Ginger Lemon Honey Cold and Flu Tonic
This ginger lemon honey drink is fantastic for soothing a sore throat, is fantastic natural remedy if you have a cold, and can give you comfort if you have the flu.
I arrived home to LA after visiting a friend in Ojai, and had a severe allergic reaction to the pollen. I had a sore throat that invited an aggressive frog suffering from ADD into my throat! This pesky little beast wouldn’t stop scratching and tap dancing on my vocal cords, until I lost my voice and was coughing up green slime that would offend even the most seasoned doctor. I find myself being a very good listener this week.
This ginger lemon honey tonic has been a soothing magician. You can drink this warm or cold all year round to combat a restless warrior, or just as a delicious treat. Thankfully, this drink left my froggy friend over-refreshed. He has heavy feet and is now sleeping.
So I offer this easy ginger lemon honey tonic to all of my Aussie friends facing a harsh cold and flu season. As the infamous Melbourne wind blew in with gusto, I left many of my besties with colds as Melbournians strapped in for the bitter Winter chill. This drink is a quick, easy cold remedy.
Lemons are loaded with Vitamin C and have incredible antibacterial and alkalizing properties that fight infections. Lemon and ginger increase perspiration which helps combat the fevers associated with colds.
Raw local honey has natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral properties and is made by bees that have pollinated on your local plants to combat air-borne allergies and soothes sore throats. Use warm water and heat the honey as little as possible. That way, you’ll preserve the phytonutrients and enzymes that are so easily destroyed with heat. Once heated beyond 100 degrees fahrenheit honey becomes acidic and loses many of its healthy benefits. If you’re vegan, take the edge off the tartness with some liquid stevia. Then, tweak the ginger to taste.
For added benefit, throw in the cayenne pepper to heat the body and stimulate the lymphatic system to clear toxins. Without the cayenne, this drink is a gentle refreshing drink.
If you are bogged with the frogs, give this ginger lemon honey tonic a go. It’s a s’blended soothing saver.
Other Immune-Boosting Drinks
Immunity Juice in a Blender
Immune-Boosting Green Juice
Immune-Boosting Carrot Orange Ginger Juice
Immune-Boosting Carrot Clementine Juice
Ginger Zinger Citrus Juice
Let me know what you think of this ginger lemon honey cold and flu tonic in the comments!
Your feedback is important, and it helps me decide which recipes to post next for you.
Comments 49
I made this last night in order to help ward off an upper resp infection/sore throat/cough and let hubby try it, as he was feeling crummy too. Today I took the leftovers to work with me to sip on, and hubby calls and says “I’m going home to drink more of the lemon stuff.” Long story short, I’ll be making more tonight. 🙂 As a variation – I used Chestnut blossom honey (v.dark) and it was very good.
Hey Courtney,
I LOVE dark chestnut blossom honey. YUMMO!
After 3 weeks of trying to kill the back trotters of the flu I was put onto your Lemon tonic by a good friend. Within 2 days I feel the best I have in what feels like forever and slept through the night without “grunting”. You are my new official idol Piggy. Thank you so much.
Olive and Liz
I am so pleased you are enjoying this drink.
It is so comforting and really does help. Oink!
Such a comforting warming drink, even when your not sick, just to keep the nasties away. I love it 🙂
Yes, I agree. This is so comforting.
I downed the entire thing before I read that it cant be heated more than 40 degrees. juggling a baby and dirty dishes ,…I let it get too hot.. :'( I need to get better. out of lemons now, out of luck.
You can absolutely heat this mixture more if you like, and it is fine. I just prefer not to to preserve all of the amazing live enzymes and goodness in the raw local honey as it helps with allergies etc.
Would this be ok while pregnant?
I am not a health care professional, but I don’t see why not? It is just lemon, honey, and ginger. It is SO comforting. Always check with your doctor, but it should be fine.
Ginger is not recommended while pregnant
Yes, that is often the case. Thankyou for sharing Poly.
Pleasure. Enjoy 🙂
This drink really works. My mom had been sick for quite a while with the “super cold” that’s been going around. I made her this drink for 3 days and she said she felt noticeably better. She wants to keep drinking it bc of how great it makes her feel. Great recipe!
Oh, I LOVE hearing that. Yes, I have been drinking this for YEARS and swear by it. SO happy that you have found it useful. Thankyou so much for taking the time to share your experience. Happy New Year.
Taste great!!! Enjoyed so much…but I didn’t realize I was allergic to ginger…my face has a rash all over it ;(
Oh No!!! So sorry to hear that. I hope you are feeling better now. Just so you know, this drink tastes fabulous with wonderful health benefits without the ginger. Actually in the warmer months, it is actually preferable to omit the ginger, as it is a very heating food.
I have a question. How does this recipe only make 2 glasses when it calls for 3 cups of water, plus the other stuff? Just curious?
Angie, 1 measuring cup only fills about 1/2 an 8-ounce glass. Sorry if it is confusing. So, the mixture when blended up fills about 2 standard glasses.
Hmmmm, here in Canada, 1 measuring cup = 8 ounces, not 4 ounces. That’s why I was confused.
Angie, Please accept my profound apologies. I had terrible jet-lag when I posted this comment, and it appears brain freeze when I wrote this post! Yes, you are correct. 1 cup = 8 ounces. I work off 16-ounce glasses. So, this mixture makes two 16-ounce glasses. I apologize for any confusion. I have also amended the post. Thankyou SO much for bringing this to my attention.
Thank Goodness…I thought I was going crazy! LOL Thanks for clearing it up for me. By the way, I made this recipe up and it was awesome! I want to make it again. And it DID make two 16-ounce glasses!!! 0:-)
I’m am new to Ginger. I do have a tube of “fresh” ginger that I used for a salad dressing recipe. Is this ok to use? Thanks.
Fresh is really best for this recipe to get the full benefits. However, if that is all you have, then you can of course enjoy this drink with that. It is best if it doesn’t contain any additives or sugars etc.
@Angie – I am so pleased you enjoyed this recipe, and that it made the specified amount. You ROCK!
Ya know I bet this would be good on general principals for a person such as me that has horrible icky allergies. Think I’ll be drinking one of these at nite to clear the mucus. Thanks!! If this works I owe you for a Dr visit huh?!? 😉
LOL! Yes, this tonic is great for allergies and for colds. It is also just YUMMY!
So wonderful and effective! Thank you. I hate relying on OTC meds for colds, so once I feel a scratchy throat or runny nose, I mix this up, take a little zinc, and with in a day or 2 I’m back to my old self. Thank you for sharing…. And it delicious too 😉
Oh, you are so welcome. I am so pleased you find it useful. It is so simple and so effective. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
I’m on my second helping of this today as the littles have brought home the back to school ickies.. I’m alternating your tonic and my homemade elderberry syrup. I’m hoping to have this kicked by in the morning.
Thanks so much for posting this! I found you through Pinterest!!
Wonderful! I am so glad we connected through pinterest and your are enjoying this blend. LOVE Elderberry blends too.
i heard from a nurse that if i get coughing i should stay away from lemon, orange, things with acid citric?
Kim, you should do whatever your health care professional tells you. Every body is different and responds differently. Lemon is acid out of the body, but alkaline once digested because of the mineral salts. I like it for colds. I don’t drink orange juice (which has a much higher natural sugar content) but I do like lemons. But, do what feels right for you and what your doctor/nurse tells you.
I made this using pomegranate honey.
Oh YUM! My mouth is watering just thinking about that blend. Thanks for sharing.
Would I need to grate the ginger, or could I just throw a chunk in the vita mix with everything else?
You can absolutely just throw a piece of ginger into your Vitamix. I only list it grated to get an accurate measurement for people and for those without high speed blenders. Enjoy
This tonic is a keeper! Thank you so much–it is a great tasting, comforting drink.
Yes, I agree. This one is a wonderful staple.
I’ve never been able to boast on recovering from a cold in 24 hours or so. Now I can, thanks to this recipe. If we could inject this stuff i’m sure it would only take a few hours to work 😉 Thank you for sharing! Recommending to all. It’s a keeper!
Oh…..that is awesome! Yes, I have been drinking this for years and it is so effective. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
I have made this for my husband who has the flu. Do I store the leftover in the fridge or on the counter in a sealed jar? He can only handle about a cup at a time, but I plan to have him drink it 3 times/ day. Thank you.
Sorry for my delayed response when your hubby was sick. I hope it made him feel better. Next time, store it in the fridge until you need it.
Problem solved! 🙂
Online i found a nearby store selling american measure cups 🙂
Awesome!!!
Seing all your lovely recepies makes me frustrated 🙂
‘Cause i live in Sweden and we measure everything in deciliters and liters. Too tired now to try and translate the recepy tonight 🙂
At work my boss works with a bad cold so we all are getting really sick.
Tomorrow is another day för math 🙂
Thanks for the recepy. I hope it will ease my cold 🙂
Oh, I am so sorry. I am Australian and am used to working with metric measurements, too. I have metric conversions in my books and app. I need to do it here, too. If you use metric cups and spoons in this recipe it works great!
Hi! I’m taking 1000mg vitamin C + zink (Redoxon) for sore throat and fever. Can I also drink blended vitamin-C-rich-veges & fruits? I’m concerned about vitamin C toxicity
Vitamin C is water soluble, so if you stay really hydrated and drink plenty of fluids, you should be fine. Having said that, I am not a doctor and not familiar with your health history. Please double check with your doctor.