Thursday, November 13, 2014

Easy "Gingerale" Tea

Hello readers! Happy Thursday!

Today, my tummy is not happy. I am in week two of my liver and gallbladder flush. If you are interested in doing it yourself, I will link the original here.  It works very, very well.

I have had gallbladder issues for the last five years. My doctor recommended getting my gallbladder taken out, but after doing some research, I decided that I wanted to take a more natural approach. It hasn't been an easy road --truly because I never made any lifestyle changes to go along with this decision. I would cleanse and then turn around and eat fast food the next week. That doesn't work. I had to hit a "rock bottom" before I realized that I was the problem.

That rock bottom was last month, when I was standing in the shower at 2:00 in the morning crying out to God to make the pain go away and begging my husband to take me to the hospital. That was a rough night. But, after the pain finally stopped, I decided that day that I was going to completely give up fast food and was going to start living a more healthy lifestyle. I had no idea that the health of your gallbladder and the liver had so much to do with your overall health, including fertility which has been an issue for us, your energy levels, even your allergies.

Last week, I did my first flush, and got rid of at least 100 stones of all sizes. Josh actually did it with me and he also got rid of a few small ones that we had no idea he even had. Today I have gotten rid of at least 200-300 stones, all small ones. The flush should be done until the stones are the size of sand, of course with some recover time in between. The more you do the flush the deeper into the gallbladder and liver you will cleanse. Since I have done it two weeks in a row, I am planning to give my body a couple weeks to rest before doing it again. My goal is to get my gallbladder and liver completely cleaned out and not let it get backed up again by eating healthy, exercising, and losing weight. It's going to take some work, but I am determined.

I really love this cleanse and definitely recommend it to anyone having issues with their gallbladder and liver.  I have felt awesome this week. I have had a lot more energy. I don't feel sick when I eat. I can tell I am able to focus a little more throughout the day.  Plus, like five people at work have asked if I have lost weight, so that is an added benefit.

The one thing I will say if you are thinking about doing this cleanse is that the instructions say not to eat after 2:00pm the day you start the flush...DO NOT EAT AFTER 2:00PM THE DAY YOU START THE FLUSH. We followed this rule last week, and felt awesome the second day. I did not follow this rule yesterday and I feel like crap today...hence the gingerale tea.

I am so nauseous today, I cannot even tell you.  I ate my last meal around 1:00pm yesterday, but then I got hungry around 4:00pm and decided to make some chips and guacamole for a snack since I didn't start the flush until 10:00pm, but ya, it was a horrible idea.

So back to the tea. This is my go to upset tummy drink. I love ginger, and especially gingerale, but there is just so much sugar in it that I feel it kind of counteracts the benefits. I have a homemade gingerale recipe, that maybe I'll post eventually. It tastes exactly like gingerale, but it takes like an hour to make. I just don't have time for that most days, so this has been my thing.

It is super easy to make. All you need is a green tea bag, a ginger tea bag, and some sparkling water...I like to use lemon. Fill your cup with just enough hot water to cover the tea bags and let them steep. Depending on what type of tea your ginger tea is will determine how long to steep your tea for: black tea takes one minute, green tea takes three minutes, and white tea takes five minutes. If you need a little bit of sweetness, you can add some honey here with the warm water. Once your tea is ready, you can add your sparkling water and stir it all together.

Then BAM!, you have gingerale tea with all the benefits of gingerale minus the sugar. Super, super easy.

You can do this with any ginger tea. My favorite tea to make this with is the Organic Holly Jolly Ginger Aid tea from Traditional Medicinals. It is a holiday tea, so you should be able to start finding it at Sprouts and Whole Foods. I like to get a bunch when it goes on sale at the end of the holiday season. Yogi also has a lemon ginger tea that works really well with this too.

If you have a little more time, you can even slice up some ginger and lemon and add it to a pot of boiling water to make a fresh tea! I did that the other day when Josh wasn't feeling well. That is probably the best way to get all the benefits, but like I said, will take a little more time.

So that is all folks! Josh is working tonight until midnight, and then he and I are going to go set up my new desk at work...they had new cubicles installed today, so I have to move all my stuff over.

I have a few more fun posts scheduled, so I will see you soon!!