Two Ways to Combat Flu Season With Bigelow Tea

Unfortunately that inevitable season has arrived. No I’m not talking about Thanksgiving or Christmas, or even the holidays in general. I’m speaking about the cold and flu season. Some seasons are just unavoidable for our family, and this is one of them. We take our vitamins, we eat well, we even give ourselves extra boosts for immunity and health. There’s a variety of steps our family takes to try to avoid the sick season, but once one of us gets sick we know what’s to come. Weeks of stuffy noses, coughs, throat aches, congestion, sometimes even fevers and infections. Most often it’s just a simple bug and our throats may hurt a bit but for the most part we are okay. Whether the kids catch it from their peers at school, or Big G catches it from his coworkers I know the moment I hear that first stuffy nose or cough that we’re in for a fight!

During the cold and flu season I always shop in preparation of prevention as well as items to alleviate the discomfort and ease the cold symptoms. Typical items on my list are orange juice, soups, crackers, Hall’s Cough Drops, and Bigelow Tea. Recently, I went to Walmart to shop for my preparation products, and found some great deals on both the teas and cough drops. You can check out more about my Walmart shopping trip here!

Just a tiny glimpse of the large selection of Bigelow Tea on display at Walmart!

When I was a kid, every time anyone was sick my dad would make his special honey-lemon tea. I learned at a young age the powerful effects of a good honey-lemon tea and how helpful it can be with a cold. The honey helps soothe the throat and the lemon helps to break up the congestion. It was always tradition and even now that my dad lives cross-country, whenever any of us gets sick he sends us a photo of his honey lemon tea!

Nowadays though, there is so much more to choose from when it comes to tea! My favorite brand for tea, hands down, is Bigelow Tea. There’s such a variety of assortments and flavors and many have added benefits as well. There’s many types of black, green and herbal teas as well as the seasonal varieties I enjoy too. There’s also an assortment of decaf teas, and the Herb plus line that includes great tasting teas and combines them with added benefits such as antioxidants, probiotics, Omega-3 and B-complex. I just love the varieties you can find with Bigelow Tea, as there’s literally something for everyone.

I started drinking tea regularly when I was about 9 years old. I loved raspberry tea and never added any sweeteners, just drank it warm and as is. To this day, there’s nothing like a delicious cup of tea; whether relaxing after a long day or combating a cold or the flu. I’ve carried on the tradition of making honey-lemon tea for my family when we’re not feeling well, but I’ve also added the benefits of ginger as well. I have asthma and so do my kids, many times our colds will trigger our asthma and we’re left feeling short of breath. Ginger helps open up inflamed airways by reducing inflammation and can also help reduce the pain of a sore throat. I like to start with one of the great tasting Bigelow Teas, this time I used the Wild Blueberry with Acai, then take a few slices of ginger and put it in the hot water while the tea is brewing. Then add the honey and lemon, to taste. This makes for a great tasting tea that leaves you feeling better! Keeping on with the honey-lemon benefits, I also like to keep some honey-lemon Hall’s Cough drops on hand to keep the cough at bay and take care of my throat.

To keep our bodies healthy, I pair some beneficial fruits with my tea. I like to be sure we have plenty of oranges for Vitamin C, blueberries for their healthy antioxidants, and nutrient dense pomegranates. Typically, when you’re feeling under the weather with a cold your appetite is light, so snacking on these fruits paired with some tasty tea is not only delicious but great for you as well!

Since I’m always prone to laryngitis, I have to be sure to drink plenty of fluids and ease any stress that coughing may bring about. In addition to drinking my ginger-honey-lemon tea I always like to keep some cough drops on hand. I actually learned this trick from watching the Wendy Williams show faithfully, but I think it’s so helpful and works great! Every morning you see Wendy on set with her favorite mug. Inside the mug she has hot tea, and while she’s chatting about the days hot topics she’ll peel up a cough drop and put it in her tea. The hot tea paired with the cool menthol of the cough drop helps keep her throat moist and prevents voice loss. The first time I saw this I was intrigued and just had to try for myself. I like to pair the Mint Medley Bigelow Tea with a Hall’s Mento-Lyptus cough drop and sweeten as needed. Works like a charm!

I just have to mention another of my favorite Bigelow Teas, the Vanilla Chai Tea. It’s absolutely delicious paired with honey and I brew it with milk AND water. I don’t typically use this during cold season because of the dairy I add to it, but it’s amazing and great to warm you up during the chilly seasons. It tastes phenomenal and is, by far, my favorite tea combination!

Now, I am not a medical professional, these are just tips to help my family through cold season! What are some of your favorite home remedies to get yourself feeling better fast?