Down With the Sickness Part Deux

Posted on by Katie

For the last 8 days I’ve been battling a terrible enemy. Ok…maybe I’m a big baby. I don’t take sickness well because I am never sick so I don’t know how to deal. However, being forced to sound like an octogenarian chain smoker AND a receptionist is kind of frustrating. I had to learn to deal. I know, you guys, my life is rough.

My dealings have mainly surrounded this baby beaut.

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Yeah, little tiny teapot. Oh, how I love it. That’s two cups of piping hot tea to smooth out the gravel sound coming from my mouth. As you can see there is a little strainer that sits in the water to steep the tea, and I also add a lemon wedge to it. Pour it over some honey and it really does the trick. I almost sound normal.

Knock off Dayquil and cough drops (thank the world for cough drops) have really tamped out the rest of the symptoms. I do know that I couldn’t have have made it to work without my delicious, reviving tea.

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Do you have a customary hot beverage that heals you (body or soul)?

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Down With the Sickness

Posted on by Katie

A few years ago my boyfriend told me his list of “Feel Better Tools.” They are as such:

  1. Take a shower
  2. Go to the bathroom. Ahem.
  3. Take a nap

 

I guess he and his friend came up with this list in one of their deeper conversations as teenagers. When he told me this list as if he was handing me a bag of gold, I realized that the list is spot on. I never quite understood why but a good hot shower has relieved many a malady in my life. The whole subject came to mind today because I’ve become progressively more ill as the day has gone on. I woke up with a sore throat and hoarseness. It was nearly unbearable, but I just went on vacation and I can not afford to miss work if I can stand up straight.

When I got to work, my boss asked me if I was going to yoga tonight and I replied, “No, I’ve taken ill.” Ok, perhaps I wasn’t that dramatic, but the “Oh no, I must take care of you” look popped into her eyes and in mere minutes she was back with tea, cough drops, and cold medicine from the supply closet. What an angel. Seriously best boss I’ve ever had. She told me not to worry, if I needed to go home that would be fine. I, however, carried on despite my illness.

At first, the cold medicine did nothing. Then I had a cough drop. Those things slapped my sore throat in the face. I went through the 3 I had pretty quickly and realized that I needed to keep ingesting them if I wanted their continued benefits. Uh oh. So I got some tea steeping in my baby teapot.

The heat really soothes, but I don’t drink it fast enough to finish it while it’s hot. At this point I feel miserable. I can’t take anymore medicine until at least 8pm and I’m dying over here. So I’m going to take a stab at some other feel better tools.

  1. Eat. (unless nauseous, eating can be quite beneficial)
  2. Comfy clothes (just because)
  3. Maybe more tea.

 

I got this devil illness from my boyfriend (who gets sick on vacation?!?!) and I know he had a fever, but thank goodness I don’t! I get sick maybe once a  year and I’m a total baby about it. Hence my quest for “Feel Better Tools.”

How are you feeling? Do you have any Feel Better Tools? Tell me!

Tea Time

Posted on by Katie

I have recently been hearing more and more about Kombucha tea. I have relatives that love it and some brew their own at home. I keep hearing from them that it is so great so I decided to do a little research and see the benefits/risks for myself. Important note: I have not ingested a significant amount and can not claim any benefits or bad reactions. I simply did some reading.

Apparently, this is a very hot topic! People are pretty heated about whether or not they think Kombucha is a safe thing to drink. Here, I read a rebuttle, point for point, against “mainstream media’s” take on Kombucha. The only issue I have with the arguments made here is that Kombucha Kamp seemed to have demonized western medicine. Western medicine is a science. The writer on this website dismisses deaths that were suspected, but not proven to be caused by Kombucha. I don’t think this is fair. They dismiss the opinions of people who have literally spent their lives studying medicine but claim the tea is healthy based on their own opinions, not proof.

The deaths were linked to extremely high levels of lactic acid in close proximity to consuming Kombucha, the same toxin your muscles release when they are tired and don’t have enough oxygen. It causes that burning feeling when you run too hard. Kombucha tea is claimed to be a detoxifying tea and I don’t disagree. From what I’ve read, no one disagrees that point. It stands to reason that the deaths linked to Kombucha were cause by Kombucha doing the job it is brewed for. I think it was releasing the toxin lactic acid, just too much too fast. This can cause heart failure, which obviously can lead to death.

I also read this American Cancer Society article that demonizes Kombucha tea as a snake oil that will kill you. Once again, I disagree. Advocates for Kombucha tea do not claim it to be a “cure-all” as described in this article. As far as I can tell, they claim only that it will detoxify your body and help boost your immune system by making sure your body can absorb nutrients well. I think this is accurate.

As with anything, be careful. Too much of anything is a bad thing. I think the most balanced thoughts on Kombucha tea I found in this article online. This M.D. suggests moderation when drinking Kombucha tea until the day there is a conclusive human study done. I like that he took the time to do his own research and didn’t rely on fear mongering to get his point across. Both in this article and the one I read on KombuchaKamp.com suggested starting out slow and to make sure to brew it in a safe container, which is great advice. Downing a gallon of it everyday from the start would release a terrible amount of toxins. Brewing it in a container that contains lead is just plain stupid.

Conclusion: Go ahead a drink it. Just only drink a little bit at first and for a while. Brewing it at home should be done carefully and hygenically. If you reap some benefits, great.

What do you think? Have you ever tried Kombucha?