When it comes to battling seasonal sickness, mothers seem to know the perfect remedies to nourish the body. Dominican-American curandera and consejera Yaquí Rodriguez grew up with her Dominican mother, who gave her and her siblings a special aloe vera and red onion blend to fight colds.
As the founder of Wave of Healing, Rodriguez works to help others heal through plant medicine and ancestral reconnection. While the taste of this cough syrup is more pungent, the red onions are packed with vitamin C, a powerful antioxidant that helps boost the immune system. They also help fight off bacteria. Honey's soothing properties help relieve a sore throat, while aloe vera works as a natural anti-inflammatory that helps balance the body and fight inflammation, colds, and bacteria. The concoction of all these ingredients works as an amazing immunity-boosting cold syrup perfect for the winter days ahead.
"Lime is known to cleanse negative energy. Onions energetically absorb sickness or malignant energy, and honey brings sweetness and fluidity," Rodriguez said in an email with POPSUGAR. "The reclamation of curanderismo and plant medicine is a remembering that already lives deep in our bones. It's a form of healing justice. We have the opportunity to undo so much generational harm. We are able to honor the work of our ancestors, to be in the right relationship with each other, the earth and all its inhabitants with the awareness that we are all one."
Try Yaquí Rodriguez's aloe vera and onion cold remedy recipe here.
