Achoo! Ugh. It’s that season again. Everyone is snuggling up to their cough syrup and tissue boxes, musicians are isolating themselves in a struggling attempt to not get sick and everyone is cursing at the sh*t weather. You could be like me and randomly come down with acute tonsillitis, or you just have the common cold. Whatever the case may be, I live and breathe by the philosophy that tea fixes all illnesses. Over the years (and many sicknesses), I have gathered a master list of the best teas for certain situations.
They are all homeopathic and should not be used in place of any medications you are prescribed. If you have an serious issue, please see a health care provider.
1. Ginger Tea
If your stomach is upset and you have fever like symptoms with no fever, make yourself a hot cup of ginger tea. There is a huge list of its benefits from opening inflamed airways to even managing your body’s glucose levels. The tea I suggest is Yogi Ginger Tea.
2. Licorice Tea
Licorice, much like ginger, is a natural stomach ache remedy. It has also been passed along centuries as being able to cure heartburn, leaky gut, adrenal fatigue and even menstrual cramps. If you find yourself unable to be comfortable while dealing with any of the aforementioned (I hope not all at the same time), you could seriously benefit from a steaming cup of licorice tea. The tea I suggest is Stash Herbal Licorice Tea.
3. Throat Coat
This is my heaven sent. As a singer, this has saved many performances for me. Traditional Medicinals has custom made this tea to have a mixture of beneficial ingredients such as slippery elm bark, marshmallow root, wild cherry bark, fennel fruit, orange peel and lastly, the famous licorice root. All of these combine to make your throat nice and slick which in turn rids of that nasty phlegm building up. The tea I suggest is Traditional Medicinals Throat Coat Tea.
4. Bravissimo
I learned of this tea upon beginning my training as an opera singer. This brew has a rich history with the opera business. Having a mix of chamomile to soothe your nerves, goji berries to lubricate your vocal cords, licorice root to relax your muscles and orange peel to make it adhere to your throat, it is the perfect tea to get rid of any vocal discomfort you may have. The tea I suggest is DAVIDsTEA Bravissimo! Tea.
5. Breathe Easy
Also made by Traditional Medicinals, this tea works more with the asthmatic side of cough and cold season. If you have a hack that won’t go away, make a nice steaming cup of Breathe Easy and feel the traditional Chinese recipe of 11 unique herbs soothe your throat. The tea I suggest is Traditional Medicinals Breathe Easy Tea.
6. Peppermint
With Christmas around the corner, I guarantee you’ll be drinking plenty of this tasty root in your day to day life. However, if you isolate it from the chocolate you’ll find the benefits can be reaped even more so. Peppermint naturally has fever reducing qualities and has been used for centuries as a cure for gastrointestinal problems. The tea I suggest is Twinings Pure Peppermint Herbal Tea.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be chugging some tea and using copious amounts of hand sanitizer.