A Beautiful Turmeric Honey, a Magical Natural Antibiotic
You probably have Turmeric in your spice rack, and you have probably read headlines singing its praises for various uses but this spice that gives curry its yellow color and has a subtle earthy flavour truly is amazing!
While Turmeric has many benefits that include being a powerful anti-inflammatory, a strong antioxidant, and a natural sleep aid; today I want to share with you its great benefits for treating illness. I made this honey to have on hand during this cold and flu season and I would like to share the recipe with you.
Normally I have a super strong immune system but with growing a human and taking care of a toddler I want to be prepared just in case. And what do you know? My amazing and extremely hard working partner has fallen ill these last two days. He is a Carpenter; always working very hard, has a long commute and has been working on the week ends cutting firewood so that we can stay cozy warm all winter long. He hasn't taken a day of rest in weeks and it finally caught up with him, so already prepared I made him some Turmeric tea with this honey that I had ready and hopefully by tomorrow he will feel better.
I have high hopes for this remedy as I was recently reminded of Turmeric Tea or Golden Milk it got me thinking about the first time I discovered its magical healing abilities. About 6 years ago I attended Ska Fest in Victoria BC, I spent five days enjoying live music, alcoholic beverages and certainly not eating the healthiest foods. The day after the festival I had a scratchy throat but figured rightly so, then the next day at work about half way through the day it hit me like a ton of bricks. I told my boss I had to go home and barely made the 15 walk. I then laid on the couch and hardly moved for 24 hours. It turned out at some point I had contracted H1N1 or The Swine Flu. It was terrible, though according to the Dr at the walk in clinic across the street; which by the way took all of my energy to get to said that I was healthy and would recover on my own. He also put me on a home quarantine for a week. I went home and was so sick all I could do was lay there and drift in and out of consciousness I couldn't even watch a movie because the sounds and lights of the tv were to much stimulation and every muscle, even my toes; ached. Somehow I remembered turmeric and I had my boyfriend at the time make me a cup of turmeric and honey tea. So simple, it was extremely earthy and hard to swallow but the next morning I woke up feeling a thousand times better. Like a real human! I still had a sore throat and runny nose but that was it. I went from barely being able to stay conscious to feeling like I had your average cold in one night. It was a miracle!
Many people report that you need black pepper or fat to make the curcumin (miracle component) more bioavailable and while I fully believe they would help, I personally didn't use them so feel free to try any variation you like.
Here is the recipe for my Turmeric Honey:
100 mls of Honey
2-3 Tablespoons of Turmeric
Optional:
Black Pepper or any other spices to taste.
To make just add ingredients to a jar and mix. Simple and effective! I chose to use dried turmeric as the dried spice and honey are both shelf stable meaning that they do not need to be refrigerated and will last even in the cupboard for months. If you had access to fresh and wanted to use it for tea at the time that would be great too. I actually keep some in my freezer for another favourite tea of ginger and turmeric.
To use: add honey to hot water or warm milk, stir until dissolved and drink.
