By now, you’ve probably heard that turmeric is an amazing superfood with health benefits that include fighting depression, heart disease, inflammation, and cancer (to name just a few!).
As an added bonus, turmeric powder is actually affordably to buy (you can buy high-quality organic turmeric in bulk here). So, there is no reason not to start adding this superfood spice to your life.
It doesn’t take much turmeric to get health benefits. In the 9,000+ studies which have been done on turmeric, it has been shown that the spice produces benefits even in small doses. For example, in this study, it was found that turmeric in doses of 500 mg to 5 g daily (1tbsp = 6.8 g) helped alleviate acne and skin problems.
For those who aren’t used to using turmeric in cooking, turmeric tea might be the best solution to getting a daily dosage of the superfood.
***Buy turmeric powder here***
Turmeric Tea Recipes (from turmeric powder)
You can’t always get fresh turmeric root. In these cases, turmeric powder is a good substitute — and a lot more convenient since you don’t have to worry about chopping the root or having it stain your counters!
Turmeric and Ginger Tea Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tbsp of coconut milk or milk of choice
- Honey to taste
Instructions: Boil the water on the stove. Remove from heat and add all of the remaining ingredients. Let sit for a few minutes before drinking.
Spicy Lemon Turmeric Tea Recipe
- 1 cup water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/8 tsp cayenne
- Honey to taste
Instructions: Boil the water. Remove from heat and add all of the remaining ingredients. Let sit for a few minutes before drinking.
Turmeric Chai Latte Recipe (makes 2 cups)
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 1/4 tsp ginger powder (or 1 tbsp fresh)
- 1 tsp cardamom pods
- 1/4 tsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp whole cloves
- 1/2 cinammon stick (or a pinch of cinnamom)
- 1 bag of black tea
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 cup heated milk
Instructions: Bring water to a boil. Add cardamom, cloves, and cinamom stick. If using fresh ginger and turmeric, add them to the water too. Boil water for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the tea bag. Add the turmeric and ginger powder now. Let the tea steep for 5-10 minutes (depending on how strong you like it). Strain the tea, add honey and milk, and serve.
Warming Turmeric Tea Recipe
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamom
- Half inch of grated ginger
- 1 piece of star anise
- Honey to taste
Instructions: Put the star anise in the water. Boil the water for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and remove the star anise. Add all the other ingredients, mix, and serve.
Making Tea with Fresh Turmeric
When possible, it is always best to use fresh turmeric for recipes. The fresher the ingredients, the more intact the nutrients, antioxidants, and healthy compounds are.
FRESH TURMERIC STAINS so always be careful to protect your countertops. Unless you might having yellow fingers, then wear gloves too!
If you can’t get a hold of fresh turmeric, don’t fret! Powdered turmeric will still provide health benefits. Plus, powdered turmeric is a lot easier to use. You won’t have to worry about peeling the root or chopping it. In my experience, people don’t use things that are a hassle. So, if you are more likely to take turmeric daily in the powdered form, stick to it!
Instructions for Fresh Turmeric:
- Protect your counters before working with fresh turmeric. It stains!
- Wear gloves. Your fingers will turn yellow!
- Peel the turmeric.
- Cut it into chunks or peel it.
- Add the fresh turmeric to boiling water. Let it boil for about 5 minutes.
- If you are using other fresh ingredients or whole spices, add them now.
- Remove from heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
- Strain out the turmeric (and any other ingredients you added)
- Now add any additional ingredients that didn’t get boiled, such as honey, cinnamon powder, or lemon juice.
Why Do All the Turmeric Tea Recipes include Coconut Oil or Milk?
Because turmeric needs to be taken with a fat in order to increase its bioavailability (how much your body will absorb). If you don’t like the oil in your tea, you can just eat something with a bit of fat on it while drinking your tea, such as whole-grain bread slathered with avocado or strawberries whipped into coconut cream. 🙂
Read how to take turmeric for maximum bioavailability here.
Avoid Boiling Turmeric for Too Long!
To make turmeric tea from fresh turmeric, you will have to boil the root. Otherwise, the nutrients won’t be released into the tea. However, you want to avoid boiling the turmeric root for too long because the heat will kill some of the nutrients.
According to one report, the loss of curcumin (which is the main health-supporting compound in turmeric) was 27-53% from cooking. The higher amount was when turmeric was cooked for 10 minutes in a pressure cooker at very high heat. So, if you are just boiling turmeric root for 5 minutes, you shouldn’t lose too many nutrients.
To play it safe, when using turmeric powder instead of the fresh root, don’t boil it. Just mix it into the hot water and let it sit for a bit before serving!
Need to buy turmeric? You can get organic turmeric in bulk here!
Want to learn even more about turmeric? You can download an awesome turmeric eBook here called The Secrets of Turmeric. (Just click to the end of the slideshow). The eBook comes with a recipe book so you will never be at a loss of recipes to make with turmeric.
***Order the Secrets of Turmeric here***
Article resources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889157506001773
Image credits:
“There’s a moon in my turmeric tea. Recip” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by shutterbean
“Rainy day + turmeric tea + ginger + reco” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by shutterbean
“Turmeric Tea from 101 Cookbooks. I’m pre” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by shutterbean
“Turmeric Tea-2” (CC BY 2.0) by jules:stonesoup
“Turmeric ginger cinnamon latte and a pop” (CC BY-NC 2.0) by avlxyz
“Saint Lucia Day 3 (Feb 4, 2011) (30)” (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) by missmeng
“turmeric stain” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by shu tu