Over The Hill Health Matters

Hello, hello! It’s that time of year again for many of you — flu season. The common cold. Pollen and mould allergies. Please feel free to try my very simple, yet extremely effective, cranberry and ginger tea.

We film people work twenty hour days in all kinds of weather, and cranberry ginger tea keeps us all amazingly healthy and somewhat impervious to the ravages of seasonal colds and ‘flus. In my ten years on film sets there has been much empirical evidence to the efficacy of this drink. And it tastes good. And it’s cheap.

Ginger opens up the bronchials and for many, the sinuses, and is great for the digestive system to boot. Cranberry juice, even the sweetened varieties, is excellent for the kidneys.

A doctor on the CTV news many moons ago, was raving about the brilliance of combining cranberries and ginger. Apparently he sat bolt upright one night, when it dawned on him that if the rest of the body was under attack during a common cold, then the kidneys probably were also. He received funding for an extensive study, and the results were that 100 per cent of the common cold sufferers tested had extremely mild kidney infections also. Thus, he said, give the ginger for the air passages, because it has amazing results, and is an immune system booster, and add cranberry juice to heal the kidneys.

We had been giving our film crews this tea for two years before this doctor corroborated our own less scientific findings. I understand that if you jump up and down on one foot while the other is wrapped around your neck, it works much better. Kidding.

Here is what we do in craft:  Take raw, washed ginger, unpeeled, and chop it like you would a carrot into rounds until the bottom of  your pot, whatever size you choose to use, is completely covered with ginger medallions. Add cold water and fill to three quarters full and bring to full boil. Boil until the water has reduced to half the pot. Add cranberry juice until the pot is anywhere from two thirds full to full.

If you are not big on cranberry juice, you can add other juices to change the taste, but the juice should not be substituted unless you absolutely detest cranberries. Those who are not fans of cranberry often use lemon, and various herbal tea blends such as Bengal Spice are popular additions to the cranberry juice with the film crowd.

When my son was attending university, he took this folksy remedy to his dorm and frat and dished it out when ‘flu season struck. It is very inexpensive, which is great for students on a budget and the aromatherapy alone is quite effective in lifting the spirits! His roommates were very impressed. I hope that you are too. Give it a whirl and let me know what you think.

Pat