegetable soup or cup of bone broth. Sound weird? Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it! I have a very simple recipe for bone broth right here so that you can make your own at home. (P.S. Don’t be fooled by the cartons of “stock” in the grocery store; they won’t have the same benefits as homemade bone broth.)

Parsley Tea

Not just for garnish, parsley has been used as a medicinal herb for centuries. The biggest benefits of parsley tea are that it is an active detoxifier, helping support your detox pathways and keep your body clear of toxins, and also a powerful anti-inflammatory. It’s also been used for centuries to help women regulate their hormones and menstrual cycle — which is also why pregnant women should NOT drink it, as it is a uterine stimulant. There’s also mounting evidence that parsley tea can help with that most annoying of problems: adult acne.

Around 8am, I have a cup of parsley tea as my mid-morning refreshment.

Here’s the recipe I use from Your Cup of Tea:
Place approximately 1/4 cup of fresh parsley in an infusion basket. Put the basket into a cup or tea pot and pour 1 cup of filtered boiling water over it. Allow to steep for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove the basket to remove the parsley. You may want to sweeten with honey and a fresh bit of lemon juice to enhance the flavor. Enjoy!

Golden Milk

Another delicious detoxifier is golden milk. It’s a mixture of nut milk, tumeric, and honey, and it’s warming and delicious. It also helps regulate your metabolism, it’s anti-inflammatory, boosts immunity, and is great for your digestive health.

This rich, creamy concoction I drink for my morning snack. I use homemade hemp milk or homemade nut milk. They are just too simple to make and much healthier as they don’t contain fillers, binders or BPA from traditional containers.

This is my FAVORITE Golden Milk Recipe.

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Gingered Golden Milk

Start the morning sweetly, with a grounding mug of warm Golden Milk. This recipe curbs cravings, balances blood sugar, and reduces inflammation. The warming ginger boosts digestion and tames tummy troubles. This drink is golden indeed!
Prep Time2 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time7 minutes
Keyword: ginger, turmeric
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • ginger, 1/2 inch piece sliced
  • 16 oz Native Forest coconut milk 1 can
  • 8 oz water
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • ⅛ tsp black pepper freshly ground
  • ½ tsp cinnamon ground
  • ⅛ tsp cardamom ground
  • 1 tsp raw honey

Instructions

  • Place sliced ginger, coconut milk and water in a pot.
  • Add turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, and cardamom, then stir.
  • Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Pour into two mugs.
  • Stir 1/2 tsp of honey into each mug.
  • Sip and enjoy!

Notes

By Thyroid Loving Care

You can also make a pre-made turmeric paste to save time. I like this recipe from Healthy Holistic Living:

Step 1: Turmeric Paste

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper
1/2 cup of filtered water

Mix all ingredients in a small a small saucepan and mix well. Turn the heat to medium high and stir constantly until the mixture is a thick paste. This does not take long so don’t walk away from the pan.

Let this mixture cool and then keep it in a small jar in the fridge.

Green Juice

I love my green juice recipe because of all the amazing healthful ingredients: cucumbers fight inflammation and are antioxidant-rich; celery has more than a dozen antioxidants as well as folate and anti-inflammatories; Swiss chard can help regulate digestion and blood sugar levels; and ginger is a powerful antibiotic and digestive aid. Parsley and lemon you already know about!

Lunch time! With my lunch, I drink my green juice either made fresh during lunch (the benefit of working from home) or from a batch we made the evening before.

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5 from 1 vote

Fresh-Pressed Morning Green Juice

Prep Time7 minutes
Cook Time3 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Keyword: apples, cucumbers, ginger, juice, parsley
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Juicer or Blender

Ingredients

  • 3 cucumbers
  • 6-7 celery stalks
  • 6-8 leaves of chard
  • 1 handful parsley
  • 4-5 apples
  • 1-3 inch piece of fresh ginger* no need to peel
  • 1-2 lemons for juice

Instructions

  • Hand squeeze lemon juice into the juice container.
  • Add all of the rest of the fruits and vegetables into juicer.
  • Juice away & voila!
  • Makes 2-3 days worth of juice for the family.

Notes

*Ginger adds a lovely warmth and spice to the juice. To make it less spicy, eliminate ginger or only add a 1-inch piece.
By Thyroid Loving Care

 

Energy Smoothie

At 3pm, it’s time to pick up the little guy and we enjoy this afternoon treat, which packs another strong punch from turmeric, ginger, and lemon juice. We both feel like we’re getting a treat! Here’s the recipe for my Tropical Turmeric Energy Smoothie — which is soooo much better for you than most after school snacks!

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5 from 1 vote

Energy Boosting Tropical Turmeric Smoothie

This is one of our very favorite recipes for a mood boost that carries you away to the tropics!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Total Time10 minutes
Course: Snack
Keyword: energy, smoothie, turmeric
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 2 cups organic chard or spinach (optional)
  • 2 cups organic coconut milk, almond milk or hemp milk
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen organic pineapple
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen organic mango
  • juice of ½ organic lemon
  • ½ tbsp fresh, grated organic ginger or to taste
  • 1 tsp ground organic, non-irradiated turmeric
  • ¼ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Throw all the ingredients in a blender and voila!
  • *Use at least one frozen fruit to make smoothie cold.

Notes

*Adding the chard or spinach makes this smoothie a real powerhouse but note, it will turn the smoothie green.
By Thyroid Loving Care

Ginger Tea

As I mentioned above, ginger is a powerful digestive aid. You may have heard the remedy to eat ginger or drink ginger tea to help with morning sickness or motion sickness, but it’s good for much more than that. Ginger has a calming effect on the digestive system, it’s true, making it an excellent choice for people who suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome or similar. It also helps to stimulate your digestive system, increasing stomach acid production and helping to move things through your digestive tract at an appropriate pace. It can also help with weight loss by helping you feel full and by helping your body absorb the nutrients you eat — so you’re not always craving more.

While making dinner, I revv up my digestive fire with a mug of fresh ginger tea. Here’s my recipe: slice ½ – 1 inch of fresh whole ginger root (you can keep skin on but rinse before slicing), put in a mug of hot water and steep for 5 minutes before enjoying.

Water

That’s right! Good old fashioned water. I drink water throughout the day and have a nice full glass about an hour before bed.

Water is vital to all of your body’s processes, but in particular, water helps move your bowels, detoxify your body, energize your muscles, and control your appetite. Pretty amazing, right?

Rather than buying cases of bottled water (bad for you and the planet) I suggest getting a BPA-free refillable water bottle and installing a water filter on your tap.

So, bottoms up! Add one or more of these beverages (in ADDITION to plenty of water!) to your daily routine and see how easy it is to drink to your health!

Did you know?

In addition to articles on thyroid health, nutrition and lifestyle, I provide a ton of resources on healing your thyroid, including:

  • Our totally free Thyroid Healing Type Assessment, Report and Coaching Sessions
  • My blog, where I talk about what’s worked best for me and my clients, as well as the latest research and resources I come across.  You can subscribe to get new blog posts delivered right to your email by signing up on the righthand side of the page.
  • My book, Healing Hashimoto’s Naturally — part memoir, part instruction manual for how I personally healed my Hashimoto’s disease.
  • My exclusive free 6 Thyroid Myths That Can Keep You From Healing workshop — with info on the comprehensive Thyroid Fix in 6 program, which walks you through, step-by-step, the exact actions you need to take to heal your thyroid and get your life back! We’ve seen hundreds of participants in the Thyroid Fix in 6 avoid, decrease, or even eliminate the need need for thyroid medications.
  • The incredible Your Best Thyroid Life Video Bundle, in which I personally invited 27 of the world’s top health experts to share their best tips for living with and healing thyroid disease.

Remember, no matter what diagnosis you’re facing, you always have a choice. Build your healing plan with that in mind, and you can heal and have a normal life again!

Jen Wittman is a Certified Holistic Health Expert, Chef, Author & Vitality Coach, who teaches women how to reverse thyroid and autoimmune conditions naturally. She’s helped hundreds of women decrease (or even eliminate) their thyroid medications and has helped others stay off thyroid medication entirely.

Through her free Thyroid Healing Type Assessment, Jen teaches easy and simple steps to thyroid healing that can fit into your busy day. She also provides print outs to bring to your next doctor’s appointment so you can get the support and respect you deserve.