Turmeric itself is from a plant that flowers which belongs to the ginger family. Often it is gathered from the plant’s roots or rhizome stems.
Also known scientifically as Curcuma longa, turmeric is said to have many benefits when it comes to our health, especially in India. Under the Ayurveda, which is the Indian health system, they believe turmeric has many good uses.
For this reason, you might see turmeric tea labeled as manjal or haldi. If this is of interest to you, then read on to find out what turmeric tea is good for.
What Actually Is Turmeric Tea?
Turmeric tea is different to if you were using turmeric as a spice. While they both have the recognizable strong yellow color, you use the turmeric differently.
To create turmeric tea, you steep either the dried or fresh turmeric in hot water. It will turn into a golden color that resembles both yellow and orange.
Once cool enough to drink, you will find it has an earth-like taste to it, often with a spicy hit at the end. The spiciness of the drink makes sense because it belongs to the ginger family – otherwise known as Zingiberaceae.
While fresh turmeric tea is delicious, it can be found in a tea bag form or packaged as a dry loose leaf variety. You may also find it available at a local coffee shop too.
What Does Turmeric Contain?
Turmeric has a number of different health benefits. These include vitamins B3, B6 and C, as well as zinc, calcium, manganese, copper, potassium and iron.
The root of a turmeric plant contains lots of nutritional value too. Here you can find both curcumin and beta-carotene.
These two are antioxidants which can provide the body with lots of different health benefits. The main benefits are helping to prevent serious diseases like cancer and heart disease. They also have the ability to reduce inflammation within the body.
Despite turmeric including curcumin which is a really potent antioxidant, the body struggles to absorb it.Even so, the overall health benefits of turmeric are worth consuming.
Turmeric Tea Has Little Amount Of Calories
Turmeric tea is often noted as being a great drink for people who are looking to lose weight(see also: How To Use Turmeric For Weight Loss). If you do not add any sweeteners to the tea, the beverage will only contain up to around 30 calories at most.
However, it does depend on the type of turmeric you use and how you use the turmeric.
This means that turmeric tea is a great alternative to high calorie drinks if you are looking to shift some weight. It is super relaxing too!
Turmeric Tea Is Caffeine Free
Speaking of relaxing, turmeric is naturally caffeine free. It contains absolutely no amount of caffeine whatsoever. This makes it a great tea for those who want to limit their caffeine intake.
It also makes turmeric tea a fantastic choice if you want a delicious and relaxing tea before going to bed. It pairs extremely well with other teas such as chamomile, which is another tea that is naturally caffeine free.
You might find however that turmeric is often blended alongside caffeinated teas such as black and green tea. When this is the case, the tea will contain caffeine.
So, if you want to make sure it is completely caffeine free, make sure it is 100 percent turmeric, or look for a caffeine free black or green tea blend.
Turmeric Tea Includes Bioactive Compounds
Just as we stated earlier, turmeric has a lot of health benefits. A lot of these are bioactive compounds such as minerals and vitamins, but also volatile oils and polyphenols.
In fact, there are hundreds of compounds within turmeric tea that you could say it is infact a ‘super tea’. These compounds are made up of a number of antioxidants and essential oils that may benefit the heart and the body overall.
Just one of these heart benefits is the potential to lower blood pressure, which could also reduce your chance of suffering from heart disease.
Turmeric Tea Has The Ability To Boost Your Mood
Some scientists are looking at how curcumin affects mood disorders and depression.
While the studies used highly concentrated doses of curcumin – the amount which cannot be found within turmeric tea – it has shown that there is a possibility of turmeric tea being able to boost a person’s mood.
Generally a hot cup of tea can relax a person. You could even go as far as to say it may boost the mood of some people.
This is why, along with the fact turmeric tea includes curcumin, it could help to uplift your mood.
Turmeric Is A Great Natural Dye
If you have ever dropped turmeric spice down your T-shirt, then you will know how much it can stain. This strong yellow color comes from curcuminoids.
The color that is produced is so strong that you can use it to naturally dye garments. You can do this by making the tea and using it as you would a dye to change the color of fabric.
Doing it this way means you are not using powerful chemicals.
Final Thoughts
Turmeric tea has been drunk for thousands of years. It is still drunk today due to its potential health benefits and delicious taste. Often people like the earthy taste and aroma, as well as the spicy hit at the end.
This makes it a wonderful tea to drink at any time of the day – it is naturally caffeine free after all – as well as when you are feeling under the weather with a cold and sore throat.
Due to its spicy undertone, it comes as no surprise that it belongs to the ginger family. So, if you want a low fat tea that has bundles of antioxidants, drink turmeric tea.
All aspects of health are incredibly important in keeping us at the top of our game when it matters most. But many people choose to ignore the health that they cannot see - including the gut, cognitive, respiratory, and more.
Hi, my name is Adam Maxwell and I have been a medical professional for over 20 years. My wife is also in the same field, having been a trained clinical psychologist for 15 years.
Between us, we have seen a fair amount of health-related issues!
