got milk? The Health Benefits of Golden Milk
Having recently written about turmeric helping with weight loss I wanted to talk more about the health benefits of turmeric because there is so much more! It was in that blog I talked about taking turmeric pills in order to have high doses of curcumin, which is the main anti-inflammatory ingredient in turmeric. Turmeric can be used in cooking, especially Indian dishes. It can easily be added to a healthy shake as well. I wrote how it can be used in a health drink with apple cider vinegar here and now I am going to talk about its health benefits and making another delicious healthy drink called golden milk. For all my nondairy drinkers out there, don't worry, you can use seed or nut milk as well. My favorite way to make golden milk is with coconut milk. But first, here are 8 reasons to start adding it in to your diet:
Turmeric milk helps build immunity
Helps sleep
It is a good remedy for digestive problems.
It supports the liver.
Helps fight cancer
Clarifies the skin.
Gives relief from autoimmune diseases
Good for fighting Alzheimer's disease
When adding it to your diet you need to know that adding black pepper to it helps turmeric become more bioavailable. Which is another way of saying your body can absorb more turmeric if you add black pepper with it. Drinking golden milk before bed can help sleep because turmeric reduces inflammation, lowers your blood sugar levels, helps your liver to detoxify, boosts your immune system and eases your digestive system – all of which help you to get to sleep faster, to sleep better, and to wake up feeling refreshed.
How do you make golden milk?
Serves 2
Ingredients
½ cup warm water
1 cup coconut milk (or any milk you prefer)
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp virgin coconut oil
½ inch ginger knob, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp. black pepper or 2 black peppercorns, crushed
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp cardamom powder
*Optional 2 tsp raw organic honey or pure maple syrup for the vegan version
Preparation
Whisk coconut milk, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, honey, coconut oil, black pepper, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.
Do Ahead. Golden milk can be made 5 days ahead and reheated.
Golden milk powder with the exact ratios of spice can be bought at the office or online. Just add a teaspoon to simmering coconut milk or almond milk and you're done!
A great place to buy a golden milk latte with almost any type of milk you want is at Dr. Smood with the closest one to the office being on Lexington Ave at 47th St.
Healing Art's Apple Cider Vinegar Tonic
Years ago I started suggesting the use of drinking apple cider vinegar to help with candida problems but when I found out that Hippocrates (the father of modern medicine) knew about apple cider vinegar’s antibiotic properties and recommended it to his patients for its healing properties centuries ago I started doing more research.
Apple cider vinegar has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral properties. Among the ailments it’s said to help with allergies, acne, high cholesterol, joint pain, weight loss, rheumatism, arthritis, gout, dandruff, chronic fatigue, candida, sore throat, gum infection, sinus infection, flu, acid reflux, leg cramps and ear infections. It’s also used to help dissolve kidney stones, lower high blood pressure, and it’s also been shown to help with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.
Even though vinegar is acidic, when we drink apple cider vinegar it has an alkaline effect in our bodies. The fact that apple cider vinegar causes our pH levels to become more alkaline could play a large part in it's healing abilities. It also reacts to some toxins in our bodies, converting them into less toxic substances. Our bodies need a slightly alkaline pH balance to be healthy. The typical Western diet creates an acidic pH in our bodies, and many health problems are attributed to this. Taking a tonic containing apple cider vinegar can help restore alkalinity, and therefore assist the body in getting rid of some of the health problems listed above.
You’ll get the greatest health benefits from apple cider vinegar that is made from organic apples, fermented using traditional methods, raw (unpasteurized) and unfiltered. Be sure to drink apple cider vinegar diluted or it eats away at tooth enamel and can cause burns to the sensitive tissues in your mouth and throat. There have also been reports of apple cider vinegar supplements (in capsule form) causing permanent tissue damage of the esophagus. So use apple cider vinegar in liquid form, diluted with water.
I have been experimenting with a few tinctures and so far I found this one to be the best. It has the diluted apple cider vinegar but also has the baking soda and lime juice which are alkaline and help raise the pH. pH is important in decreasing inflammation. Inflammation is the foundational problem to all the above listed symptoms. The only difference in symptoms is how the body decides to manifest the inflammation. Acne is inflammation of the skin, acid reflux is inflammation of the stomach, allergies is inflammation of the sinuses. arthritis is inflammation of the joints. etc. The spices are added to the tincture because cayenne will increase circulation which is beneficial in healing and turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.
1Tbsp. organic apple cider vinegar
1/2 organic lime squeezed
1/4 tsp. baking soda
the baking soda will fizz, so wait for it to fizz out
a pinch of cayenne
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of black pepper
1/2 cup warm water
Drink 20 minutes or more before breakfast every day.
Make sure the water is warm not hot, for hot water will change the properties of the vinegar and lime juice.
To read other benefits of apple cider vinegar, read my blog.
Our Favorite Coffee Alternatives
Coffee is one of the vials we test for in our food test kit. Due to the acidity and making the adrenals push out more adrenaline than necessary it definitely isn't a healthy drink for everyone. We also test caffeine in a separate vial to see if the sensitivity is to both or just one or the other. We know coffee can be extremely hard to quit and you may even go through caffeine withdrawal with a 3 day headache with it FINALLY being okay on the fourth day. So we wanted to take the time to give you some coffee alternatives.
1. Golden milk
This drink does quite the opposite of coffee for it helps you relax and is a good drink to have after dinner to relax. For all my nondairy drinkers out there, don't worry, you can use seed or nut milk instead of regular milk. Dr. Armitstead's favorite way to make golden milk is with coconut milk. But first, here are 9 reasons to start drinking golden milk or turmeric lattes:
Turmeric helps build immunity
Helps sleep
It is a good remedy for digestive problems.
It supports the liver.
Helps fight cancer
Clarifies the skin.
Gives relief from autoimmune diseases
Good for the brain and fighting Alzheimer's disease
Is anti-inflammatory
When adding it to your diet you need to know that adding black pepper to it helps turmeric become more bioavailable. Which is another way of saying your body can absorb more turmeric if you add black pepper with it. Drinking golden milk before bed can help sleep because turmeric reduces inflammation, lowers your blood sugar levels, helps your liver to detoxify, boosts your immune system and eases your digestive system – all of which help you to get to sleep faster, to sleep better, and to wake up feeling refreshed.
How do you make golden milk?
Serves 2
Ingredients
½ cup warm water
1 cup coconut milk (or any milk you prefer)
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp virgin coconut oil
½ inch ginger knob, peeled and grated
1/4 tsp. black pepper or 2 black peppercorns, crushed
½ tsp cinnamon powder
½ tsp nutmeg powder
¼ tsp cardamom powder
*Optional 2 tsp raw organic honey or pure maple syrup for the vegan version
Preparation
Whisk coconut milk, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, honey, coconut oil, black pepper, and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.
Make ahead of time. Golden milk can be made 5 days ahead and reheated.
Golden milk powder with the exact ratios of spice can be bought here at Wellbends. Just add a teaspoon to simmering milk and you're done!
A great place to buy a turmeric latte with almost any type of milk you want is at Gregorys Coffee with the closest one to the Manhattan office being on 40th St. and Madison Ave.
2. Mud/Wtr
Is a spin of Golden Milk with a little caffeine and health benefits of mushrooms. All organic ingredients with 1/7th the caffeine as a cup of coffee, you get focus, energy and immunity without the jitters, crash and dependency. Ingredients: Cacao, Masala chai, Turmeric, Himalayan salt, Cinnamon, Chaga, Cordyceps, Reishi, and Lion’s mane. The mushrooms boost your immunity in a way that Golden milk does not but it is missing black pepper for the turmeric to be better absorbed. It can only be found online here.
3. Teeccino
Is a dark roast of chicory and barley with other plants that make it taste good and is actually like a dark tea. It is the darkest hot drink we can find other than coffee and does not have any caffeine. They have over 20 different flavors however not all flavors are organic. Some flavors include mushrooms. A great one has dandelion in it to help the liver detox. Teeccino can come in tea bags or like ground coffee depending on how you would like to make it. It can be found at health food stores, local grocery stores and online. Flavors include Chaga Ashwagandha Butterscotch Cream, Chocolate Raspberry, Dandelion Coconut and so much more!,
Anti-inflammatory Teas Now at Healing Arts Wellness Center
Everyone enjoys a good cup of tea or at least I do! The comfort and the taste is something I look forward to daily. I have enjoyed herbal teas for years and was just enjoying it for the comfort and taste when last year I started using herbal teas medicinally. When I say medicinally I mean I started to actually think about the tea I was drinking for the health benefits of the herbs. When I did this I saw my energy which was already good, skyrocket! My digestion improved and the slight swelling I would get time to time disappeared. I was definitely less inflamed overall. I learned so much and using this knowledge I was so excited to open up the Tea Bar at the Healing Arts Wellness Center three weeks ago!
The tea menu I created lists all the herbs that we use but I wanted to write this blog post about the anti-inflammatory teas we have and can blend together for you. Yes, that’s right. We use muscle testing to test what 3 herbs you need in your tea and make the personalized blend right there for you. Since I muscle test supplements for people all day long it was easy for me to think about muscle testing tea too. The creativity came in when I didn’t just want to give a person one type of tea but create a medicinal synergistic affect with a few teas together and create their own tea blend. We have 25 different teas to choose from. Imagine how many combinations of blends we can create with that! You can get one cup of tea or we can make a container for you that is 12 servings.
One reason why anti-inflammatory teas are so important to have at the tea bar is because I think the foundational problem of why dis-ease starts in the body is due to too much inflammation. My goal with every nutrition program is to help the patient reduce inflammation so the body can heal itself. Inflammation is a reaction the body has when trying to put itself into balance or what doctors like to say, homeostasis, against any pathogen or toxin. These toxins can be food, physical injury, heavy metals, emotional stress or heavy chemicals. These toxins create free radicals which cause cellular damage. With enough injured cells inflammation starts to build up. Acute Inflammation is mostly handled by the expansion and activation of blood vessels. Inflammation is commonly associated with the formation of new blood and lymphatic vessels from the pre-existing vessels that got damaged. Interestingly, while the activation of the blood vasculature has been reported to increase inflammation, lymphatic vessels generally appear to exert beneficial effects, by improving the clearance of excess fluid, thus reducing swelling and levels of pro-inflammatory cells as well as a number of immune cells. So keeping the lymphatic system healthy to keep inflammation down is key for a healthy body.
When acute inflammation occurs the chances of it turning into chronic inflammation is dependent on the lymphatic system and that’s why the Healing Arts Wellness Center offers lymphatic drainage therapy. Lymphatic drainage therapy is done by a massage therapist with a machine called Lympstar that uses electrons to attract the sluggish lymph and help it move through the body. All lymph fluid travels to the collar bones where it gets dumped back. Into the blood and lymphatic therapy can help with that movement.
We have been experimenting for months and came up with some great blends when muscle testing for helping with inflammation. Here is the list of teas we have that reduce inflammation and have other healing properties as well.
Cinnamon Blood sugar, anti inflammatory, lower cholesterol (for more on cinnamon, click here)
Echinacea Immune booster, respiratory health, digestion, anti-inflammatory, brain health, skin, anti-aging
Ginger Digestion, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss, women’s health, pain relief, heart support
Green Tea Heart support, anti-aging, weight loss support, immune support, brain health, anti-inflammatory, blood sugar
Holy Basil Digestion, blood sugar, anti-inflammatory, lower cholesterol, brain health, immunity booster, weight loss support, skin support, respiratory support, eye support, detox
Lemongrass Pain relief, sleep support, brain health, anti-inflammatory
Nettle Blood sugar, anti-inflammatory, pain relief
Peppermint Digestion, respiratory, anti-inflammatory, brain health, pain relief, sleep support,
women’s health, weight loss, skin support, immune support, relaxation, brain health
Sarsaparilla Anti-inflammatory, immunity booster, skin support, liver support
Turmeric Pain relief, eye support, immunity booster, brain health, lower cholesterol, anti-inflammatory (for more on turmeric, click here)
We also have blends for digestion, energy, women’s health, brain health, high blood pressure and more. So if you haven’t tried a personalized tea blend yet you must at your next visit!