Growing up, my biggest choices when it came to milk were 2% or skim. No one ever designated the type of milk because it was always just assumed it was from a cow. Now just ordering a latte leaves me with infinite milk options. From coconut to almond, nonfat to whole – the choices are plentiful. Well, I’m going to add one more to the list for you. This one, however, is a combination of various ingredients yielding an (almost) super milk. Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to Golden Milk.

Golden Milk is a combination of the spice Turmeric with coconut milk. Now, if you want to get fancy, extra ingredients such as ginger and cinnamon can be added for your sipping pleasure. Turmeric (known as the ‘spice of life’ in India) is the all-powerful ingredient in combination. Turmeric has numerous health benefits that include anti-cancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s an amazing digestion aid, immune system booster, and helps with arthritis and overall skin health too.

 

So how do you make it?

Start by making golden paste. You’ll need:

• ½ cup organic turmeric powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 ½ teaspoons of black pepper (weird, I know – but it helps the body absorb the turmeric so just go with it)
• 5 tbsp of coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil (I used coconut oil)

Start out by mixing the water, turmeric powder and black pepper in a pan. Slowly heat up the paste and continue to stir for 7-10 minutes. Next remove from heat and add coconut/olive oil and use a whisk to fully blend the paste together. Let the paste cool, then jar it up and store it in the fridge (2 weeks is about all you’ll get out of it).

 

Great, so our paste is made – now what?

To make Golden Milk, you’ll need the following:

• 1 tsp of golden paste
• 2 cups of coconut milk
• Vanilla extract, raw honey, cinnamon, Stevia, ginger to taste (optional – try it before you add)

On low to medium heat, mix the coconut milk and golden paste, being careful not to boil. A whisk is helpful here or you can take my approach, the Vitamix. I had a little trouble getting it to be smooth, by my Vitamix took care of that quickly. Lastly, add any vanilla/honey/cinnamon/ginger/stevia additions you have. Boom! You have Golden Milk.

I found Golden Milk to be soothing and relaxing, so I preferred to sip on it before bedtime, however some people prefer it in the morning. It’s totally your choice and the benefits hold strong either way. Even though most of the benefits take place internally, I did notice similar feelings to doing a detox like less bloating and a little more energy. Also, the whites of my eyes got much whiter (is that even a thing?).

 

Have you tried Golden Milk? What was your experience in making it and how you felt?