The Spice That Makes You Happier
By Kat Koh

These days there seems to always be a new vegetable or supplement I “should” be consuming, and frankly, it’s hard to keep up and even harder to figure out practical ways to bring them into my diet.

You might feel this way about turmeric, the spice that is having a big moment right now. Numerous peer-reviewed studies and research on the long-beloved spice are piling up every day, and its list of health and emotional benefits just keeps growing. Eastern medicine has been using it for millennia, and western medicine has been testing its healing effects on inflammation, cancer, and depression, to exciting results. But how to easily eat some turmeric every day might be giving you pause.

Last year, my boyfriend and I were introduced to the Indian home remedy “golden milk” (haldi ka doodh or turmeric milk) by an herbologist friend and I fell in love at first taste. I knew turmeric was an anti-inflammatory powerhouse, but had a limited knowledge of how to use it in cooking. Golden milk cleared the fog instantly. After about a week of drinking it every day, I felt much more stable in mood, more energized throughout my 6am-6pm day, less inflammation in my joints, and my sleep quality was noticeably better. We’re such converts we decided to come up with a powdered version.

If you’re like the majority of adult humans on this planet, drinking a warm caffeinated beverage is part of your morning routine. You likely grew up watching your parents perform this ritual, so you adopted it without too much thought. For me, the best part of discovering golden milk has been simply taking an existing habit I have and tweaking it to reap insane health benefits. Here’s my favorite, dairy-free, from-scratch recipe:

Turmeric Tea/Golden Milk

Ingredients

• 2 cups of almond milk
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon raw honey or maple syrup or to taste
• Pinch of black pepper (increases absorption)
• ¼ tsp ginger powder
• Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

Instructions

1. Heat almond milk into a small saucepan for 3–5 minutes over medium heat until hot but not boiling.
2. Add all other ingredients, stir well.
3. Drink immediately.

Turmeric delivers energy, mood support, stress-resilience, anti-inflammatory power, and is a sleep aid to boot. Whether you make it from scratch or buy a convenient powdered version like Golden Chai, turmeric in your morning beverage is the easiest way to work the superfood herb into your diet.

Kat Koh
Kat is a founder of Golden Chai, the original turmeric-based chai. Golden Chai is an easy way for you to feel great and fall in love with turmeric the way she and her team has. She lives and works in San Francisco, CA.