Ayurvedic Drink With Ginger, Lemon and Honey
veryone wants to lose weight. Even the thinnest, tiniest friends of mine would talk about losing their teeny-tiny flab around their tummy. The most common topic I hear in dinner parties is about what to eat and what not to eat to lose weight. Imagine talking about dieting with delicious food on the table. I have friends who fall on both the extreme category of eating – the ones who eat everything and enjoy the gastronomic indulgence and others who talk about fiber, protein and carbs in a serving. I have been there and have heard them share their gyan for the entire evening. I can call myself the chameleon, well just with regard to food. If I hang out with girls who love deep fried, high sugar rush food, I wouldn’t mind sharing their meal and infact I would eat to my heart’s content and if I happen to dine with the “health conscious” bunch, I munch on salad, grilled salmon or brown rice with them. Either way I enjoy their company and for the reputation I have with my husband, I jump on and off the diet plan. With my rules, its OK to fall off the band wagon and it’s totally OK to indulge.
I am not complaining or cribbing but all I am saying is that “how to lose weight” is such a frequent topic at any party. If everyone knew the “magic mantra”, we would all be as chic and sleek like a model and the bitter fact is nobody knows what really works to get the weight loss going in the right direction.
But one thing which seems to work for me is our good old Ayurvedic drink made with ginger,lemon and honey. It was my mom who got me into the habit of drinking it. She would crush and simmer ginger with water and mix honey and lemon juice with it and that’s my health drink to treat cold and flu. When I became plump and chubby like pumpkin at teenage, my mom gave this drink every morning. She read in some Ayurvedic magazine that this concoction helps to lose weight as the ginger will rev-up your metabolism. There are no scientific papers to support this finding but over the years, I have seen “living” examples of people whose health has improved because of this drink. Like in any dietary approach, it might work for few and may not for many.
That’s the new me after losing a total of 26 pounds in the last 1 year. To those of you who are new to my blog, I have been blogging about my journey with South beach diet. I reached a plateau and scale wasn’t going down after I lost close to 22 pounds. Then I started drinking ginger-honey-lemon concoction everyday and did a 4 mile hike three Saturdays and watched not to eat deep fried or high sugar foods. And VOILA! I lost 4 pounds in 6 weeks. I feel that the drink and little workout helped me kick start the weightloss.
When we had stomach upset, my grandmother would make us chew ginger with rock salt. Traditionally, ginger was used to treat gastrointestinal problems. The volatile oil in ginger can help to normalize the fat metabolism, helps in toxic disposal, treats cold & flu and also prevents cancer. Regular use of ginger can help to speed up your metabolism. Apart from improving metabolism, ginger inhibits bad cholesterol buildup in the heart and liver. It directs the body to slow down the cholesterol absorption by stimulating the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids.
Honey is an excellent natural sugar source. Yes! there is sugar in it but it also contains minerals and vitamins. Let me tell you what happens when we consume raw table sugar. Imagine you ate a piece of cake with tons of sugar in it. To digest the sugar, the vitamins and minerals present in the body are used to get the digestion going. Inturn, the body runs out of sufficient vitamins and minerals. These nutrients play a key role to dissolve fat and cholesterol. If they are absent, the fats and cholesterol are going to stay back in your body and hence we gain weight when we consume sugary food (ofcourse their calorie content also accounts for the weight gain). On the contrary, honey supplies your body with sufficient vitamins and minerals and helps to lose weight. Honey helps to purify blood and helps to get rid of the fat deposited in the body. Honey with lemon juice and ginger is the most sought after treatment method for obesity. According to Ayurveda, it sets the process going without the loss of energy and appetite. You can drink this concoction after a elaborate oily meal, it helps to detox your body.
This drink was even mentioned in one of Dr.Oz’s episode that covered solutions for weigthloss. As I have mentioned it earlier, this drink might work for some and may not work for some. I am glad it did wonders for me. I have been drinking this for the last 8 weeks and on a general note, I feel so light and I don’t feel too bulky after a greasy meal.I am sharing my story here and I am not promoting this drink as a weightloss miracle remedy. Apart from helping to lose weight, this Ayurvedic drink is good for overall well being. You can try and test the drink for yourself.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger crushed
- ½ lemon juice
- 1 tbsp honey
- 6 oz water
Instructions
- Bring ginger and water to a rolling boil for 3-5 minutes. Switch off the flame and let it cool down a bit.
- Mix in lemon juice and honey. Stir and drink on a empty stomach.Additional notes
- Remember you cann’t take honey when following South beach diet. This drink is something you can add to your low-glycemic diet plan.
- Weightloss will happen if you couple this drink with healthy eating habit and regular exercise.
