Dawa: Kenyan Tribal Doctor Shares Ancient African Drink for Quick Cold, Cough, Fever and Stomach Ache Relief

A Kenyan Tribal Doctor Shares Ancient African Drink for Cold, Cough, Fever and Stomach Ache

By Team Luke Lifestyle, 2023 african drink, African remedy, black pepper, cold remedy, cough remedy, Dawa, Dawa for cold, dawa for cough, dawa for fever, dawa for stomach ache, fever remedy, ginger, Kenya, lemon, Maasai, Masai, Masai Mara, Masai tribe, Onion, raw honey, remedies, stomach ache remedy, tribal doctor, tribal remedy, tribal remedy for cold, tribal remedy for cough, tribal remedy for fever, tribal remedy for stomach ache, tribal wisdom, turmeric 0 Comments

Dawa

My trip to Kenya was a memorable and long-awaited one. It was beautiful spending time with the Masai tribal community. It was a journey of following signs, interacting with the tribal doctors and healers, and exploring their lifestyle, health, immunity, nutrition habits, and happiness quotients. I ventured into the wilderness and soaked in the culture, sunsets, and sunrises during these days of deep learning. I had the opportunity to connect with some beautiful friends and meet my patients. It changed me in many ways. I hope what I have learned from them can impact you as well. Over the next few weeks, I will share some life lessons, lifestyle tips, and tribal wisdom through my videos and blogs.

During my time in Kenya, I was exposed to a local African drink that I want to share with you. Called ‘Dawa’ which translates to medicine in both Swahili and Hindi, this is a concoction that even the tribal doctors and healers recommend and use extensively to cure colds, coughs, stomach aches, and fever. The name is not the only thing that has a connection to our own culture. Read on to find out how.

Dawa – The African Drink for colds, coughs, fever, stomach aches, and more.

A local Masai told me how they make it. I am sharing the recipe with you too.

For cold and cough

Take ginger, chop it into fine pieces, or grate it.
Squeeze the juice of a lemon.
Add these to 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil on low flame.
Once the concoction is ready, pour it out in a cup/mug. When it cools a little, you can sweeten it with some raw honey.

For stomach ache

Follow the same recipe, but also add a pinch of turmeric and a dash of black pepper to the concoction while boiling.

For fever

If you have a fever, add a little bit of grated onion to the same concoction while boiling. Sip on it warm.

Make an informed choice always. Do it if it suits you, avoid it if it doesn’t. If your symptoms worsen, seek medical help.

Disclaimer: If you have an infant under the age of one, DO NOT give them raw honey.

In the Masai Mara, Dawa is consumed by the tribe when the weather changes – especially when it rains, get too hot, or there are allergens in the air. Both adults and children benefit from this.

Pointers to keep in mind while sweetening Dawa:

If you wish to sweeten Dawa, do it with raw honey. Not with any kind of commercially available honey but raw unpasteurized honey. Processed honey is nothing but sugar.
Why raw honey? Because it has been used as medicine for a long time across India, Australia, New Zealand, and South America, among others. Do not be scared of honey. When used the right way in the right quantity and quality, it is excellent.
Many people claim that honey has sugar and sugar makes them fat. No. Your poor lifestyle, indiscipline, and inconsistency make you fat.
Honey is a powerful antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral ingredient. Know more about the benefits of raw honey here.
Of course, DO NOT give honey in its raw form to babies below the age of one.
Shop for quality raw honey here.

Did you know?

Modern Kenya has also transformed the traditional Dawa into a popular cocktail that is served in most clubs. It uses honey, lime, sugar, ice, and vodka. But what we are making is a traditional remedy.

The bottom line

There is immense wisdom in cultures across the world. For civilizations, people have used the power of nature to help themselves recover and heal.

It is where science ends and common sense begins. People over here in the Masai Mara and tribes across the world use all their senses to decide what’s poisonous, what works for the body, and what could be dangerous for the body. Using common sense, wisdom, and the power of nature they’ve learned to survive despite cutting away from the modern-day world without access to hospitals or all the amenities we live with.

Of course, Dawa is not a replacement for your medication when you have a serious illness or are sick. It is not about nature vs allopathy. It’s about using the best of nature in your life when you can rather than hopping from one pill to another and only being of the mindset that allopathy alone can solve all your problems. Allopathy is needed and can save lives. But simple remedies like this that exist even in our own country can help.

I am not asking you to make a choice. All I am saying is to take simplicity as a new luxury. It costs you very little money and time to make this concoction. This is the power of lifestyle. Little things work. Now if you think Dawa alone is going to take away all your health issues, you are mistaken. The problem is with your thinking. Don’t blame it on nature. You need to put in the work to eat clean, move more, sleep deep, and handle your emotional health too.

Make that cup of hot Dawa. Tell me how it worked for you. What are some of your go-to concoctions? Drop the recipes in the comments.