How to Use Ginger to Treat a Cold
Drinking tea is one of the oldest home remedies for treating colds. If you want to prevent a cold or relieve the symptoms of an existing cold, ginger tea may provide an effective solution.Things You'll Need
- Medium-sized piece of ginger root
Instructions
Boil about 4 cups of water in a medium-sized saucepan or teakettle on your stove top. Make sure the teakettle has a large opening so you can add ginger to the water while it boils.
Place a medium-sized piece of ginger root on your cutting board. Peel the ginger's skin with regular vegetable peeler. You also can use a paring to peel the ginger.
Use the blade of the knife to scrape the surface of the ginger, peeling away the skin. The blade should be sharp enough to remove the skin with a gentle motion. Do not worry about using enough pressure, as the skin should come off easily.
Slice the peeled ginger into small pieces. You will be straining the tea before you drink it, so pieces the size of small coins should be fine.
Add the ginger pieces to the boiling water. Cover the container and lower the heat to between low and medium. Allow the water to simmer for about 15 minutes.
Turn off the heat on the stove and pour the tea through a strainer into individual cups. The strainer will catch any of the remaining pieces of ginger, which you may want to eat after they have cooled. Use honey or lemon as a natural sweetener for your ginger tea.