Cure colds, fight the flu, calm allergies, and boost immunity. Nope, it isn’t the newest vaccine your doctor is pushing, it is fire cider! Like you (probably), I had no idea what fire cider even was until I read about it on a blog.

When I was 5 months pregnant with our son, I started my search on Pinterest to find natural remedies to battle a bug I had gotten. I ran across a natural remedy called Fire Cider. I even found immune system boosting gummy bears in my search!! 

What is Fire Cider?

Fire cider is a combination of medicinal foods and herbs that are combined to create a tonic. The tonic can be used to boost the immune system and it can also be used to shorten the duration of a cold or bug.

The foods that we know in our culture to be healing foods, especially during an illness, like garlic, onion, and citrus, are infused in to raw apple cider vinegar. The infusion becomes a powerful immune supporting, anti-bacterial, decongestant, anti-inflammatory, and circulation + digestion boosting drink.

What is in fire cider?

There are few key ingredients that make up a great fire cider. The medicinal properties of each food, create a tonic that gives your immune system a powerful boost.

ONION

Onion has Allicin, which helps boost the immune system and increase circulation. Circulation in the body helps mobilize and sweat out any infection or intruder. Onion also has the ability to reduce inflammation and reduce histamine (allergy) response because of the quercetin it holds.

GARLIC

Garlic, especially raw garlic, is one of my favorite ways to boost my immune system. Garlic helps stimulate the production of white blood cells, which helps your body respond to and address bacteria and viruses. Garlic, like onion, has allicin which helps stimulate the immune system. Raw garlic is best to consume, as when it is cooked the allicin is cooked down.

GINGER

Ginger, please and plenty of it! I love ginger and the warmth it adds to fire cider. Ginger is my go to when I am congested or feeling sick in any way. Not only does ginger help soothe the stomach, it also helps with congestion and cough.

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

In the case of apple cider vinegar, you will want to choose a raw apple cider vinegar. Raw is important because it contains the natural probiotics we need for gut health. The apple cider is infused with the ingredients as they soak in the vinegar.

HOT PEPPERS

It is called fire cider for a reason! Making your own fire cider you will want to add hot peppers, cayenne if you can find it or any other spicy pepper. Capsaicin, found in spicy peppers, helps circulation and serves as a decongestant and pain reliever.

A bonus, a study was done that indicated that chili peppers may actually help you live longer, too!

FRESH TURMERIC

Adding fresh turmeric and black peppercorn is a must in our fire cider. Turmeric helps control and reduce inflammation and pain in the body. I choose fresh over powdered because the powdered can create a chalky texture in the final product. Black peppercorn is recommended in addition to turmeric because it increases the bioavailability of turmeric’s active ingredient, curcumin.

RAW LOCAL HONEY

Local honey is added to the tonic after the apple cider vinegar has infused and been separated from the ingredients. Honey balances out the fiery, spicy taste of the fire cider. However, it also packs its own antibacterial and antiviral properties as well. 

HORSERADISH

Horseradish is a usually a staple in fire cider because of its ability to help fight sinus infections. It can also help with productive coughing to help mobilize any congestion or infection. However, because I am still breastfeeding my son, I omitted the use of horseradish in our fire cider this year.

CITRUS

I add citrus to our fire cider to enhance the immune boosting aspect of the fire cider. Citrus naturally contains vitamin c that works as an antiviral and antibiotic in our bodies.

When should I take fire cider?

The best part, you don’t have to wait for your cold to surface before you start getting this goodness in to your body. You can use fire cider as a preventative and immune booster, especially this winter season.

However, your batch will take about 3-4 weeks to brew. So I suggest you start working on yours now!!

You can also purchase fire cider if you don’t have time to make your own. I have seen this brand, Fire Cider at my local health food store. There are also homemade brands you can find on Etsy. So there’s no excuse as to why you aren’t enjoying some now.

One last thought, you can take your fire cider like a shot each morning. About 1 ounce or so a day. More if you feel a sickness coming on. If that’s too powerful for you, add your cider to salad dressing mixing it with equal parts olive oil. You can also make a savory tea out of it or add it to a sweet glass of lemonade.

No matter how you enjoy it, I suggest giving it a go!

The recipe I used for our fire cider is below! Cheers!!