Fire cider everyday? Really? Yes, you need this amazing medicine in your daily self-care regimen. Fire Cider is a popular herbal folk remedy created by Rosemary Gladstar back in the 70’s. The tasty combination of vinegar and honey infused with herbs is an especially pleasant and easy way to boost natural health processes, stimulate digestion, and can assist the body in many ways. It aids the processing organs, helps with circulation, blood-pressure, immunity, allergies, blood sugar levels, the list goes on and on. It isn’t a cure-all, but can be included into a great wellness regimen.
Because this is a folk preparation, the ingredients can change from year to year depending on what is in season and growing near you. Being a local food junkie, it is important to me to support the farmer that is right down the road from me or at my local market, is a very sustainable way to support your local community and local economy. You are not contributing to emissions from transporting food across the country and many times from out of the country when you buy local. You are not contributing to Big Agriculture. Yep, that is a real thing. Plus, when you actually get to speak to the farmer that raised your food, you grow closer to your food. I know so many farmers that take such good care of their crops and livestock, happy farms surround me here in the mountains of North Carolina and I bet you have some near you. With all that being said, it is important to me that I consistently try to source local for my ingredients in my fire ciders. Here are a few ways we take in fire cider daily.
- Vinegar is a great extractor of minerals and vitamins. I love to add spring greens to my fire ciders. My favorite wild foods are chickweed, dandelions, cleavers and stinging nettles. So adding these beautiful wild herbs to vinegar gives you a great vitamin boost.
- I love fire cider vinaigrette! I even use herbal infused honeys, a good oil and fire cider to pour over veggies, salad greens and even beans! Delish right? What better way to enjoy your local veggies than with a little bit of “food as medicine” fire cider over them?
- Just recently at a local market, a customer of mine told me she pours fire cider over chickpeas and roast them in the oven. Holy cow! This is delicious! It becomes a super tasty treat!
- I am a believer of bone broth. This amazing brew provides so many benefits to the body. Better gut health, stronger bones, aids in sleep and helps reduce inflammation are just a few benefits of bone broth. By adding herbs and veggies you can create a medicinal brew as well. I use fire cider while the bones are cooking and then add fire cider at the end right before serving. It adds a great flavor and the vinegar also helps to pull minerals from the bones. A perfect pair indeed!
- I have suffered from allergies all my life, but I have noticed in the last few years they have not been near as terrible. I have been much more religious about taking fire cider daily. I typically take my A Heart Beets fire cider because heart disease runs in my family, but around February I start taking my Roots and Shrooms fire cider because it is filled with roots that support the liver. When you suffer from allergies, your first defense is strengthening your liver. I have many customers who rave about how well this particular blend helps with their allergies. I am a firm believer of dandelion root! She is a beautiful healing plant ally that everyone should be taking instead of spraying them out of their yards!
- The winter season brings colds, flu and pneumonia. Fire cider provides a great immune boost and anti-viral properties that helps fight off bugs that can run us down or soothe a sore throat. I love my Queen of Thieves fire cider blend. It is full of garlic,oregano, sage, thyme which are loaded with antioxidants. Plus, being high in anti-bacterial properties, fire cider can help bugs pass us by or shorten our illness. Keep this blend in stock, to ward off illnesses at the beginning!
So, these are a few of the ways we use fire cider daily! Hopefully, this gives you a few easy ways to incorporate fire cider into your life! Bon appetit!