I sit here with the flu and an itchy nose and moms always say, you need to drink plenty of liquids to help it run it’s coarse sooner rather than later. I’m not a coffee drinker (odd espresso here and there) or black tea drinker and cola’s of any sort I can’t stomach and anyway they are all avoids for O’s so I will only allocate these few lines in my blog to them all. I do not drink with my meals which to on lookers may seam strange (don’t you get thirsty when you eat?). Fast food restaurants of all kinds must hate me because of my no soft drink ordering rule which undermines their profit making goals (you really just paying for the ice they put in the drink) I will drink wine when dining with company and usually limit myself to a few glasses. I love the odd beer especially when I am thirsty. Green tea has been a mainstay in my diet for over 2 years and I limit myself to a good 10oz cup a day. Prune, cherry and fresh pineapple and fresh grapefruit are the fruit juices (all preferably organic) of choice for me. Water…quite refreshing though tasteless…is best taken on an empty stomach. Considering it’s winter right now in my neck of the woods and I’m sick, I’d much prefer hot drinks, and considering too much green tea makes me a bit edgy, I have put myself on a quest to find some suitable drinks to fill some of this hot drink void. Herbal teas are the only answer.

I picked up three varieties last week, Fenugreek, roasted Dandelion root and Sarsaparilla.

Fenugreek is one of the oldest cultivated crops. The ancient Egyptians used it as food and incense. Benedictine monks introduced the plant to central Europe where it was widely established by the sixteenth century. Roasted Dandelion root has a full body, nutty flavor that the Europeans call dandelion coffee. Lastly, Sarsaparilla, is the root of a woody vine found in Mexico, Jamaica and Central America. Its name is derived from the Spanish for shrub and little vine. When anthropologists began coming to the new world, they found Sarsaparilla in heavy use among Amazon natives. It later gained large-scale popularity in the US in the 1800’s (I recall as a youth watching cowboy movies and hearing some of the locals in the saloons ordering the stuff…maybe it was fermented into an alcohol? Always wondered what the hell they were ordering). The taste of this tea later prompted the creation of “root beer’.

After partaking in all three, I would say the tastes get a bit of getting used to but I can say that they are all quite soothing and refreshing. Medicinally they are all known cancer fighting agents for O’s (see Dr D’s book on cancer). I would recommend them for all blood types except Fenugreek (an avoid for B’s and AB’s). Please make sure you buy the organic kind so you can enjoy these teas the way nature intended them. Also, good water is essential to brewing a great cup of tea; please use spring or filtered water to ensure the best results. You should also preheat your teapot or cup with hot water so the water used for the tea remains at a constant temperature while steeping. Lastly water temperature is important to release the natural ingredients, heat your water till it’s briskly boiling. The juice of an organic lemon and sweetness of organic honey make good compliments.

It’s 4pm…time for a cup of tea…my new habit for 2005...popularized by the British with an accompaniment of biscuits which I will pass because I still have my lectins to worry about.