Chinese Food Health gives you the basic approaches on how to nourish and preserve health in the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

What?  To have a boiling hot Cola?  To be specific, it is a Hot Cola With Ginger And Lemon.  Believe it or not, it is a common drink that you can find on the menu of almost all Hong-Kong style bistros.

You wonder about why those HongKongers love to have hot soda.  Don’t be surprised by the answers—it not only is very tasty, it also is a remedy for common cold.  Okay, now your wonder has turned into confusion….  Why does Cola possess such function and has been understated?

Well, it is because the main cure here is ginger; not Cola.  According to The Divine Farmer’s Herb-Root Classic first compiled around 206 B.C.E., ginger is pungent in taste and relates to lungs, spleen, and stomach.  It can promote circulation of blood, facilitate sweating, dispel cold, stop vomiting, disperse phlegm, and cease cough, which is very effective in relieving common cold symptoms including sneezing, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, muscle aches, shivering, and coughing.

In fact, Chinese have been drinking Ginger Tea With Brown Sugar (brown sugar contains certain minerals, most notably calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron versus white sugar contains none of these) for good health and preventing cold.

So, how about the version of Hot Cola With Ginger And Lemon?  Obviously, it is an evolvement of Ginger Tea With Brown Sugar by replacing the brown sugar with syrupy liquid.  Although the syrup does not have the minerals that brown sugar has, Cola, its active component, caffeine, is shown to be capable of improving mood and mental performance during respiratory infections.  And for the lemon, the vitamin C in it is effective in boosting the immune system by encouraging the body to produce more white blood cells that fight cold viruses.  Also, its antibacterial property helps make cold less toxic which can shorten the length of a cold.

So, next time when you get the first sign of sneeze, sniffle, or dry throat and feel that a common cold probably is on its way, why not try out this Hot Cola With Ginger And Lemon?  While the sweet warm syrupy liquid soothes you throat, the hot bite of ginger together with the tang of lemon refresh your nose and mind.  Alternatively, you can always stay with tradition and enjoy the original and natural flavors of Ginger Tea With Brown Sugar.

Image by stigwaage