What is a health shot? Today, many consider a “health shot” to be some form of a vitamin elixir that tastes horrible. While those shots are exciting, this article places focus on the use of alcohol as a health benefit. As odd as it seems, this idea circulates around the world.
My mother, who travels often, recently took a trip to Nigeria. There, she learned how to assimilate into their culture and learn some of their homemade remedies passed down from multiple generations. One remedy she knew and brought back to the States to replicate included an alarming amount of alcohol at the time. The recipe called for a 750ml bottle of Seagram’s Etra Dry Gin, 2 lemons, a head of garlic, and one single root of ginger. The idea was to cut up the lemons, garlic, and ginger root and allow them to soak in the alcohol. After a week of the ingredients sitting together, the next step was to take a shot of the alcohol. I asked my mom what was the reason behind the mixture because she does not drink alcohol, so there had to be a pressing reason why she made this concoction. Well, in Africa, she learned that this mixture is used to boost immune support. The mixture can also be made with other alcohols, it all depends on preference. While I did not try the health remedy, its introduction opened a door for exploration.
The use of gin as a health remedy has been used for centuries. Referring back to a cookbook made in 1896, I found a gin health remedy drink.
(1896 Drink of All Kinds for all Seasons by Frederick and Seymour Davis, pg.138)
Here is another alcoholic beverage recipe that was included in the book, this represents a rum remedy drink.
(1896 Drink of All Kinds for all Seasons by Frederick and Seymour Davis, pg.137)
Do these remedies genuinely work? Yes, in the Harvard Health article, Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits, alcohol can be considered a tonic and a poison. The one thing that the authors advise people to pay attention to is the dosage of how much alcohol they are consuming. Other than overconsuming these alcohol-based remedies and causing bodily harm, with the correct amount of alcohol, a common cold can be cured. If that isn’t convincing enough, ever since my mother began taking the replicated gin remedy, she has not gotten sick. I, on the other hand, who skipped out on the remedy, ended up with a cold every weather shift.
After doing my own research and learning that alcohol as a health remedy has been around, I attempted to replicate one of the drinks in the cookbook and my mother’s replicated recipe as well. The drinks are definitely fun and engaging to make as an alcoholic consumer because there are certain ingredients, such as alcohol, that I did not expect to mix as well as they did. However, I am mindful that these beverages are for health support and not casual drinking. I would recommend others to look through the book and find a drink elixir that seems interesting and try it because it works, is interesting to make, and provides knowledge of how alcohol was conceived as a remedy many years ago.
The exciting thing about the recipes is being able to learn something new to me that has been around for years. Then, take those recipes, share them, and even pass them down to future generations. I am thankful for the preservation of recipes because they take people back through time and give insight into how our ancestors used these recipes to create an identity. Take, for instance, the cookbook I took the remedy recipes from; the authors share the same last name. Their future generations have a chance to look back on recipes from centuries ago and visualize where they came from.
My mother is trying to do the same with her constant travels to what she calls the “Motherland.” With each return, she has a new recipe to replicate; I take this as she is trying to find something ancestry to cling to as an African American woman in America.
By Ivonni Guss
Drink Recipe Book: 1896 Drinks of All kinds for All Seasons by Frederick and Seymour Davies
(pages 137- 138)
digital Humanities studio 