an apple a day

Last week, Melvin wrote:

you should do a piece on ginger tea. the ginger bounce rooibos at the coffee-house is particularly excellent. my friend rachel told me one time to drink it with an lemon wedge and some cayenne pepper. will you please tell me what that’s all about, aside from being far more delicious than it sounds?

Melvin, the combination you described sounds like the perfect antidote (other than avgolemono, of course) to the common winter cold. Let’s break it down by each of the excellent ingredients:

1. Rooibos. This caffeine-free, brilliantly-colored red tea comes from a legume bush in South Africa. It’s got a ton of antioxidants — so many, in fact, that some researchers believe it may help prevent allergies and even cancer. Read more about it in this Men’s Health article, which I may or may not have written.
2. Ginger. Another powerful antioxidant, ginger has many widely-known health benefits, but Preventive Medicine Blog touched on some of them last year: ginger is often used to treat upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, headaches and - bingo! - the common cold.
3. Lemon. An excellent source of Vitamin C, lemons can help boost the immune system to fight off what’s ailing you.
4. Cayenne pepper. Oh, sweet sweet cayenne pepper. Need I remind you of this epic blog post? As I discovered firsthand that day, capsaicin, a compound found in chilies and a prime ingredient in cayenne pepper, cuts off the neurotransmitters in the brain that cause you to feel headache pain, according to a study that Men’s Health wrote about. Perfect for those pesky cold-related headaches.

Melvin, it sounds like your friend Rachel knows what she’s talking about!