Recipe: Turmeric Ginger Tea

Peace everybody - here's another simple recipe. I like to make this tea every night before bed. The ginger and turmeric are both very healing & have anti-inflammatory properties....

Ingredients

1-3 inch piece of fresh ginger root

1-3 inch piece of fresh turmeric root

maple syrup (optional)

Preparation

Cut the ginger & turmeric into small pieces & place in a pot with water.

Bring to a boil & then turn to medium-high heat (7).

Let be for 10-30 minutes - depending on how strong you want it to be.

Add maple syrup or stevia to taste if you wish.

Strain the roots & pour into a tea cup.

ENJOY!

*Try adding other ingredients to suit your tastes/needs. Chamomile flowers are a great addition at night as they allow you to relax & fall sleep. Some people like to add black pepper or cayenne pepper. Cinnamon is good in this tea as well. Get creative!

foods that give you Wings (and a story about redbull)

A few weeks ago, I picked up my friends en route to a cook out. One of them does promotional work for a popular 'extreme' energy drink that was sponsoring a block party earlier in the day. He offered me one and divulged that he had at least EIGHT super sized cans of the stuff in the last 24 hours. 0_0. Then, with disgust, he explained that the most popular energy drinks on the market all contain taurine, an almost amino acid (it lacks a carboxyl group, exempting it from being a true amino acid) produced by the body through the synthesis of two amino acids, methionine and cysteine. And that its a main component of bile acid. And is derived from bull intestines. With regret, I immediately remembered the free redbulls I chugged a few weeks prior at a dj battle they sponsored. yuck.
In the days following our conversation, I read up on taurine and learned that while it was infact first derived from the testicular and lower intestinal fluids of oxen and bull almost 200 years ago as a metabolizer, it is no longer used in most commercial energy drinks sold in the US -small sigh of relief. Cheaper, chemically synthesized versions are used in Redbull, Mtn Dew AMP and many of the other brands you may be familiar with. But as we know,'cheaper' & 'synthetic' are two terms to be weary of in food. I found several articles listing adverse health affects of taurine supplementation including depression and rapid muscle deformation. Others claimed that vegans maintain significantly lower levels of taurine than meat eaters, which makes sense because it is only found in trace amounts in a limited variety of plant life including seaweed & fungi. Our bodies-veg or not- produce taurine naturally as an acid component in bile; an intestinal fluid essential to the food digestion process. So, taurine being marketed as an energy booster is, at best, an indirect truth. Our bodies derive energy from the foods we consume. When your digestive system is working at full capacity, your energy is on trill. Skip the bull (looks in mirror and takes own advice) and reach for these upful digestive aides/energy boosters straight from erf!

Pineapple: Contains the enzyme Bromelain which breaks down proteins. When I have it in house, I eat a few pieces after every meal.
Papaya: Contains Papain which also breaks down proteins. I found some little papaya enzyme tablets in a health food store a few months ago for a dollar. great when you're on the go.
Mango: Fiber galore. Have some and feel your belly go to work.
Ginger: Stimulates blood flow to your digestive organs. Is there anything good that ginger doesn't do?
Kombucha Tea: Fermented & full of lactobacillus bacterium which aid in digestion. I Love Synergy Raw Organic Kombucha http://www.synergydrinks.com/ ! Some Whole Foods brew kombucha in-house and you can bring your own containers and take it home by the ounce/gallon.
Turmeric: Aids in the protection of the liver, which is a major center of digestion and detoxification in the body.
Ginseng: Stamina enhancer, overall energy booster.
Fennel Seed: Extremely savory in flavor. Chew a few seeds after a meal to aid in digestion.
Maitake Mushroom: Stimulates the immune system and fights chronic fatigue. They're delicious.
Bee/Flower Pollen: Sidestepping the vegan/vegetarian argument, pollen contains all 22 amino acids (wow), along with vitamins, minerals and enzymes. known as a 'superfood'




happy eating/living

Ginger 4 Spleen||||||||||||||||||||||

Ginger...

- Speeds up your metabolism.

- It's a warming food so grate it into juices or on salads in the winter.

- Its soothing antiseptic properties help the body handle the cold and wind.

- It's a natural remedy for morning and travel sickness. Something to do with the Gingerols

- It's great for the spleen.

Now I don't know about you, but up until about a year ago, I had absolutely no idea where the spleen was, what it did and why I should even care!

I mean, 'spleen'... it's not the most attractive of words is it? Sounds a bit nasty. But the thing is, it's really rather crucial if you want to benefit from a healthy diet. You see, for all it's a small organ, the spleen has many functions:

- #1 - It acts as a blood reservoir in times of emergency, for example, if we cut ourselves badly.

- #2 - It recycles worn out red blood cells by transforming them into iron in your blood.

- #3 - It's part of the immune system, it neutralizes unhealthy bacteria preventing colds and flus.

- #4 - It works with your stomach for the uptake of nutrients from the food we eat, so a worn out spleen means that even if you are eating healthy foods, you are not going to absorb them properly.

A tired spleen is very common indeed.

If you are prone to colds and flu the chances are your spleen is weak. Other signs that yours needs a bit of TLC would be wind, bloating and (I trust you've eaten) constantly loose and runny bowel movements ie. where no stool has formed.

Ginger is just one example of foods that nourish the spleen. Others are onions, leeks, garlic, cinnamon, fennel and anything high in chlorophyll eg. Kale and leafy greens. And try eating oats, rice or spelt for breakfast.

The main active ingredient in Ginger is thought to be a compound called gingerol, which helps to relax blood vessels and stimulate blood flow. Given that the spleen is so busy with our blood, it's no surprise that it benefits so much from ginger, which also appears to be effective in helping to lower blood pressure and reduce blood clotting (as an alternative to Aspirin).

I always have ginger in the fridge and use it in juices, salads, stir-fries, soups, marinades and dressings. My top tip - if it's just the juice you need, use a garlic press. Far less fiddly than grating it!