Norman Allan
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I've been drinking this wonderful tea (with some broadly acting herbs that could be considered "panaceas") and when I ran out of ginger the other day and thought, I can substitute burdock, I then though, I should share this. Some of the ingredients are a little exotic, but easily found in Toronto. That's why I'm calling it...

T.O. Panacea Tea

It's brewed with Hawthorn, Turmeric, Ginger, Burdock, Haritaki, and Jaggery...
Hawthorn for the heart; Turmeric against cancer, Ginger for circulation and the gut, Burdock to detox, Haritaki for everything, Jaggery as a "healthy" sweetener.

 
 



Hawthorn

Hawthorn is the
great cardiac tonic.
Also full of vitamin C,
and tasty.

Best found in
Chinese herb shops.

 

Jaggery

Jaggery (or Gur) is East Indian whole sugar cane which several people have assured me is "healthy", and a great source of iron.

(If you are diabetic you might substitute stevia {or licorice - but there are some cautions with licorice})

Make sure there is no Sulphite
in the Jaggery!

 
 


Haritaki / Harde / Arura

I add a little Haritaki powder. Haritaki is a panacea in India. I do not know enough about it, yet, to tell you much more. In the Tibetan Medicine Buddha rituals one intones how "even the slightest touch from your medicine herb (arura) cools the fires of hell turning them into cool lotus ponds".
It is quite bitter, though. Be sparing.

Harde is hard to find. Try little India (Kohinoor Foods : Gerrard Street East), or Herbie's Herbs.

 

Ginger

Slice the ginger thin.

Ginger is a mild circulatory tonic,
and a "strong" carminative (tonic for digestion, for the gut).

My ex said, "Take ginger tea for fatigue, to wake you up," and that is where all this started.

And of course you can find ginger in (almost) any produce store.

 

Turmeric

caution: Tee tells me tumeric is a very "hot" (though not at all spicy) and in ayeveda it is used in moderate and balanced with other spices/medicine
Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, supposedly has a strong anticancer action. (Wikipedia also mentions arthritis and diabetes.)

Find it in an East Indian produce shop.

Slice it thin.

 

Burdock

Once you slice (or grate) burdock it starts to oxidize (goes brown) within minutes, so before you slice the burdock add just boiled water to what you have prepared so far and start to steep. Add the burdock as soon as it is sliced.

 

 

 

Burdock is a liver tonic (a hepatic) and thus used as a detox herb. It is also a lymphatic.
It also has anticancer qualities. (It is the first ingredient of a famous cancer formula called Essiac)

It is a root vegetable in Korea and Japan, and you can find it in the Korean supermarket at Bloor and Manning, where it is called Gobu

I've written more about burdock (click here)

 

 

enjoy, in
good health
 
 
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