Want to Try a Great Ginger Tea?

Today's blog is on a ginger and turmeric tea recipe. We were given the recipe at a dinner with friends.  We loved its taste and started to make it ourselves. I noticed that skipped heart beats that occasionally bothered me at night seemed to lessen considerably if I had the tea in the evening. After months of drinking it without much critical thinking about why it was making us feel better, I decided to do a little research on its ingredients. Below is the recipe and a brief review of the impressive health benefits of the simple and common ingredients.

The main ingredient is fresh ginger root. Ginger has been known for hundreds of years to decrease nausea particularly nausea associated with motion sickness and the morning sickness of pregnancy. It has also been shown to improve asthma, joint pain and recently there has been evidence about its ability to lessen the mental decline associated with aging.

Fresh turmeric root is the second ingredient. Turmeric is found in curry powders. The active ingredient is curcumin. A review of the studies on turmeric was conducted by the University College Medical School in London and they found that turmeric has been found to:

          Have strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant qualities
          Nourish the good bacteria in your intestines (prebiotic qualities)
          Improve digestion
          Improve liver, respiratory, and blood sugar regulation problems

The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Institute has also been studying turmeric. An abstract from one of their articles is included below.

Shishodia S, Sethi G, Aggarwal BB.

Cytokine Research Laboratory,
The University of Texas
Houston, TX 77030, USA.

Curcumin is now being used to treat cancer, arthritis, diabetes, Crohn's disease, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, psoriasis and other pathologies. Interestingly, 6-gingerol, a natural analog of curcumin derived from the root of ginger, exhibits a biologic activity profile similar to that of curcumin. The efficacy, pharmacologic safety and cost effectiveness of curciminoids prompts us to "get back to our roots."

The next ingredient is cinnamon. A recent article in The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society gives evidence that cinnamon helps to regulate blood sugar, lowers cholesterol, decreases body fat and increases lean muscle mass.

The final ingredients are cloves, peppercorns, and cardamon.

The recipe:

Bring two quarts of water to a boil. When boiling, add all the ingredients below and turn off the heat.  Allow to steep in the hot water for 30 minutes and then drain. Can serve cold or hot. Sweeten to taste if needed and store unused  portion in refrigerator for future use.

Ingredients:
  
    Fresh ginger root about the size of your hand, wash and cut longitudinally in 1/2 inch wide strips
    Fresh turmeric root, about one third as much as the ginger root, also cut in longitudinal strips
    six cinnamon sticks
    2 teaspoons of cardamon
   10 cloves
   10 peppercorns

That is it. Let it steep in the hot water 30 minutes, stir, drain, and enjoy.

The traditional foods contain wisdom and nutritional value beyond all our imaginations. It is a welcome change to see our universities and medical centers embrace and begin to study these age old foods.

Traditional Indian spices and their health significance.

Krishnaswamy K.

Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:265-8. Review.