How to Make Mulled Spiced Wine

SERVINGS: 6

PREP TIME: 5 MINUTES

COOK TIME: 20 MINUTES

SKILL LEVEL: EASY

MEAL: DRINK

STYLE: WESTERN

PREPARATION: BOILED

EAT IN: AUTUMN-WINTER

FOR OCCASION: ROMANTIC, MOVIE-NIGHT, DINNER-PARTY, CHRISTMAS

How Does This Ayurvedic Recipe Improve Wellness?

CLINICAL AYURVEDIC REVIEW

Warm, sweet, and refreshingly spicy, Mulled Spiced Wine is a traditional toasty remedy for cold winter nights. The dark, alluring burgundy shade of red wine warms you right up, dilates your blood vessels, and relaxes your entire body. Mixed with aromatic spices and a bright orange rind to garnish your glass, a mug of warmed spiced wine on chilly December evenings relaxes your whole body and provides the cozy comfort you crave around the fireplace.

Mulled Spiced Wine is a classic European recipe for the frosty wintertime and each country has their own special preparation for the holidays. In Sweden, Glogg is a version of spiced wine infused with raisins, almonds, and sometimes figs and is often served around Christmas time. In Germany, mulled wine is called Glohwein, which poetically translates to "glow-wine." Bisschopswijn, or "bishop's wine," is mulled wine of the Netherlands. Across the ocean in Chile, mulled wine it is called vino navega'o. which refers to the sailors who brought the recipe from Old Europe. The first documentation of spiced, heated wine dates all the way back to 2nd century A.D. in ancient Rome. In Ayurveda, a few tablespoons of medicated wines called "Drakshas" are a popular remedy for winter chills.

Relax Your Muscles

The combination of spices in Mulled Spiced Wine is a formula for relaxation of sore, tight muscles. Ginger and cardamom are both antispasmodic, meaning they relax your muscle tissue. This is great for tight muscles but also happens to be quite useful in colic, asthma, and the throbbing pain of a headache (caused by a spasm in blood vessels). Cinnamon, wine, and clove are circulatory stimulants, meaning that they help move stagnant blood that gets locked up in tight muscles. This brings a great deal of relief to those suffering from sore, tight muscles.

Lift Your Spirits in Dead of Winter

Mentally, and emotionally, a sip of spirits lifts the spirits. Mulled Spiced Wine is no exception. If the winter blues has you down, sipping a cup of this warm tonic with a loved one can be just what the doctor ordered. Of course, overindulgence is not recommended, so stick to just a small cup and sip slowly.

Common Cold Cure

Cardamom is also Ayurveda's most powerful mucus destroyer. As with all aromatics, cardamom is a diaphoretic that opens your pores, encouraging a mild sweat that cleanses the skin, aids low grade fevers, and cleanses the lymphatic system. It is a bronchodilator - helping to improve breathing in asthmatics.

Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are all diaphoretics, meaning that they make you sweat! Your first and most powerful line of defense against pesky colds and flus is to "sweat it out." So, make a nice hot cup of Mulled Spiced Wine at your first inkling of illness, and see if you don't fight it off just fine.

Digestive Tonic

The string of winter holidays is quite taxing on your digestive system. Mulled Spiced Wine incorporates many tastes and effects that help your body stay strong in the winter. The sour taste of wine and lemon purge the gallbladder of bile, helping your body effectively digest heavy fats that abound at holiday feasts. Cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and clove are all spices that strengthen your digestive fire. Does the food sit stuck in your belly? Bitter lemon and orange zest clears stagnation in the upper GI tract so you feel relaxed and comfortable.

Mulled Spiced Wine may prove too hot for already-fiery Pitta constitutions. We suggest adding mulling spices to apple juice for a nice hot cider instead. Cold Vata and Kapha can add this recipe to their list of remedies for frigid winter.

AYURVEDA'S GUIDE TO VITALITY & WHOLESOME NOURISHMENT

Your Ayurvedic diet is tailored to your individual body and your specific imbalances. With an Ayurvedic diet you feel joy and satisfaction because what you are eating truly nourishes and balances you. Disease results from diets and lifestyles that are incompatible with your nature. By eating a personalized diet matched to your body, you experience optimal health. See How it Works.

See a complete list of all biocharacteristics.

INCREASES Increases These Biocharacteristics (Gunas) Functional Ayurveda helps you assess imbalances through 20 main biocharacteristics (gunas). Aggravating these characteristics weakens your body and causes imbalance. By knowing which characteristics are habitually imbalanced in your body, you will be able to identify and correct imbalances before you get sick. Every characteristic has an opposite which balances it (i.e. hot balances cold). You restore balance by favoring diet and lifestyle choices that increase the opposite characteristic. Learn More	MOBILE ABOUT MOBILE BIOCHARACTERISTIC Mobile refers to anything that stimulates the nervous system, muscles, or activity. LEARN MORE ABOUT MOBILE LIQUEFIED ABOUT LIQUEFIED BIOCHARACTERISTIC Substances that thin fluids (lower viscosity of blood plasma). These may include blood thinners or mucolytic herbs. LEARN MORE ABOUT LIQUEFIED CLEAR ABOUT CLEAR BIOCHARACTERISTIC Clear refers to anything that cleanses or flushes out wastes, or that digests ama. LEARN MORE ABOUT CLEAR HOT ABOUT HOT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Hot is identified by increased body temperature, metabolism, or inflammation. LEARN MORE ABOUT HOT
TASTES The 6 Tastes Taste is used to sense the most basic properties and effects of food. Each taste has a specific medicinal effect on your body. Cravings for food with certain tastes indicate your body is craving specific medicinal results from food. Taste is experienced on the tongue and represents your body's reaction to foods. Sweet taste causes physical satisfaction and attraction whereas bitter taste causes discomfort and aversion. Kapha should use less sweet taste while Vata and Pitta would benefit from using more sweet taste. One of the first signs of illness is that your taste and appetite for food changes. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. Do you crave foods with any of the tastes below? Learn More	BITTER ABOUT BITTER BIOCHARACTERISTIC Bitter is disagreeable and stimulates rejection. It is a strong taste often associated with black coffee, dark chocolate, and most salad greens. LEARN MORE ABOUT BITTER PUNGENT ABOUT PUNGENT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Pungency is characterized by irritation, or sharp, spicy foods that irritate the mouth such as black pepper. LEARN MORE ABOUT PUNGENT ASTRINGENT ABOUT ASTRINGENT BIOCHARACTERISTIC Astringency is characterized by constriction, drawing together, or drying. LEARN MORE ABOUT ASTRINGENT
DOSHAS The Three Doshas / Body Types According to the biocharacteristic theory of medicine, people tend to get sick, over and over again, due to habitual causes and imbalances that are unique to the person. Your body type summarizes this tendency, showing you the 'type' of conditions and imbalances that frequently challenge your health & wellness. Using body type, you can also identify remedies likely to improve your strength and resiliency. Your body type identifies physical and mental characteristics as well as your personal strengths and weaknesses. The calculation of your body type is based on your medical history. The 3 functional body types (doshas), are Catabolic (Vata), Metabolic (Pitta), and Anabolic (Kapha). Catabolic individuals tend to break down body mass into energy. They are easily stimulated, hyperactive, underweight and dry. Metabolic individuals tend to burn or use energy. They tend to be rosy-cheeked, easily irritated, focused, driven, and easily inflamed. Anabolic individuals tend to store energy as body mass. If they store too much energy, they could gain weight easily and have congestion. Anabolic people tend to be stable and grounded. Learn More	PACIFIES AGGRAVATES
HAS THE FOLLOWING	Subtaste: Aromatic AROMATIC Herbs or spices with volatile essential oils that present strong aromas. Aromatic oils shock, refresh and numb tissue, with the end result of relaxing, opening and clearing stagnant fluids in tissues. SEE ALL 'AROMATIC' FOODS / HERBS Moves Energy: Outward OUTWARD Outward-moving substances stimulate circulation, push heat towards the skin, or are stimulating. SEE ALL 'OUTWARD' FOODS / HERBS Tissue (dhatu): Red Blood RED-BLOOD Red blood (Rakta Dhatu) includes red blood cells and blood vessels. SEE ALL 'RED-BLOOD' FOODS / HERBS
HERBAL ACTIONS (see all)	Medicinal Benefits, Uses & Herbal Actions of Mulled Spiced Wine Experiences are Personal Experiences vary according to the person and constitution. Individual results may vary. The list of herbal-actions below has not be approved by the FDA and should not be used to treat a medical condition. Digestion: Digestive DIGESTIVE Herbs that encourage healthy digestion. SEE ALL 'DIGESTIVE' FOODS / HERBS Skin Care & Beauty: Diaphoretic DIAPHORETIC An herb that induces sweating, often by dilating blood vessels close to the skin. SEE ALL 'DIAPHORETIC' FOODS / HERBS Respiratory-Health: Warms Chest WARMS-CHEST Warms the chest and lungs, clearing mucus and allowing for clear breathing. Often these herbs are hot, aromatic, and pungent. SEE ALL 'WARMS-CHEST' FOODS / HERBS , Lung Tonic LUNG-TONIC Strengthens the lungs. Lung tonics include antifibrotic, vessel tonic, or nourishing herbs with an affinity for the lungs. They aid recovery in acute or chronic lung conditions. SEE ALL 'LUNG-TONIC' FOODS / HERBS Heart & Circulation: Calms Heart CALMS-HEART An herb that literally calms the heart. These herbs are helpful in the treatment of anxiety, sadness, depression, or other emotional imbalances in the heart. Related to the Chinese Herbal Category 'calms spirit.' SEE ALL 'CALMS-HEART' FOODS / HERBS Strength, Muscle Health: Relieves Tension RELIEVES-TENSION An herb that releases tightness, constriction, and rigidity in a muscle. SEE ALL 'RELIEVES-TENSION' FOODS / HERBS Other: Relaxes Mind

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Joyful Belly is a recognized school of biocharacteristics medicine.