After 2 months of COVID times, I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish and inflamed so I knew it was time to bring back one of my ultimate favorite drinks: Iced Golden Milk (a.k.a. Iced Turmeric Latte)! This is one of my favorite nourishing drinks as it’s easy to make, packed with health benefits, and a great way to start the day. I’m a big functional eater meaning I often base my food choices on the nutritional benefits of something rather than purely eating something just for the dish itself. I grew up in a foodie household though so don’t get me wrong, taste is still very important! I just try to make as many healthy swaps as possible in the process. I’ve shared this recipe countless times on my IG stories, especially in 2019, but I undoubtedly always get asked for it so thought I would make it into an official post so it’s always readily available for reference.😋

Health Benefits of Golden Milk

Before we dive into the recipe, some of you may be wondering how this magical concoction actually helps you. Well, it all boils down to the Turmeric root and its chemical compound, curcumin, which has antioxidants and anti-inflammation properties such as easing swelling, redness and also relieving muscle pain. It’s great for any of us that are living with an auto-immune disease, are currently ill, prepping/recovering from surgery like me last summer, or if you’re just mindful of your health overall.

A Few Pro Tips

• Adding black pepper helps your body absorb the health benefits of the Turmeric. Food combination is a real thing people! Without it, you’ll just have the taste.

• In the States, we call it Turmeric, but I noticed in Portugal and a few other countries, they sell it by its chemical compound name, curcumin. It’s the same thing but just make sure to buy the powder version for easier use in cooking.

• It comes from the Ginger family which explains it’s natural root shape but it’s often sold in a spice format making it easier to use.

• Turmeric comes in a yellow powder which easily stains so make sure any plastic it comes into contact with is rinsed soon after use lest you have yellow-stained items. Same goes for white porcelain sinks as I unfortunately learned from leaving a turmeric teabag in the sink for a little too long.🙈

• I’ve included coffee in this recipe so it’s technically an “iced dirty golden milk latte” or “iced dirty turmeric latte”. If you’re avoiding caffeine, feel free to leave it out. When I’m properly detoxing/needing to heal from something (i.e. an RA flare up or prepping for surgery), I’ll leave it out. If you want a morning pick me up, go ahead and include.

• Play around with the “milk” to coffee ratio that suits you best.

A Personal Note

I first learned how to make this yummy recipe from Unbound Wellness which is a great place to start for those that want to also check it out. As time has gone on, especially as I don’t have my full kitchen, I’ve simplified the recipe a bit to use what I have access to and also just use a warm coffee to blend with the spices as I find it dissolves the turmeric better making it much tastier. I’m most likely also partial to this method as I found this is how they do it at Vikasa Yoga.🧘🏻‍♀️

As I’ve been living in different parts of America, it’s been difficult to consistently find my favorite brand of foods or nutritional supplements. Amazon and online shopping overall has been a nightmare in receiving things on time so I’ve been going old school and mainly buying what I can find in-person. As a result, what I have in pictures may not be my favorite brands. I have noted in the ingredients section the brands I would recommend though in case you are going to pick up new items to make this recipe.

Lastly, as I have RA, allergies, and a sensitive body overall, I generally keep to a low-inflammation lifestyle that is dairy, gluten, and refined sugars -free. Most of my recipes that I share on this site will keep to these principles, including this one below. One of the most important lessons I learned during my Integrative Nutrition studies at IIN is the importance of bio-individuality meaning our bodies all have different needs so what works well for one person won’t necessarily work for another so do what feels best for your body. These are just what work well for me.

INGREDIENTS

• Spices:

  • 1 tsp Turmeric powder

  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp Medicinal Mushroom powder. TLG Reco: Foursigmatic Chaga

  • Dash of Black Pepper

• Liquids:

  • 1/2 cup Almond or Cashew Milk. Homemade is best but this Simply version in the pic is the cleanest I’ve seen w/o any of the “gums”.

  • 2-3 Iced cubes

  • 1/2 cup Coffee / Espresso

• Dash of Maple Syrup. I love this New Hampshire one.

• Equipment: Blender

DIRECTIONS

1. Gather all your items in one place. Make espresso.

2. Add all ingredients into blender cup. Below is how mine looked with the mushroom mix floating & dash of pepper.

3. Blitz together to a count of 20 seconds. The warm coffee will have helped blend together the spices yet the ice cubes and cold nut milk will prevent it from being too hot. Your drink will be frothy.

4. Pour over a cup of ice & stick a metal straw in.

5. Optional: For a fancy feel & nutritious boost, sprinkle some cinnamon on top.😉

Well there we have it folks. I hope this recipe is helpful to you! Have you tried it or have a recipe spin that you’re partial to yourself? Leave me a comment and let me know if so. Always love learning from you guys too.