The first time I made ginger and turmeric coconut milk, I completely fell in love with it – and my body did too. It’s a delicious, health-packed drink that you can have any time of the day, but in my experience, the best times to have it are either right upon waking up, or about an hour before going to bed.
The combination of turmeric and ginger with coconut milk make the beneficial compounds highly bioavailable in the body. It can help your liver with the hefty detoxification process it goes through while we sleep, and acts as a potent anti-inflammatory. It also helps regulate blood sugar, as we’ll see below.
Turmeric Coconut Milk – What’s The Hype?
Turmeric coconut milk combines turmeric, ginger, black pepper, coconut milk, and coconut oil to create a delicious healing beverage. Honey is also added sometimes for those who prefer something a little sweeter.
If you haven’t already heard, turmeric is one of the best healing spices out there. The main chemical in turmeric, curcumin, has anti-inflammatory properties and is rich in antioxidants. These characteristics make turmeric super helpful in healing your liver and aiding it in the detoxification process. Turmeric has also been used to treat respiratory illnesses, gastrointestinal problems (1), muscle and joint pain (2) and skin disorders (3).
The anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric make it highly beneficial for those with chronic disease and autoimmune disease, which inflammation is prominent (4). It has also been found to be effective in treating food allergies and intolerances (5), preventing degenerative cognitive illnesses like Alzheimer’s and dementia (6), and treating cancer and depression (7, 8).
Coconut oil and coconut milk also have a ton of health benefits, and when combined with turmeric, help increase the absorption of curcumin in the body. Coconut is rich in magnesium, vitamin B, electrolytes, and is a great source of essential fatty acids. It can help combat weight gain, stabilize blood sugar, promote joint health, improve immune system function and can even help prevent liver and kidney disease (9, 10).
Black pepper is another important spice to always include with turmeric, as curcumin bioavailability increases by over 2000%! Black pepper also helps ease cold symptoms, fights anemia and aids digestion.
Ginger, similar to turmeric, is also anti-inflammatory. It can hep ease muscle pain, as well as menstrual pain (11). It is great for the digestive tract, and is a known remedy for nausea.
The Recipe
For the recipe, you can use either fresh turmeric root, or powdered. I always prefer fresh, as I believe it tastes better, but if you only have the powder, that’s okay too.
Ingredients:
– 1 tablespoon organic turmeric root grated (or 1 teaspoon powdered)
– 1 tablespoon coconut oil
– 2 cups coconut milk (fresh or canned)
– small piece of fresh ginger root (about 1 inch), grated
– pinch of black pepper
– optional: 1 teaspoon honey
Method:
1. Stick all of the above ingredients in a saucepan (except honey), and heat up for about 5 minutes (do NOT boil!).
2. Put into a cup and stir in honey. Enjoy!
Try this turmeric coconut milk at least an hour before going to bed, or right upon waking. Not only will your liver love you, but you’ll have the added benefits of less inflammation in the body, and a plethora of other health benefits.
