Homemade Turmeric Latte
Modified with permission from The Plantiful Coach
Warm yourself up with a tasty and comforting Turmeric Latte, and get your anti-inflammatory boost! This recipe uses fresh turmeric, fresh ginger and stick cinnamon. Ground spices work too, but the whole spices infuse beautifully into the plant milk (while ground spices tend to sink to the bottom of the cup).
Curcumin, the pigment that makes turmeric yellow, has been shown in countless studies to be a powerful anti-inflammatory compound and has been used medicinally for thousands of years in Indian and Hindu cultures.
Why do we care so much about anti-inflammatory foods? Well, because chronic inflammation (typically caused by our food choices) leads to chronic disease. According to Nature Medicine, more than 50% of all deaths worldwide are attributable to inflammation-related diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease and autoimmune diseases.
Foods that put our bodies in an inflammatory state (i.e. ‘pro-inflammatory foods’) include sugar, refined starches, animal products and saturated fats. There’s not much point in taking an anti-inflammatory ‘supplement’ like turmeric if we’re eating pro-inflammatory foods… Anti-inflammatory foods like curcumin work best as a booster to an already low-inflammatory diet (e.g. whole-food, plant-based).
An extra tip to maximise your body’s absorption of turmeric: mix it in with some black pepper. Why? The liver works hard to eliminate foreign substances (including curcumin!)—one way it does this is by making the substances water soluble so they can be excreted in the urine. Piperine (the active compound in pepper) inhibits this process: consumption of turmeric with black pepper has been found to increase levels of curcumin in the blood dramatically.
Homemade Turmeric Latte
Ingredients
1-inch piece fresh turmeric, peeled
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
1 cup organic plant milk (e.g. oat or soy)
1 cup water
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon coconut oil
sweetener to taste
1 stick cinnamon
Directions:
Peel the skin off the turmeric and ginger with the back of a teaspoon or knife.
Place the turmeric and ginger in a blender with half a cup of plant milk, and blend for a minute.
Add the rest of the plant milk and the water, along with the pepper, coconut oil and sweetener, and blend until smooth.
Pour into a small saucepan over medium heat, add the cinnamon stick, and bring to a low simmer (don't boil).
Keep stirring until the mix is hot, and taste for sweetness and spice (adjust as you like).
Remove the cinnamon stick, and serve while hot.
The leftovers can be stored in the fridge for a day or two, and reheated on the stove or enjoyed cold.
