Over the course of the last 2.5 years, I’ve been looking for natural remedies to manage my hip osteo-arthritis. Changing my diet was a big part of that. Although I have no cartilage in either hip and am looking to schedule hip replacement surgery in the fall, I don’t need pain medications such as ibuprofen to get me through the day. I only take my ibuprofen in the evenings before I go to sleep. I have stronger pain meds that I can take only when the ibuprofen doesn’t work, which is rare.
A friend in Michigan sent me a link for this tea and I love it. I drink it to help fight inflammation and it’s also a nice, warm, sweet relaxing drink in the evenings before bedtime.
http://www.doctoroz.com/recipe/dr-sanjay-guptas-calming-creamy-turmeric-tea
I’ve tweaked this recipe slightly. I use almost 1.5 C of almond milk because that’s how big my coffee mug is. I will sometimes substitute stevia for the honey to cut down on sugar which can cause inflammation. You could use any type of non-dairy milk for this, I would just make sure it doesn’t contain carrageenan, which is a red seaweed extract used for thickening and adding richer texture to foods. It can cause inflammation, and as you well know, reducing inflammation is important in managing any type of arthritis.
Turmeric Tea:
1 to 1.5 Cups Almond Milk (I use unsweetened vanilla flavor)
1/2 tsp turmeric (I have been using dried, ground turmeric, haven’t tried fresh yet)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp honey (I will sometimes use Stevia instead)
1/4 tsp ginger (again, I use the ground ginger)
I whisk all the ingredients together and heat in a small saucepan on the stove. If you use fresh turmeric or ginger, you might want to strain it before you pour it in a mug.
I also take turmeric capsules on occasion to give myself a break from the ibuprofen. This was my favorite night-time cold weather drink, but I’m feeling in the mood for it this week for some reason.