TURMERIC LATTE OR GOLDEN MILK
Turmeric latte or turmeric milk is also known as golden milk which is the combination of turmeric and milk. The milk can be of any type (almond, cashew, coconut, etc..,).
This golden drink marks an important place as essential drink in the healthy diets. This energetic drink comes with amazing anti-inflammatory and digestion boosting properties. It makes an alternative to caffeinated drinks.
Nowadays people like to sip a cup of golden milk before going to bed and some love to drink it in the morning instead of coffee or tea.
Benefits of Turmeric and Turmeric Latte
Turmeric is mostly used in daily cooking, especially in curry dishes. It adds and leaves yellow stains on utensils and fingernails. Turmeric adds flavour, anti-inflammatory benefits and anti-microbial benefits to the foods cooked.
More than being used as spice, turmeric also addresses itself a healing ingredient, which comes with powerful medicinal features.
Turmeric forms a major part of Ayurvedic medicine that has been practised for centuries in India. The combination of turmeric and milk commonly known as haldi doodh, is a regular drink that most people consume every day. People used to drink turmeric latte for many reasons, from digestion to cosmetic reasons.
From ancient times, turmeric has marked its name for its medicinal properties in both Indian Ayurvedic medicine as well as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Turmeric is used as a primary medicine to treat many health conditions. Some of the severe conditions that use turmeric in the treatment include liver disease, skin problems, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems, sprained muscles, joint pains, and general wound healing.
CURCUMIN, the major ingredient in Turmeric
Curcumin, which is present in turmeric, is one of the most effective anti-inflammatory ingredients in nature which lowers the levels of two enzymes in the body that cause inflammation.
It also acts as anti-angiogenesis that helps in preventing the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth. Curcumin is also used in the treatment of arthritis, sports injuries, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, tendonitis and various autoimmune diseases.
Consistent use of curcumin can lower the risk of developing diabetes. Those who have diabetes and who took capsules containing curcumin were less prone to develop Type 2 diabetes, compared with people who didn’t take the curcumin capsules.
Milk or Coconut Milk in Preparation of Turmeric Latte
Turmeric latte can be prepared with cow’s milk. Alternatively, you can use coconut milk replacing cow’s milk. Adding coconut milk in turmeric not only gives a soothing feel but also has lots of health benefits.
Coconut milk is nothing but liquid extraction of the fresh coconut scraps. It is easy to extract the milk from the grated coconut. The fat in coconut oil consists of lauric acid, which is hardly found elsewhere. Next to mother’s milk, lauric acid is found only in coconuts.
Our body converts this lauric acid into monolaurin which destroys the lipid-coated viruses such as HIV and herpes.
In addition to using coconut milk to prepare turmeric latte, you can also choose soy milk or almond milk.
How To Prepare Turmeric Latte
Turmeric latte or golden milk is prepared with the following ingredients.
We can also sweeten the turmeric milk with choice of our favourite sweeteners. Traditionally honey is used as a sweetener since the sweetness honey has its own medicinal qualities. Instead of sweetening the milk, we can also add black pepper to turmeric milk as it enhances curcumin’s bioavailability.
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 cup whole milk/almond milk/coconut milk/ soy milk
- 1 tsp honey or your favourite sweetener (optional)
- 1/2 tsp ghee/coconut oil/almond oil (optional)
- 2-3 black peppercorns crushed
- Pinch of cardamom/ cinnamon powder for flavour (optional)
Take milk in a bowl and add all the ingredients in it except coconut oil and sweetener. Heat milk over a low heat and stir it continuously. Bring it to boil and allow simmering for 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and pour the milk into the cup and then add ghee/ coconut oil / almond oil. Add 1 tsp of sweetener (honey) once the milk has cooled down. Drink the milk while it is warm.
You can drink this turmeric latte once a day.