Golden Milk

Have you ever tried golden milk?

I’ll admit I hadn’t tried it before so I don’t know how this compares to the store brand stuff but I really enjoyed it. It’s the perfect late night watching history documentaries on YouTube kind of drink.

I was initially put off by the idea. Golden milk? That sounds gross. A hot drink with ground pepper? I don’t know. But some people swear by it, and even believe it has some health benefits. Mostly because of the turmeric/black pepper combination. They claim that turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, and when combined with black pepper, they are activated.

So I went on WebMD to see how much could be confirmed… and I was surprised:

• Hay fever. Taking curcumin, a chemical found in turmeric, seems to reduce hayfever symptoms such as sneezing, itching, runny nose, and congestion.
• Depression. Most available research shows that taking curcumin, a chemical found in turmeric, reduces depression symptoms in people already using an antidepressant.
• High levels of cholesterol or other fats (lipids) in the blood (hyperlipidemia). Turmeric seems to lower levels of blood fats called triglycerides. The effects of turmeric on cholesterol levels are conflicting. There are many different turmeric products available. It is not known which ones work best.
• Buildup of fat in the liver in people who drink little or no alcohol (nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD). Research shows that taking turmeric extract reduces markers of liver injury in people who have a liver disease not caused by alcohol. It also seems to help prevent the build-up of more fat in the liver in people with this condition.
• Osteoarthritis. Some research shows that taking turmeric extracts, alone or in combination with other herbal ingredients, can reduce pain and improve function in people with knee osteoarthritis. In some research, turmeric worked about as well as ibuprofen for reducing osteoarthritis pain. But it does not seem to work as well as diclofenac for improving pain and function in people with osteoarthritis.
• Itching. Research suggests that taking turmeric by mouth three times daily for 8 weeks reduces itching in people with long-term kidney disease. Also, early research suggests that taking a specific combination product (C3 Complex, Sami Labs LTD) containing curcumin plus black pepper or long pepper daily for 4 weeks reduces itching severity and improves quality of life in people with chronic itching caused by mustard gas.

Source: WebMD: Turmeric Uses

So it seems like there could actually be some benefits in eating turmeric. But still, insufficient evidence that it works as an anti-inflammatory.

I would be willing to accept that it could be a Placebo effect, but I did notice that the shoulder pain I have been experiencing seemed to subside about a half hour after drinking it.

11/23/19 Edit: it also subsided the second and third night I drank it, as well.

And here’s what really sold me… the taste. It actually was very enjoyable and creamy. It sort of reminded me of a this vanilla nighttime drink powder I had as a child. What was it called? Oh yeah! Horlick’s! Ahhh, that’s shit was poison. No, just kidding. It’s great….

Here’s the recipe I mixed together that ended up being enough for one big ol’ mug of golden milk (pictured above)

Feel free to double or triple the recipe for friends or loved ones. 😉

Recipe:

1 and 1/2 cups milk preference – I used oat milk
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
A pinch of ground black pepper
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

Mix together and being to a simmer over medium heat.

Once simmering, I turned off the heat, gave it another stir, and poured it into my mug.

Once cool enough to drink, I gave it a try. It was amaaaaazing.

I hope you like it, too.