Recently, and it is quite safe to say that, turmeric is definitely having a moment. Among the wellness community, you will find turmeric withinin probably everything: curries, salad dressing, teas and the newest hype, golden milk. It seems like people just can’t get enough of this bright orange rhizome. Besides its characteristic taste, this is mainly linked to the uncountable health benefits of the plant. Those benefits are no news as Turmeric has been part of the medicine system of Ayurveda for hundreds of years. Read on to find out more about the story and health benefits of turmeric and how to make golden milk, the probably most delicious drink to get in your daily dose of this true all-rounder!
Turmeric – A Quick Definition
To get all of us on the same page, some hard facts about turmeric:
The plant with the botanical name Curcuma longa produces a flower and a rhizome or stem, that you can find underground. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, but nowadays also grows in other, climatic similar regions. For turmeric to thrive, the climate has to be warm but at the same time sufficiently rainy. Its appearance might remind you of ginger, although the inside of the turmeric rhizome has a much stronger, orange color.
And this bright orange part of the turmeric rhizome is what actually produces the spice. You can either buy the whole rhizome – many well sorted organic markets or Asia stores offer it – or a powder made from the dried and grounded stem.
Turmeric, Healing People For more than 4,000 Years
Although it took the western world quite some time to realize about the countless benefits of turmeric, once again a traditional medicine system was more than one step ahead of western medicine. Ayurvedic healers of nowadays India have been using the plant for more than 2500 years, since 500 B.C. But turmeric must have been part of the human diet for much longer: Archaeologists discovered traces of turmeric in pots that date back to 2500 B.C.
The traditional healing system of Ayurveda has been part of the Indian health system for a long time. And it still is. Besides the Western approach to healing based on modern science, you can find just as many Ayurvedic clinics as hospitals throughout India. The healing system of Ayurveda is based on the understanding of the body being led by three main doshas, or energies, vata, pitta and kapha. Illness therefore results from an imbalance of those three energies. In the Ayurvedic health system, turmeric is said to help balance all three doshas.
Ayurvedic healers used and still use turmeric to treat different conditions. They subscribe it to treat parasitic skin conditions like eczema and ring worm and to encourage wound healing. Also, it served as a remedy for a common cold.
Scientifically Proved Health Benefits Of Turmeric
It really is extremely fascinating, how even thousands of years ago people had already developed such a good sense of the effects of certain foods and spices. The health benefits of turmeric are nowadays widely scientifically proved and confirm the observation of those ancient Ayurvedic healers.
First, turmeric really is a natural anti-inflammatory. The main ingredient of turmeric, curcumin, has proven anti-inflammatory properties. It simply blocks the action of inflammatory molecules in the body. According to recent studies, curcumin also has a positive effect on people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. Furthermore, this spice is quite a powerful antioxidant, which means it can play a part in preventing and managing heart disease. Turmeric is also linked to lowering cholesterol, and it might improve your blood pressure. The list goes on with turmeric actually even reducing the spread of cancer and helping with digestion problems. You see, this little rhizome really is one hell of an all-rounder!
How to Benefit Best of Turmeric: Have a Golden Milk!
Of course, the consumption of spices and foods should not only be linked to health benefits. If it was, we could definitely stop writing this blog, as many delicious recipes of cakes or other delicious sins for sure are anything but healthy. But the good, or even the best thing about turmeric is that besides being super beneficial for your health, it really has a great and pretty remarkable taste to itself. To easily get your daily dose of turmeric, golden milk might be the way. Besides turmeric, golden milk also contains other healthy spices, which makes the drink just as delicious as healthy.
To prepare two cups of golden milk, you will need the following ingredients:
- 2 cups of milk or a plant based alternative (soy, oat, …)
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 0.25 teaspoon of black pepper
- 0.25 teaspoon of ground ginger
- 0.5 teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon
- Honey or maple syrup to sweeten to taste
Ho to proceed:
Add the milk into a pan. Add the spices and warm it up, but make sure it does not cook. Once the mixture is properly heated, add the honey or maple syrup to taste and whisk all the ingredients up. Pour the mixtures in two cups and finally, enjoy this healthy and delicious drink.
If you are looking for a sweet snack to be a bit of an unhealthy counterpart to our turmeric rich golden milk, check out our article on melarance cake.