Turmeric Tea Recipe: For Healing

As I wrote about two weeks ago, I suffered a bruised rib in a basketball game that made laughing, coughing, sneezing, and lying down in bed particularly excruciating.

I am happy to say that I am 90% recovered, but sneezing still gives me pain.

During the process of recovery, I did a bit of research into what helps speed up the process. I absolutely hate being sick (one of the reasons I love being vegan) and anytime I am not in full health it drives me nuts. All I can think about is when I will feel better, and everything I do is in service of that goal.

Every bite and beverage is calculated, every bedtime precise, every thing I can do I do.

Turmeric

One of the things I encountered was the powerful ability of the spice Turmeric to fight inflammation and help with pain. Dr. Greger of Nutritionfacts.org recently put out a video detailing how surgery patients given turmeric saw less pain and speedier recoveries than those given a placebo.

That has me convinced this stuff is a miracle substance!

I went to Whole Foods thinking I’d pick up a bottle of the stuff in pill form. I hate taking pain killers as well, so I figured I’d pop turmeric pills instead!

At $30 a bottle for the cheapest, I left the supplement section empty handed and upset.

Then it hit me — this is a spice used for cooking! And it’s cheap in that form. I went to the herbs & spices section and found a bottle of organic turmeric for $3.99, a steal compared to the supplement.

But how to ingest it…

After a few days of just mixing a little bit with water and gagging it down like a shot, it hit me — it might make an excellent tea! Mixed with some other Indian spices, it could almost be like a chai!

A quick Google search confirmed I wasn’t crazy (this is something people actually do) and so I set off making my first batch. And it was delicious!

And because it was so helpful with pain and recovery during my injury, I figured I’d share the recipe here! So without further ado, here is my recipe for Turmeric Tea.

Turmeric Tea

In the teapot I combine the following:

1 tsp ground organic turmeric

1/2 tsp ground organic cinnamon

1/2 tsp amla powder (the most antioxidant rich substance ever tested!)

1/4 tsp ground organic fenugreek seed (shown to improve muscle strength and recovery)

a few shakes of ground organic peppercorns

In my mug I place a little minced organic ginger that comes in a jar from Whole Foods. This product has a little rice vinegar and just a hint of sugar, and rounds out the chai-like flavor of the tea.

I let it sit in the pot for 5-10 minutes and then enjoy!

I have been drinking a pot of this a day and have noticed a real benefit in terms of pain and recovery. I’d highly recommend giving it a try, especially as we head into colder months, it is so nice and warming!

Here’s to a speedy recover from whatever ails you. In health 🙂

---