Healing Food

I've been fighting this strange strand of the cold virus all week long. First stage gave me a fever, body aches, a stuffy nose, and a bad headache. Then came the runny nose. Then the fever was gone, but the cold travelled down my chest causing these massive attacks of bad coughs. Now, the coughs have waned but has left me this horrible condition - I'VE LOST MY VOICE! Maybe its the cold. Maybe the fact that coughing my throat off for 3 days compromised my voice. Maybe it's a mean virus who hates my singing voice! I've tried everything over the past week; pills, hot drink mixes, effervescence, cough losenges, aspirin, allergy medicines. Nothing has completely worked.

Tonight, I sat on the choir loft feeling voiceless and useless and very frustrated. As if by divine revelation (I know, cheesy, but you know what, I'll try anything at this point), I made up my mind to turn to the other thing that's never disappointed me, FOOD. After choir, I head to the store to pick up a huge ginger root, a lemon, some honey and off home I went.

Ginger, the "universal medicine". Even back in ancient India it has been known to treat many an illness including the flu, asthma and aches among other things. Lemon, aside from it's high content of Vitamin C, has been known to reduce effects of colds like sinus problems, bronchitis and asthma. So, in the kitchen, i began to concoct my hope of a medicine. I combined some water and ginger and boiled them together for a good 15 min until the water turned golden and the aroma of ginger was sharp instantly clearing my nasal passages. In a mug, i squeezed in some honey and in went a wedge of lemon. I poured the boiling ginger infused water and sipped.

Oh boy, did it taste good. Hot and spicy like drinking chili but ginger flavored. The honey calmed the bitterness of the ginger, but the ginger's bite remained strong and potent. Food can be so powerful it amazes me every day. Coming up, the result of this "medicinal" concoction. Does food really heal? Stay tuned...