You may like something spicy when it comes to tea. You can make a cup of spicy chai to warm you up. Items you’ll need on hand include:

* 24 ounces water
* Tea (loose Darjeeling is a favorite but you may use any type of tea bag, including black teas and decaff teas, or redbush herbal tea)
* Tea pot and strainer
* Milk
* Sugar or honey
* Spices such as cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla bean, cloves, black peppercorns, anise, all spice, bay leaves, almond or nutmeg

Bring 24 ounces of water to a boil in a pot. Turn down the heat and place the tea into the water to steep for five minutes. Add the solid spices but be sure to test the tea to ensure the tea isn’t too strong. Stir the tea and put a lid on the pot. Leave the tea on low heat for about 15 minutes. Strain the tea and then add sugar or honey, and milk to taste. It goes well with soy milk too.

Green teas
Fruity green tea may give you the benefit of the fruity flavors of summer while having the health benefits of hot green tea. Bring water to the boil and remove from the heat. Add a green tea bag and whatever fruit juice you prefer to the water. Allow the tea and juice to steep for 8 to 15 minutes, depending upon how strong you like your tea. Pour the tea into a cup and add sweetener to taste. Green teas (and also white) are said to be rich in antioxidants.

There’s nothing like a hot cup of tea on a cold day to warm you up from the inside out. Try one of these hot and healthy winter tea recipes. When you’re warm and toasty, you’ll be glad you did.

Colder weather outside encourages people to drink warmer drinks to stay warm on the inside. However, perhaps you’re tired of cold-weather drinks like coffee or hot cocoa. You may be looking for hot and healthy winter tea recipes to enjoy instead.

More than warming up a body, research shows hot or warm drinks may also improve your immune system. This is due to the fact that hot drinks such as coffee and tea have large amounts of antioxidants in them.

Chamomile tea with honey and lemon is one warm drink you may want to try, especially when you’ve had a stressful day. As well as having antioxidants, chamomile tea has been shown to calm the nerves. It also provides other health benefits including increased glycine which may be helpful for women during early pregnancy. Another benefit is that it helps lower hippurate in your digestive system due to the antimicrobial properties of the tea.

This tea can be made with pre-made tea bags, or you can use one teaspoon of chamomile flowers. Bring a little more than one cup of water to boil and then add the flowers to it. Put a lid on the pan for about 30 seconds or so. Remove the pan from the heat and let the tea steep for at least one minute. Add lemon juice and honey to taste. Then sit back and enjoy.

Citrus fruits are delicious to eat.  They are great for your body as well because they are filled with vitamins you need every day.  Here are five health benefits of eating citrus fruits.

What is the best way to get your proper nutrition?  It is through eating the right foods.  There are many supplements, drinks, shakes and other products on the market designed to give your body what it needs but there is no substitute for the real thing.  Food, in its natural form, gives the body the full strength of the vitamins and minerals needed to fight disease, repair tissues and keep organs functioning properly.

1. Protect your bones.  Drinking milk is said to provide the best source of calcium and vitamin D, but eating oranges will do the same with better taste and more powerful results.  Oranges can provide the body with both calcium and vitamin D.  Sunlight helps the body to produce vitamin D which is essential for calcium to be effective in the body.

2. Help for your eyes.  Our eyesight is precious for viewing the world at all stages of our life.  One condition that affects eyes as they age is cataracts, a clouding over of the lens of the eye.  To help prevent the progression of this condition, antioxidants are needed to neutralize free radicals in the body.  Citrus fruits contain a few of the more powerful antioxidants:  vitamin A, E and C.

3. Improve heart health.  One condition that affects the state of the heart is cholesterol.  When blood cholesterol levels are within normal limits, blood vessels remain clear for blood to pass.  Healthy vessels are less likely to lead to aneurysms and blood clots that can lead embolism or thromboses.

4. Increasing proper digestion.  In order for the digestive system to function properly, it needs to be flushed as often as possible.  If you aren’t into colonics or other forms of colon cleansing, then do it the natural way with food.  Citrus fruits contain vitamin C and fiber from eating the actual fruit.  Drinking fruit juices (100 percent juice) will provide the vitamin C but not the fiber that you need.  Fiber will clean your digestive tract and take some of the fat from your food with it.  Fiber also lowers blood cholesterol levels of LDL (bad cholesterol).

5. Protect your skin.  The skin is the largest organ of the body.  It is the one we most often see so we want to keep it looking its best.  Antioxidants help with that.  Citrus fruits contain vitamin C and A, which are antioxidants.  They help prevent wrinkling, firm skin and repairs damaged skin cells.

Drinking juice is quicker, but eating citrus fruits is better for your health.  Head to the farmer’s market now and load up on oranges, grapefruit, lemons and the like.  To your health!