Jean's Famous Tomato Tea Remedy for Sinus Infections and Congestion

Thank you for the Tomato Tea remedy....I had had sinus congestion and drainage for a week without any relief in sight and came across this website. I tried the tea and felt immediately better! I also added 2 Tablespoons honey, one-quarter teaspoon onion powder, one-half teaspoon of a combination of herbs: (rosemary,thyme, sage, marjoram, black pepper and nutmeg = poultry seasoning) to tomato juice - the V8 costs twice as much! - and my persistent sinus headache (which was making my upper jawbone throb)went away. Thanks again! This is an awesome and beneficial website.

I was having trouble breathing and had the WORST cold I have had in a long time. So, I checked out the website for your cold remedies and saw the "hot soup." I drank it 3 times in one day. I put in as much garlic and hot sauce as I could because I know how good that is for the body. Besides, I couldn't taste it. Well, it didn't clear up my passages all that well. That only lasted a few minutes. BUT! I went to bed, slept like a BABY and woke up and the cold was GONE! Another friend of mine has had a cold for 3 weeks and here, mine only lasted one day! I was amazed! Thank you so much!

I have used the Tomato Tea remedy many times and it works very well for me. I travel alot and it's nice to have something you can whip up just about anywhere. One thing I did discover, is if you are using a powdered herb like cayenne pepper, make sure that the bottle is not too old. The first batch I made of Tomato Tea had very little "kick" and by taste testing the cayenne by itself, I found that it had lost it's potency. Also I see people who say it did not work well for them, but they where very skimpy on the ingredients. It's the pepper in the mix that will clear the airways and stop the nose from running. A few times when I have been traveling, I have taken a empty gelatin capsule and filled it with cayenne pepper and it works well by itself to help the congestion. I like the Tea better, as I am a fan of garlic. If the Tea seems too hot to you put some honey in it and it will be sweet and spicy.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Dr. was sending me to the E.R. because the pain was so severe. But I tried your tea first and it worked great. Actually tasted good too. Surprized me. Thanks again. Oh yeah, my sinuses were completely stopped up and had been for 4 days. We followed the recipe as closely as possible, the hot sauce was by taste.

Suffering from frequent and severe sinus problems, I tried the tomato tea this morning out of sheer desparation. It WORKED! I've been drinking it all morning, sinuses slightly better with each cup. I didn't have V8 or tomato juice, used fire roasted tomatoes and fresh. Yummy, too! Thank you so much!

For relief in about 10 minutes I would recommend this tea/soup to anyone suffering from sinus congestion or a sinus infection. I used 2 cups of V8, a few squeezes from a real lemon, 4 cloves of garlic (used a press which basically makes it half minced and half juice), and a various mixture of cayenne pepper, green (jalapeno) Tabasco sauce, and Blair's Death Sauce (mostly habanero peppers). I drank some at night and fell asleep able to breathe through both nostrils and woke up with no congestion. Had some more tea/soup at lunch today and although my condition hasn't worsened I'm having a bit more before bed. The inflammation is still present but it's only been 24 hours so I'll be patient and see if it continues to work or clear the infection without antibiotics. The only regiment I'm doing in addition to this is saline irrigation (Neti Pot) every few hours. The combination is keeping me from wanting to remove my head from my body. So far I'm pleased and will report back if it in fact "cures" my sinus infection!

For over a month now I have had a terrible cough and I am constantly clearing my throat (3 -5 times every minute), which is extremely embarrassing and annoying, especially to others around me. On a recent plane flight, I chose as my beverage a can of Bloody Mary mix instead of a soda. Within minutes my coughing stopped and I did not need to clear my throat for nearly an hour. I couldn't believe it. When I got home I searched the web and thankfully found your site. I cannot wait to try your recipe and I expect it will have the same results that I experienced with the store-bought Bloody Mary mix. Thank you!

All I can say is "thank you" for this recipe.' I've been sick for 3 days with acute bronchitis.' I haven't been able to sleep well, but tonight was the worst. I've been up all night coughing, sneezing, and in pain. I found this recipe with some reservation, as I've taken just about everything you can buy over the counter, but half an hour later I am here to tell you I'm not coughing. I'm not saying I'm "better", but I will be able to go to sleep now. My sinuses quit draining and my chest doesn't even hurt as much. Thanks for the info.

Hi, Hot tomato tea cured the heaviness in my head due to an old chronic sinus blockage. I had completely lost my sense of smell and was even constipated. Sipping hot water with dill seed infusion, melted away the sense of cold in a flash, and I could feel my ears opening up and a fine sweat covered my forehead, and I immediately felt better. I have been searching for cures for the same. Hot Cure is definitely right, bec. I experienced it few times in last 2 - 3 months. I had not even known about this cure then. It had just become too chronic. The problem is when its too fiery hot, I can't sleep as there seems to be a grating sensation in the abdomen. So try looking at it holistically as a preventive. I find cookies and chips the worst culprits. All the luck! http://www.ayurvediccure.com/home-remedies/homeremedies-sinusitis.htm

I wanted to just say firstly that your website and the fantastic 'not for profit' nature of it has helped me immensely with a sinus infection which I have been battling for 1.5 months now. I had been getting pressure inside the top of my head and was finally diagnosed as having sinus problems which I had had 3 courses of antibiotics over a 1.5 month period each course getting better for only a matter of days before my sinuses started to become congested again.

I tried the tomato tea cure without skeptism because I am now someone who knows how hard sinus problems are to cure. After having 2 tea drinks (5pm and then before bed) I woke up the next day with completely mucus free sinuses and breathing. Over the course of the last 4 days my mucus has come back each day between 11am up until 5pm when I take my tea, however each day the amount of congestion is less than the day before. I truly believe (and thus far it is true) that in another 3 or 4 days time I will have completely recovered from what has been one of the worst medical complaints I have suffered from. I am 28 years old and would like to say thank you so much for creating an open to the public website with such valuable material and not expecting a penny in return for good health :-) P.S this recipe is invaluable.

I can't beleive it! I have had a sinus infection for over a month now, desperate I started tosearch the web for Ideas. I was extremely skeptical of the tea, but since I was desperate what could I lose? Well it has only been about 10 minutes and all of the sudden my nasal passages are clearing and I am able to breath through my nose!!! I am going to continue this till I am sure it is all gone Thank you thank you thank you!!!

I had lost my voice, had a sore throat, a hacking cough,and my sinuses were so raw it burned just to breathe. I tried the recipe last night except I used close to 1 teaspoon of garlic powder. I don't like tomato soup or ketchup so I was only able to sip about 1/2 a cup of this. Apparently, this was enough to start working because I've awaken with no cough(the night before I kept myself awake coughing)sinuses are barely noticeable and I have my voice back with just a little clearing of my throat and there is quite a bit of buildup in and around my eyes and the heaviness I felt in my head is gone.Too bad I didn't try this the first couple of days I felt bad versus waiting until I was out of ideas.

After having recurring colds & sinus infections for over a year, I eventually got surgery in my nose. This is after taking Antihistamines, Naseril and everything else. I felt better, but still got sick easily, even after the surgery. Tired of medicine, I came across this remedy & ran to the store, bought the ingredients at the first sign of a cold and took it before trying any thing else. To my surprise, I was well after two day's, without taking anything else. Since then, I take this remedy at the sign of a cold (itchy throat, runny nose) and that's all!!! My husband, who was not sure it worked, tried it when he felt sick, he had a runny nose, cough and was sick in bed, but after one day he was fine. Now, we give it to our 5 year old daughter and well, we're all happy. Sometimes it does upset my husband's stomach a bit, probably do to the hot sauce, but it works.

Delicious and effective, though it took probably around an hour for my sinuses to clear. I think I probably need to add more hot pepper sauce to get a more immediate effect. The bigger benefit by far was that it helped to clear my chest as the garlic/ pepper combination forced me to cough up (sorry for all the detail) all the phlegm that had settled on my chest. It also seems to have dried up my post nasal drip as well, so a good result all round!

I would like to try this but everyone says, as much hot sauce as possible. I have no clue how much that is. So, what would the minimum be that might work? 1/2 teaspoon? 1 tablespoon?? Anybody know?
Thanks so much

Any pregnant women out there that have benefited from this? I am pregnant and advised against tomatoes because of a kidney stone I recently and painfully passed. Also concerned about the heartburn but at this point, I will try anything. 1 month suffering from incessant cough, sleeplness nights, fatigue which led to this awful sinus congestion and pain for past 6 days...

I realize this post is a year late and you have found an answer not mention had your baby, but for future reference and other pregnant women with this same issue, you can skip the tomato if need be and just add hot water. It is effect as well though maybe not as tasty.

For the heart burn it may cause you, brew a peppermint tea before you drink the spicy tea, then you can have sip of peppermint inbetween sips of spicy. And lots cool water helps to. I find heartburn is not an issue for me tho.

Here is a more enjoyable way to fight nasal congestion and it works:- Make a strong cup of coffee and have with one chocolate ginger sweet. If a little extra help is needed particulary before going to bed use a minimum of Vicks Sinex Soother nasal spray. Your breathing will be clear all night. This type of spray is not supposed to be used longer than 7 days but I have found that only one spray of Beconase nasal spray, once in seven days, can avoid this rebound. Microwave all uncooked fruit & acid drinks.

You guys should really put some of the " nea" responses up there where people see them instead of bury them way at the back.

Some people just might have a horrible reaction like I did. This had a horrible affect on me.

I'm a very healthy 52 year old. I made this concoction and seriously was up all night, vomitting and had diarrhea all night. I even blacked out from vomitting at one point. I couldn`t go to work the next day. I was bed ridden.

I followed the instructions exactly. It was the first cold I've had in 2 years but, it was in my sinuses and my ears had been stuffed up for a week.

We eat a lot of garlic. I have no problem with cayenne pepper in general but this just tore my stomach up.

Please let people hear the flip side- a weaker person would have been hospitalized.

It seems very unlikely that you wouldn't have seen a problem sooner if you have an allergy or high acid stomach. I think you had some bad tomatoe juice, or garlic, or something. If you haven't had any reactions to tomatoes, garlic, or cayenne sooner then, I have to assume you had some bad food. It's a very simple and common recipe. It's also possible you just had the stomach flu along with the cold. I know I've had my share of one food or another getting blamed for my stomach bugs. I will never be able to eat bacon again after my stomach flu hit a few minutes after eating it.

Hi. Sorry you had a bad reaction to the tomato tea. First things first, there was misinformation sent in earlier.

Tomato is a member of the "nightshade" family.... It is not a citrus fruit. It is in the potato and pepper family of plants.

If the tomato did give you the reaction (and it was not just really bad timing and you had the flu or some other food poisoning type of thing).... then I would be very careful / watchful for symptoms the next time you eat peppers or potatoes.

Do a web search on nightshade plants for more info.... and best of luck to you.

Carly :)

Carly, the post I sent in is NOT misinformation. I have studied the work of Dr Donald Lepore who is a nutritional pioneer with many excellent credentials...ND, DN AND NMD. HE HAS LINKED THE TOMATO IN THE CITRUS ALLERGY CATEGORY with many studies, patient experiences and successes in his clinic to back it up. Sure, it is in the nightshade family, I am not disputing that...it is important for many people to be aware of the work done in field of nutritional medicine and remedies that are usually based on mineral, amino acid and vitamin deficiencies that can be easily corrected. Many of the dis-ase around is a simple form of malnutrition that is easy to remedy. I have had personal experience with tomato tearing my stomach up, I thought I was dying.... In the SAME way as lemon juice did when I tried to do a liver cleanse. We all desire to feel healthy, there are pitfalls on the road, what works for one might cause serious distress in another. We don't investigate the same paths or read the same books or HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCES. That is why a forum like Earth Clinic is so incredibly valuable. Thanks to the many contributors on Earth Clinic I have been able to put missing pieces in the puzzle of many of my ill health issues and am well on the way to being healthy.... I SALUTE YOU ALL!

Below the updated recipe that Jean gives (tomato tea) for a cold there is info regarding capricin which it alleges is in peppers. That is incorrect. Capricin is another name for capryllic acid. What peppers have (active ingredient) is capsaicin, something totally different. Here is a link that explains it: http://www.cfspages.com/yeast.html
And a quote from the above link:
Capryllic Acid - AKA Capricin. It is a bullet point down the page a bit in the listed article.

Thanks for catching that... Dunno where my head was at. :)

I had a sinus infection (which started on my holidays) and felt like I was in the circle of taking antibiotics, getting better, getting sick. Then I turned to google and found this recipe and I have being feeling better since! In the begining I was having the tea every day, then I easd off when it gets better. When my sinuses get swollen I start having the tea again. I will never forget this recipe ever, its so easy to remeber! I pass it onto everyone who gets sick or whos in my boat, coz I know how annoying it is. Thank you soo much, I am forever greatful and will know what to to the next time I get sick overseas... It will not be antibiotics!

how do you treat your graves disease? Is the sinus congestion from graves disease or cold or other. Just curious, im always looking for a cure for graves disease. Thanks J.

Hello, I think the sinus problems is a result of inflammation. From what I've read recently, the inflammation causes graves disease in the first place. I'm hyperthyroid and recently was having problems with a sore throat and being hoarse, I'm sure it had something to do with my recent detox and perhaps my body was trying to heal. Anyway, I was trying to get more good bacteria into my body and purchased some Kombucha, instantly, my thyroid started to drain and the symptoms subsided. I would suggest trying to add more fermented foods to your diet, Kombucha is a great one, but so is organic kefir and apple cider vinegar, organic! In my search for information recently, they stressed the B vitamins as well, I use the liquid vitamins so find one that has everything in it. I love these because we can add it to juice or smoothies.

HI - Would it be possible for you to tell me what kind of detox you did and where you got your liquid B vitamins?

The detox program that I am doing is personal but involves sea vegetables and fermented foods that have really helped my thyroid and energy, etc. The liquid vitamin is Nature's Way Alive Energy Vitamins and it has all the B's! A similiar program is the one that Donna Gates recommends in The Body Ecology Diet.