Turmeric Latte & Curcumin Benefits

If you’re into wellness or you frequent health food cafes, you’ve probably noticed turmeric popping up on more and more menus. Turmeric juice shots, turmeric tonics – even major chains like Starbucks and Peet’s Coffee started offering turmeric golden milk lattes (loaded with sugar though – watch out).

So, is turmeric really that great?

Turmeric is most well-known for (and definitely marketed for) it’s anti-inflammatory properties. And given more and more research is beginning to view inflammation as the root of disease, it makes sense we want to reduce it.

A quick side note on inflammation…not all inflammation is bad. Acute inflammation (such as swelling when you sprain your ankle) is a necessary and vital function of your immune system, and your body’s way of helping you heal. The PROBLEM is when inflammation becomes chronic, aka your body is producing a low-level inflammatory immune response all the time – even when there’s no specific “invader” or injury. Chronic inflammation can have a variety of causes, ranging from autoimmune disorders, gut issues such as leaky gut, poor diet and lifestyle choices such as diets high in sugar and trans fats, lack of sleep, excess stress, lack of exercise, obesity etc. Chronic inflammation has been linked to several major diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Okay so, turmeric and inflammation – what’s the deal?

Well when we’re we’re taking about turmeric reducing inflammation, its really the curcumin – the biologically active compound in turmeric – that has been studied and shown to produce these health benefits (most famously reducing inflammation). Curcumin has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin 6 (IL-6).

So when you’re seeing claims on different turmeric containing products or tonics that they ‘anti-flammatory’, its really thanks to the curcumin.

And while getting nutrients from whole foods (like turmeric root powder) is great, turmeric is only about 3% curcumin by weight. If you do the math on that, that means you’re getting about 100-200mg of curcumin per tablespoon of turmeric, and about 30-65mg per teaspoon (the typical turmeric serving size). This can be great for a little anti-inflammatory boost, but if you’re trying to reach the kind therapeutic benefits of curcumin seen in studies, you’ll want to look at adding 500-1500mg of curcumin. And since it’s quite hard to eat 15 tablespoons of turmeric a day, I take curcumin supplements.

If you’re interested in adding curcumin supplements to your routine, always check with your doctor first, and make sure you look for a brand that contains warming spices like black pepper and ginger to help increase the bioavailability (I love these by NatureWise).

Alright alright just give me the latte recipe…

CREAMY TURMERIC TONIC

• 1 tsp Golden Milk blend of choice (I love Gaia Herbs and Four Sigmatic)
• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/2-1 tbsp fat (coconut butter, coconut oil or MCT oil)
• 1 dropper liquid stevia
• Dash of pink salt

Combine the ingredients and blend! I tend to use a hand-held electric whisk since turmeric can stain blenders