Drinking Turmeric ...

Imbibe the energy of the divine (or knock it back, whatevs!) Plus, a very surprising superfood you have in your home right now.

Hello gorgeous souls,

I'm cantering into your inbox like Zorro, hoping to defend you from winter woes.

So this month's swag of recipes will feature my favourite restorative drinks and nourishing broths to tuck into, when your body feels compromised or under attack.

The first drink, my Turmeric Elixir, is guaranteed to ignite your limbs and tickle your tonsils silly. There's an all-star cast of fresh lemon, ginger, turmeric and raw honey to get your toes tooting. Together, they have a higher taste voltage than the sum of their individual parts. You'll feel the power pinball around your body. Pure delicious.

The second drink is far more medicinal, but highly recommended as an insurance policy this winter. When we are sick, the last thing we want to do is shop for ingredients and prepare something nurturing. The Wellness Tea Cubes are designed to service days-in-the-dumps. It is one step further than the Turmeric Elixir, and includes the sour but nutrient-rich citrus skins. Any resulting bitterness can be offset with a spoonful of honey and pinch of cinnamon (unless you lose your taste buds, in which case, drink up! Don't forget - inside that bitterness lives many a fabulous polyphenol and phytochemical).  

What's so great about turmeric? Its crazy yellow pigment called curcumin, that's what. And boy has it caused much giddiness among scientists and athletes. There exists an impressive body of research on curcumin's anti-inflammatory properties.

Curcumin has shown to help quell inflammation in our body by interrupting the production of odious leukotrienes. These chaps usually like to cartwheel through our veins, causing swelling and inflammation along their merry way. Leukotrienes are basically the inflammation mafia.

Typical inflammatory conditions you may be familiar with include those ending in -itis such as bronchitis, diverticulitis, arthritis, and other pesky ailments such as sprains, eczema, endometriosis, and asthma.

While curcumin won't cure inflammation, it sure as hell knee-caps it.

I recommend looking for fresh turmeric in the veggie aisle of your biggest supermarket or savvy grocer. Fresh turmeric (pictured above) can go limp after 2 weeks, so either freeze it and grate straight from frozen. Or whip up a batch of Wellness Tea Cubes (pictured below) before its limp date!

I hope your system is serviced well by these turmeric bevvies. My appetite drops considerably with stress. I guess it's my body's natural response - it wants to conserve energy for something else, such as running away from a tiger or juggernaut. That's a typical fight or flight situation for me - my digestion just conks out, and I become weirdly wired. Perhaps you know what I mean?

So I focus on warm tea and soothing broths. It feels silly and frivolous to continue life as normal, posting jolly recipes while innocent people perish in Palestine and Israel from political acts of ego and unconscionable violence. But I truly hope that these wellness drinks can help elevate your mood and your health in the coming weeks, as they do ours.

A poem by @Chiararbini during wartime ...

I am washing my face before bed

while a country is on fire.

It feels dumb to wash my face and

dumb not to.

It has never been this way and it has

always been this way.

Someone has always clinked a

cocktail glass in one hemisphere as

someone loses a home in another,

while someone falls in love in the

same apartment building where

someone grieves. The fact that

suffering, mundanity and beauty

coincide is unbearable and

remarkable.

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Lately I feel that deep breathing is our body's very own superfood. An unconventional ingredient, yes. And totally free. Perhaps you'll give it a go with me, to soothe our nervous system and stress response. Here's a starter's guide. Or a grounding meditation practice with my yoga teacher, that has segued into our daily prayer for peace where each outbreath imbues the air around us with hope and love for all human beings.

Of course, Alistair Appleton's library of 150+ breathwork videos is where you want to be if the first two suggestions work their magic on your nervous system and you fancy expanding this journey. Alistair is a breathwork specialist and meditation master as well as being an all-round beautiful human being. My husband and I do in-person courses with Alistair as well as online regular practice. Watch out for upcoming retreats, especially on Holy Island in Scotland. Heavenly.

Stay well, dear friends.

Susan Jane

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