Perhaps you don’t like taking tablets, or are unable to? Maybe you need to take medication for another condition that means you can’t take any medication for migraine relief? Maybe you’ve taken all the pain relief you can for the day and you still have your migraine? Or perhaps you just want to try relieving your pain using only natural methods?
Whatever the reason, plenty of us migraine sufferers are looking for complementary and natural migraine pain relief. Plenty of us also like tea.
- Ginger
Ginger has been used for decades as a cure for nausea, but it’s also a highly popular pain-reliever. In 2014, the Journal of Phytotherapy Research published an article looking specifically at the efficacy of ginger in treating migraines, and they found that ginger can be as effective as sumatriptan (one of the more popular migraine medications which you’ll proabably have already heard of) when reducing migraine pain.
Ginger is readily available in teabag form in many supermarkets, but you can also try making your own fresh.
Recipe:
- 1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- ½ a lemon (juiced)
Method 1:
Peel the ginger root and grate it. Place in teapot, pour boiling water in and let it brew for about ten minutes. Add the lemon juice and honey, stir and serve.
Alternatively…
Method 2: (Good for summer)
Make as in method 1, but then let the tea cool, store it in the fridge, and add ice cubes before serving.
Optional extras are; one cinnamon stick/camomile flowers/Echinacea tincture/fresh mint leaves/pinch of cayenne pepper.
- Turmeric
Turmeric has within it an active ingredient called curcumin. This is a powerful natural pain reliever, and also an anti-inflammatory. It’s also used in Chinese medicine to reduce depression, which can be a real risk for migraine sufferers. You can try putting ground turmeric into your meals, or, if a migraine is threatening, try having a cup of Golden Tea Tonic:
Recipe:
- 1 ½ cups of hot water
- ½ to 1 teaspoon (depending on how strong you want it to be) of turmeric powder (or one inch of fresh turmeric root, peeled and diced)
- ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves (or ¼ if ground cloves)
- pinch of cayenne
- pinch of black pepper (optional)*
- 1 tablespoon goji berries
- 2 tablespoons hemp seeds
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon of honey
Method 1:
Place all the ingredients in a blender, blend until smooth, then pour through a fine mesh sieve and enjoy.
Alternatively…
Method 2:
Put the water, turmeric, cardamom seeds, cloves, cayenne and goji berries into a saucepan and simmer on the stove for twenty minutes. Afterwards, strain out the liquid and allow it to cool before blending with the hemp seeds, coconut oil and honey. (You might want to reheat the tea to a nice sipping temperature at this point).
*(The black pepper is optional, but is included in our preferred recipe because piperine, the active ingredient in black pepper, can help the body to absorb the curcumin.)
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