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Step away from the selection box and reboot your body with Susan Jane White’s recipes for revitalising drinks

Festive ginger and thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

"With its cargo of antioxidants and vitamin C, expect dull skin to be serviced over the festive holidays"

Ginger & thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

Festive ginger and thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

"With its cargo of antioxidants and vitamin C, expect dull skin to be serviced over the festive holidays"

Ginger & thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

Festive ginger and thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

Susan Jane White

December 11 2021 04:00 PM

If your body feels like a rusted trampoline that’s been dealing with 20 bouncing brats, it’s time to step away from the selection box. You need one of these firecracker drinks to kickstart those indolent limbs.

Quite aside from the nutritional yah-yah, they taste damned delicious and can reboot our mainframe faster than an evening with Bradley Cooper.

Thyme has long been used as a powerful and natural antiseptic. Combined with honey, this ginger & thyme tea soothes like a smoochy kiss, while simultaneously using your tonsils as a punch bag — thank you, ginger.

By all means choose chicory root syrup in place of honey to boost your gut health. Yes, chicory root syrup comes from a vegetable, but is, in fact, outlandishly tasty while low in glycemic load. Chicory’s inulin content and complex sugars break down very slowly in the body. Good news for diabetics.

Much of this syrup’s inulin will convert to fructooligosaccharides — doctor-speak for prebiotics.

Fructooligosaccharides make for happy bowels by feeding the probiotics or good bacteria in our digestive tracts.

So it’s goodbye laxatives, hello light-footed fairy.

Our second choice is this pineapple slushie, which tastes fresh, cool and zippy. With its cargo of antioxidants and vitamin C, expect dull skin to be serviced over the festive holidays. Vitamin C is also celebrated for its fancy immune ripostes. Score!

But that’s not all. The anti-inflammatory talents of chilli and turmeric promise to have your toes and your tonsils gurgling once again. Happy Christmas.

Ginger & thyme tea. Photo: Susan Jane White

Ginger & Thyme Tea

Makes over 500ml
You will need:
50g fresh ginger
8g (a handful) of fresh thyme
750ml water
Touch of raw honey or chicory root syrup, to sweeten (optional)

1 Peel the skin from your ginger (if your ginger is organic, leave it on, and simply clean any dirt from the skin). Slice the ginger and pop it into a saucepan with the fresh thyme and the water.

2 Bring to a boil then reduce to a very gentle simmer for 20 minutes.

3 Strain the tea into a glass jar, and store it in the fridge for up to three days. You can compost the used ginger and thyme. My family and I take shots of this elixir to soothe smouldering throats. It’s also fantastic to pour into our favourite mug and top with hot water and honey or a teeny bit of chicory root syrup.

"With its cargo of antioxidants and vitamin C, expect dull skin to be serviced over the festive holidays"

Pineapple Slushie

Serves 1-2
You will need:
2 thick slices of pineapple
Handful of ice cubes
Juice of 1 lime
1 small finger turmeric, grated
Pinch of cayenne chilli pepper or 1 slice of fresh chilli

1 Cut off the skin and remove the core of the pineapple slices. You can compost these. Add the pineapple flesh to a powerful blender or nutribullet.

2 Add the ice cubes, the lime juice, the grated turmeric, the pinch of cayenne chilli pepper or the slice of fresh chilli, whichever you’re using. I like to start with a little turmeric and chilli, then I taste and add more if required. Blast until icy and smooth.

3 Pour the slushie into a tall glass (or divide between two) and sip your aches away. Bamboo or paper milkshake straws can be a groovy addition; crushed ice can be challenging for regular straws. You can find reusable bamboo straws for as little as €1 on reuzi.ie.

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Step away from the selection box and reboot your body with Susan Jane White’s recipes for revitalising drinks

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Ginger & Thyme Tea

Pineapple Slushie

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