Switchel is an old-fashioned drink, the origins of which are hard to pinpoint. Dairy farmers in Vermont in the US, the Caribbean or Amish communities? Either which way it doesn’t matter to me. One batch and I’m hooked!
The health benefits of each ingredient are listed below the recipe, however at first glance the mix is full of electrolytes, great for digestion, refreshing, anti-inflammatory and delicious!
I liked the sound of it so much that I made a double batch straight away.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Apple Cider Vinegar (make sure it has ‘the mother’)
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger (2 tsp ground ginger)
- Pinch of salt
- ½ lemon (cut into quarters)
Method
- In a clean jar (approximately 1 litre) mix together the vinegar, maple syrup, ginger and salt.
- Squeeze the lemon quarters into the jar and then drop lemons into the mix.
- Fill to 1 litre with water and refrigerate for at least four hours (or overnight).
- Remove and discard the lemon.
- You can either shake the grated ginger and drink, or allow it to settle to the bottom.
- Drink on its own, with mixed with soda water for a refreshing beverage, or topped up with hot water for a warm cup of tea.
* Make sure you rinse your mouth out with water after finishing. The acidity of the vinegar may affect tooth enamel.
🍏 Apple cider vinegar has a myriad of benefits. Most of these benefits are from anecdotal reports, but still there are too many of them to ignore. Some of these benefits include: relief from heartburn and reflux, improved digestion and reduced bloating, constipation relief, reduced muscle stiffness, balanced blood sugar levels and more.
🔥 Ginger is also well-known for its healing properties. Most of all, it is anti-inflammatory and very settling for the stomach, used often in nausea relief, morning sickness, seasickness and the like.
🍯 Maple syrup and honey may be high in sugar, in their pure form (unheated, untreated) they contain many beneficial vitamins and minerals. Honey is also antibacterial.
🍋 Lemons are high in vitamin C, an antioxidant important for good health and wellbeing, and also potassium. They are alkaline when inside the body. Alkaline foods are important to reduce acidity which is responsible for many of our diseases such as cancer and arthritis. Liminoids (beneficial chemicals) in citrus also have anti-cancer properties.
🌊 Salt has had a bad rap in recent times. Truth is we need a bit of salt. Good quality, well-sourced, unrefined salt contains trace minerals and electrolytes which are essential for all functions of the human body, including but not limited to the immune system, hormones for your thyroid, adrenal gland and reproduction and also brain function.
Make it today!
I highly suggest you make a batch. It may become your favourite summertime drink! Apple cider vinegar is always available in the Santosha clinic. We also stock locally sourced honey, sometimes good quality salt (but can order in if it’s not on the shelf), organic ginger is available at our local Foodland and lemons, well lemons grow on trees!
Let me know what you think.