what to drink to start your day
How do you start your day?
Lemon ginger water has been a mainstay of my morning routine for years. I drink this concoction first thing every morning, 365 days a year. When I travel I'm always devising ways to make taking it with me easier. So, what's so great about it?
The lemon facilitates digestion and elimination, a bonus in the morning! The acid of the lemon stimulates the liver, oxygenates the body, and activates our natural digestive enzymes. Ginger supports metabolism and agni. The water (unlike in it’s diuretic coffee form) hydrates a body that’s been on a water fast for the entire span of your sleep hours. Hydration, detox, digestion and elimination. This is one beverage that packs a lot of punch.
Try it for two weeks, even you coffee drinkers. My bet is that this will be your new first-beverage-of-the-morning of choice.
Ingredients
½ organic lemon, juice squeezed
6-8 slices fresh, peeled ginger
16oz hot water
Add hot water to lemon, and ginger. Drink as your first bevvie of the day, and notice your hydration, digestion, and elimination. cheers!
Variations
if you’re working with a lot of Pitta, or in the heat of summer you can use lime juice. Of the two citrus, lemon is heating and lime is cooling.
optional if you’re working on lipid hydration: an iddy, biddy bit of coconut oil or ghee (I put the tines of a fork in the oil, and then in the water)
Tips & Tricks
I keep my used ginger in my cup, covered with an inch or so of water in the fridge and rebrew for a few days before composting it.
I also squeeze my citrus juice all at once into glass and store in the fridge to save time.
Love your lemon ginger water? Know someone who could benefit from this Ayurvedic daily practice? Share this blog with them!
Yours in radical wellness,
Kara
