Monday, April 24, 2017

Good Morning Lemonade Gut Tea


For some months now I've been starting my day with this anti-inflammatory tea that revs up the digestive processes.  What's in it?  Turmeric, ginger, black pepper and lemon.  It's a quite pleasant way to start the day and I find myself looking forward to my morning cuppa!


Improving gut health and function is one of the single most important things we can do for our health. After all, most diseases and conditions are triggered when things go wrong in the gut.  This tea is healing for the gut in two ways:

  1. It helps your stomach produce the acid that is essential for digestion (most people wrongly believe that the stomach produces too much acid, but when things go wrong in the stomach, it is often due to too little stomach acid and rarely too much. 
  2. The anti-inflammation herbs help soothe and heal the intestinal lining.

First thing in the morning-- It's important to drink this tea first thing in the morning and about 20 minutes before consuming any food. That allow the freshly squeezed lemon juice to stimulate the digestive acids in the stomach so that you are ready and able to efficiently digest your breakfast.

Don't forget the peppercorns-- Of course, turmeric and ginger are known inflammation reducers. Did you know, though, that black peppercorns enhance the absorption of the turmeric?  By the way, black peppercorns are the most effective.

Get the right temperature-- When steeping herbs, roots and flowers for tea, it's important to get the temperature at around 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit.  Water that is too hot can bring out acrid or acidic flavors in herbs and spices and water that is too cool will not be as efficient in coaxing the healing properties out.  Luckily, a traditional teapot that whistles, will alert you at the perfect moment.  Just fill the kettle with water and bring to a boil.  When you hear the whistle, turn off the burner immediately and toss in your herbs to steep.


The finer the dice, the better the steep-- Grating the ginger and turmeric roots will help them release more anti-inflammation micro-nutrients into the tea.  A micro-planer is the kitchen tool for the job. However, to be perfectly honest, if I am in a hurry, I simply slice the roots as thinly as I can and toss them directly into my teapot to steep.



Make enough to store for a few days in the fridge-- Rather than just making 1 cup, I make enough to last for almost a week.  That way I can just grab a cup of tea each morning, squeeze in my fresh lemon juice, guzzle it down and get on with my morning.  In the summer, a cooling cup right out of the fridge tastes refreshing, but in the winter time, I like to heat the tea in a small saucepan on my stove.

Sweet Tea?-- You can sweeten this tea with a little honey or stevia, if you prefer.  However, if you are avoiding all sweeteners, or if you are strictly into the healing and don't care about the pleasure, you can leave them out. I often have my tea without the honey or stevia, and I kind of like it that way.  The sour and peppery taste sort of shocks the body into gear, which I find helpful in the morning.

Good Morning Lemonade Gut Tea


8 cups of filtered or pure spring water
3/4" fresh ginger root, grated
1/2" fresh turmeric root, grated
5 whole black peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice per serving
1/8 teaspoon raw local honey per serving (or a bit of stevia), optional

Bring a teapot full of water to a boil.  While you're waiting for the pot to boil, grate a 3/4" piece of fresh ginger root with a micro-planer.  Then grate a 1/2 piece of fresh turmeric root.  Crush the five black peppercorns.  Pack a tea ball with the ginger, turmeric and peppercorns.  When the pot comes to a boil, turn off the heat immediately. Optimal temperature for steeping root teas is at 195-205 degrees Fahrenheit. When the water is the appropriate temperature, place the tea ball into the pot and let the roots and peppercorns steep for at least 10-20 minutes.  To serve, pour a cup full of tea, squeeze in the fresh lemon juice and stir in the honey or stevia, if desired.



2 comments:

  1. I feel really happy to have seen your webpage and look forward to so many more entertaining times reading here. Thanks once more for all the details. tea kettle

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  2. A tea pot is a container which is sometimes quite decorative and sometimes very plain. It is used strictly for brewing tea with hot water and either loose tea or tea bags pour over tea kettles

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