Let's talk turmeric (and no it doesn't yellow your teeth)

“I stopped having turmeric, my friend told me it yellows your teeth and she’s Indian”

I would’ve gently dismissed this client’s reasoning if she wasn’t the third to mention turmeric teeth. I  had one of our research elves look into the topic and she concluded: 

I found no reliable research that turmeric yellows teeth. In fact, much of the research regarding turmeric and teeth found that turmeric is very good for teeth!

 One study found turmeric reduced plaque and gingivitis. And there’s a turmeric toothpaste hitting the market as turmeric “not only prevents tooth decay but also decreases halitosis, inflammation and tooth sensitivity”

In case you’re not dental-centric turmeric helps with mood (on par with Prozac), joint pain,

It lowers the risk of brain diseases and heart disease. It slows the growth of cancer cells. With some types of cancer, turmeric prevented cancer from developing (colon cancer).

My favorite way to turmeric is via golden milk, you can find the recipe here 

A lot has changed since I wrote that post in 2014, golden milk is now found on menus. In NYC Blakelane and bluestone both offer it. Whether you include turmeric in your diet or supplement it, be sure pepper is involved as it makes its potency skyrocket.

Any other myths you’d like me to look into?

Our best Squeeze program yet and fave new ingredient

 Oh structure we missed you so. We are midway though our Foodtrainers’ September Squeeze fall reset weeks.  Week 1, led by Lauren, concluded Sunday and week 2, my week, is off and running (shout out to our Squeeze achievers doing both weeks).

We design a new program, with new recipes each time (why do less work when you can do more?) but we never really know how it will go until we have a group of all ages, living in all different places, going through it. Many of Lauren’s week 1 squeezers told us it was our best squeeze yet…nice!  We asked our week 1 Squeeze grads to tell us how they felt:

I feel back on track/more confident/able to say no/in control/clear-headed, rested and resolved to continue.

This Squeeze is NO booze, grains, sugar, cheese or scale (yup a full week no weigh ins).  While it sounds like a lot of no’s we have a lot of yes’s too. We select special ingredients and what we call “secret weapons” to spice things up. My favorite this go around is ashwaganda. Ashwagandha is tough to say and tough to drink. Sunpotion politely says it tastes a little “earthy”, we say it tastes like dirt, unless you have it in our OMG Ashwagandha recipe. Why should you “ash”? It’s an Ayurvedic herb, used for over 3000 years, that lowers cortisol, helps body handle stress, balances thyroid hormones and improves body composition and sleep.

Try Ashwaganda and our other new favorites in our Squeeze Bundle 

Squeeze Nightcap: OMG Ashwagandha

We love us some golden milk and this ashwagandha nightcap is a spin on the classic. Don’t stress out about our recipe, if you don’t have all of these it’ll be ok.

And if you are stressing out…all the more reason to try this.

Ingredients:

·      1/4 tsp. Sun Potion Ashwagandha

·      1/2 tsp. Wakaya turmeric

·      1/2 tsp. Wakaya ginger

·      1 cup water

·      Pinch sea salt 

·      Pinch black pepper (pepper increases the effectiveness of turmeric)

·      1 cup almond or coconut milk

·      Optional drops NuStevia (optional)

·      *Add more sea salt or stevia as needed 

Instructions:

1.    Put ashwagandha, turmeric, ginger, pepper and water into a small saucepan, add water and simmer 8-10 minutes or until this mixture reduces and thickens.

2.    Add almond milk and stir, continue until mixture is warm (a few minutes).

3.    Add salt and stevia (if using) and stir again.

4.    Pour into a mug and sip. OMG, you’ve been ashwagandha’d.

If you want a reset, let us know and we’ll put you on the list for January “Whipping Week” info.

So what do you do when you need to reboot? Have you heard of ashwaganda? Any nighttime rituals you’d like to share?