Ladies and gentlemen,
I’d like to announce that I am back on my turmeric obsession. Please don’t be alarmed if for the next few months every recipe that you see here contains turmeric and all of my plates turn yellow… (Okay, maybe I’m totally exaggerating, but the health benefits of turmeric are amazing and I hope that all of us can get more of it into our diets.)
About a month ago I helped with an anti-inflammatory cooking class taught by an amazing local chef and an integrative physician. One of the first recipes we created was a tonic focused on using turmeric. I’m no stranger to using turmeric and I’m a big believer in its abilities to help fight inflammation. In fact, you might remember me talking about the powers of turmeric in some of these other recipes:
- Detox Tonic
- Anti-Inflammatory Sauerkraut
- Ginger, Carrot, Turmeric and Grapefruit Juice
- Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Curry
However, I was really surprised to hear the physician say that the best thing we can do to fight inflammation in our bodies is have turmeric daily. Whoa! Of course we want to be conscious about eating whole foods, avoiding sugar and artificial sweeteners, and all of the other things we know we need to do in order to keep our bodies healthy, but adding turmeric to our diets daily can have a huge impact on inflammation. Some studies have even shown turmeric to be more effective at reducing pain related to inflammation than ibuprofen and there’s no limit or need to worry about having too much turmeric!
That was enough to get this gal downing fresh turmeric daily and trying to come up with easy ways to use it dried as well. And that’s when I created… the anti-inflammatory turmeric tonic.
You can find fresh turmeric root at many health food stores and ethnic markets, but if fresh turmeric is unavailable, then you can juice the carrot and lemon and mix in 1/4 teaspoon dried turmeric with the black pepper.
I used carrot in this recipe for sweetness and lemon to brighten it as well as add a boost of Vitamin C. Black pepper is used in this recipe to enhance the bioavailability of the turmeric and make sure you absorb all the benefits. If you want this tonic to be a bit sweeter, consider substituting an apple or orange for the carrot and know that you can mix turmeric and black pepper with any fresh juice of your choice to get the anti-inflammatory benefits!
What’s your favorite way to get more turmeric into your diet?
- ½ carrot
- ¼ fresh lemon
- 1-inch piece fresh turmeric root
- pinch of black pepper
- Juice carrot, lemon, and turmeric. Mix in black pepper.
- Drink immediately.
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