There is nothing more healthy and welcome on a cool rainy day in the jungle than some turmeric tea from freshly harvested root.
First job was to venture out in the rain for a plant to harvest. I opted for a pot close to the house for speed as the rain is really coming down today! I eased the plant from its pot ( this had only been planted about six months so I wondered if there would be enough root growth but it turned out to be fine for what I had in mind.
I washed the roots thoroughly in a bucket of water to remove the mud then carefully removed all the fingers of a useable size. The plant itself still completely intact, I thanked it profoundly for its offering of roots and medicine, then I quickly replanted again so it could continue its life to regrow. It was only out of the ground for about 10 minutes so hopefully not traumatized too much💚
Having sliced a bunch of the fingers into small rings I put them to simmer in a small pan of water for around 30 minutes adding a little freshly ground black pepper as the pepper in the mix helps the body absorb the curcumin. I love the alchemy of nature at work like this. I then strained the beautiful yellow liquid and added the juice of a freshly picked lemon and some honey.
I have noticed that honey labels here on Costa Rica say HONEY FROM BEES - I don’t know what other sort of honey there is apart from Bee honey so this always makes me smile. I asked a shop assistant here once what other sorts of honey might I expect to find in Costa Rica expecting her to have some ancient awareness of honey collecting from other insects, but she only smiled and shrugged her shoulders saying she had no idea😆
Not only is turmeric delicious but it is an absolute powerhouse of natural medicine to boost health and give you a real tonic. The most active ingredient in turmeric is Curcumin. It’s a strong anti-oxidant and is a powerful anti inflammatory so very useful in treating the symptoms of arthritis.
It improves brain function and reduces the chances of brain disease. Also being useful in treating depression, Alzheimer’s and age related diseases. It is extremely beneficial to reduce symptoms that cause heart disease. It improves blood flow and reduces the risk of blood clotting and therefore decreases the risk of suffering heart attacks.
The turmeric colour is very intense and will stain clothes and skin so take care😉