You Should Be Adding This Spice to Your Coffee (Or Milk!)

Turma-what?
—

I don’t know where or when I first heard of turmeric – but once I heard about it once, it felt like I was hearing it all the time.

First of all, what the heck is it?
It’s a herb from the ginger family, usually boiled, dried and ground up and used to add color and flavor to food in Indian, Iranian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisine.

Secondly, why the hype?
Well here are just a few reasons people won’t stop talking about turmeric.

—

1. Curcumin
Cucumin is a compound in turmeric. It’s anti-inflammatory and has strong antioxidant properties. This means adding turmeric to your food, or a drink, can help reduce the pain that comes with inflammatory conditions like allergies, arthritis, and workout pain. The antioxidant properties in curcumin help repair the damage to our cells that is done through the release of free radicals in the body, and therefore help fight the signs of aging and reduce the risk of contracting lifestyle diseases such as heart disease and stroke.

—

2. Digestion
If you often find it hard to digest your food, ingesting some turmeric beforehand might help. It’s been shown that turmeric helps to stimulate the release of bile, which helps the body break food down and digest it. It also helps to eliminate gas in the digestive system, making for smoother digestion.

—

3. Immunity
While we can’t make the promise that it will leave you completely immune to anything, Turmeric has been linked to a stronger immune system, meaning taking it regularly will reduce the likelihood that you get sick, much in the same way that taking more vitamin C does.

—

Okay, so what do you do with it?
If you don’t quite feel up to making a curry, we’d recommend the latest trend: make yourself a turmeric latte. There are a ton of different recipes out there, but our favorite is from Healthyish.

You will need:
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tbsp date sugar or 2 tsp raw sugar
4 tsp freshly grated turmeric or 1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp freshly grated ginger or 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon chinese five-spice powder or ground nutmeg
Pinch of kosher salt

For recipe instructions click here.

—

/Femi, The Girl Who Hates Working Out

—

RELATED: 5 Pineapple Breakfast Recipes You Must Try