22 Homemade Tonic Recipes to Give Your Health a Boost

This refreshing shot captures the sweetness of carrots and coconut water, with a slight hint of heat from fresh ginger. If your blender is big enough, this would be easy to double and have in your fridge, ready when you are. Source: EatingWell.com, March 2020

This quick and easy shot packs a punch to wake the senses. Apple and honey make it naturally sweet and are balanced by lemon juice and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper that brings on the heat. Source: EatingWell.com, March 2020

The momentum behind functional foods and wellness elixirs is at an all-time high. Expensive products are touted as having the power to do everything from restoring gut health to boosting immunity and fighting inflammation, but their health claims are often backed by little solid science. So instead of pricy supplements, we're mixing up a more affordable antidote that's both healthy and homemade. A tonic, by definition, is a combination of ingredients that have the potential to enhance or restore health. While this tonic (or any tonic) is not a cure-all remedy, consuming more anti-inflammatory foods--like the ones found in this tonic--over time may only not only ease current symptoms (such as fatigue, joint pain and chronic bloating), but it may also reduce the risk of future diseases and s

This weight-loss tonic might help you slim down, even though it's not a quick fix for healthy habits. Apple cider vinegar's sour flavor (the acetic acid) may help you eat less and stay more satisfied. Green tea has caffeine and antioxidants that may help boost fat loss. Ginger might help you burn more calories. And maple syrup adds a touch of natural sweetness to this hydrating drink. Add this tonic to your diet in addition to sensible eating and exercise to help boost your weight-loss efforts.

Immunity-boosting ingredients--ginger, lemon and rosemary--are steeped with soothing chamomile tea and honey for a homemade health tonic. While the drink may help when you're sick, it's not a quick fix. Drinking wellness tonics, like this one, regularly over time may help boost your immune system. Serve hot, room temperature or cold.

When you're feeling backed-up, this high-fiber chia concoction can help make your bathroom routine smoother. The chia seeds form a gel-like consistency to help move digestion along easily, and the kick of cayenne pepper acts as an intestinal stimulant.

Take a moment out of your day to savor this soothing tea made with lemon peel, ginger, and green tea.

Kombucha is a lightly fizzy, fermented tea drink that's making waves for its probiotic benefits and tart flavor. Making kombucha at home is quite simple: make sweetened tea, add it to a jar with a scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) and let it ferment for about a week. The scoby is a pancake-shaped living culture that eats most of the sugar in the tea, turning it into a tangy and delicious fermented beverage.

Fresh sage is an aromatic herb perfect for making flavorful caffeine-free tea. Herbalists say sage tea may even settle upset stomachs and soothe sore throats. Plus, the honey in this tea recipe can also help calm a cough.

In this healthy ginger-beet juice recipe, we pack in vegetables by adding kale and a carrot, and sweeten with an orange and apple. No juicer? No problem. See the juicing variation below to make this beet juice recipe in the blender.

This ginger punch is flavored with lemon juice and sweetened with honey and molasses for a refreshing drink that quenches even the fiercest summer thirst.

Similar to milk kefir, water kefir is a probiotic drink made with fermented kefir grains, but it's entirely dairy-free. It's flavored with fruit and can even be carbonated (like kombucha) during a second fermentation. Be sure to use water kefir grains and not milk kefir grains.

A touch of honey balances the bitterness of matcha in this healthy latte recipe. For a nondairy latte, swap unsweetened almond, soy or coconut milk for the low-fat milk.

This refreshing smoothie is made with cucumber and kiwi and gets a kick from ginger-flavored kombucha and fresh cilantro.

Goji berries and hibiscus flowers are steeped in boiling water with agave and cinnamon stickes. This flavorful tea is refreshing and can be enjoyed hot, but we suggest drinking it ice-cold.

Here's a refreshing lemony energy drink recipe to give you a caffeine energy boost when you don't want coffee. It's a double-strength brew of green tea plus yerba maté and delivers about 135 mg caffeine plus antioxidants. Compared with store-bought energy drinks, this homemade energy drink recipe saves about 150 calories and has less than half the sugar. Add an extra-fresh taste by garnishing the rim with chopped mint. Yerba maté is a tea made from the leaves of a South American tree. Look for it with other tea in the natural-foods section of large supermarkets or natural-foods stores.

Lemon zinger tea adds oomph to plain apple cider.

In this vibrant, healthy carrot-orange juice recipe, we jazz up plain orange juice by adding a yellow tomato, apple and carrots to pack in immune-boosting vitamins A and C. No juicer? No problem. See the juicing variation below to make this carrot-orange juice recipe in a blender.

This healthy smoothie is not only delicious--it also boosts your daily dose of anti-inflammatory foods. It starts with a base of creamy gut-friendly kefir and includes cherries, which can lower the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein. Heart-healthy fats in avocado, almond butter and chia seeds deliver additional anti-inflammatory compounds to the body, while spinach offers a mix of antioxidants that sweep up harmful free radicals. Fresh ginger adds zing, plus a compound called gingerol, which preliminary studies suggest may improve inflammatory markers of heart disease if consumed daily.

Pineapple, grapefruit and spinach are packed with water and minerals, which can help hydrate you and supply your body with a bounty of fiber too. Electrolyte-rich coconut water is a refreshing dairy-free substitute for yogurt or milk. If you have time, freeze the coconut water into cubes for an extra-frosty smoothie.

Similar to drinkable yogurt, milk kefir is a smooth and creamy probiotic drink made from milk and fermented kefir grains. Drink it on its own or add some to a smoothie for a healthy-gut boost.

Studies on turmeric's health benefits, particularly for reducing inflammation, are preliminary but promising. Try this vegan turmeric "latte" made from steamed almond milk and sweetened with a touch of maple syrup.