Two Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric & Ginger Teas (Free Alkaline Recipes #172 & #173!) (2024)

These two delicious teas are quite different, but equally delicious.

They both contain turmeric and ginger – and these two spices are anti-inflammatory superstars. They’re amazing.

As I’ve written about extensively (see my turmeric here). Turmeric is scientifically proven to reduce inflammation (more effective than NSAIDs – proven), and fight and prevent a whole host of conditions including several cancers, cardiovascular problems, immune system issues, thyroid issues and metal/cognitive issues – even Alzheimer’s.

Ginger isn’t too shabby either!

It’s anti-bacterial, prevents and relieves digestive issues and also being a strong anti-inflammatory it’s great for inflammation-based conditions like arthritis and supports the body’s fight against ovarian and colorectal cancer and supports the immune system too.

Together they are amazing! Thank you Mother Nature!

Let’s get into these recipes!

Two Powerful Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric & Ginger Teas

I’m going to give you TWO recipes – one for summer and one for winter. Let’s start with the summer recipe:

Ginger & Turmeric Refresher Tea

This tea is very simple but incredibly delicious. All you need is water, a cooker, some fresh ginger, and some fresh turmeric and about 10 minutes!

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

600ml of filtered, preferably alkaline water
1 inch of fresh root ginger
1 inch of fresh turmeric root
Optional: a pinch of black pepper (reported to help absorption and bioavailability of the curcumin in turmeric – I think this has been blown way out of proportion, but feel free to add it if you like – won’t do any harm)

Instructions:

Peel the ginger and turmeric and chop into small pieces (the smaller the better, but if you’re in a hurry you can be quite rough)
Put into a pot, on the stove with the water and bring to a boil
Once boiling, bring to a simmer for 10 minutes (roughly) and then serve!

You can certainly leave it to simmer for longer if you want it stronger, and if it IS summer (lucky you) you can also chill in the fridge and serve as a deliciously refreshing iced tea!

Creamy Coconut Turmeric & Ginger Warmer

Why These Two Teas are SO Powerful!

Turmeric and ginger are both from the same family and are two of the most powerful ingredients I’ve ever researched in the 15 years of running this site.

You can read more about the benefits of turmeric, and grab my turmeric user guide here. I strongly recommend checking both out.

They have been used for centuries in cooking AND as for their medicinal properties, with their use as a medicinal ingredient dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Indians. Both are certainly prominent in Ayurveda.

I’ve written a heap of guides in the past about how inflammation, low immunity, and acidity is the root cause of almost every condition – and these two teas will help address all three of those issues.

Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory with studies showing it to be more effective than anti-inflammatory prescription drugs (NSAIDs)
Therefore is powerful against arthritis
Turmeric dramatically increases the antioxidant capacity in the body
It improves brain function and dramatically decreases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s
Turmeric lowers the risk of developing heart disease
Can help prevent many types of cancer
Turmeric is very powerful at preventing and reversing chronic fatigue conditions
…and can also help prevent depression

[Note: medical and scientific references below]

Benefits of Ginger

Ginger has strong anti-inflammatory properties (gingerols), just like turmeric and so can help treat and reverse muscle and arthritic pain.
The anti-inflammatory properties of ginger also promote digestion and soothes colic, relieve nausea and intestinal gas
Ginger also boosts the immune system and so is a perfect treatment for colds and other respiratory conditions.
Like turmeric, ginger can help to prevent specific cancers: including colon and ovarian cancer
Ginger has also been proven to relieve asthma symptoms
Liver issues that are brought on by consistent medical needs (such as painkillers) can be pre-treated and prevented using ginger
In animal studies, ginger has been proven to be more effective than certain prescription drugs in reducing blood pressure
Ginger has also been shown to be just as effective as medication to treat migraines
Ginger is also well researched in terms of it’s ability to decrease muscle pain and soreness

Enjoy the teas, summer or winter and let me know which you like the best!

Research Studies & References:

Abbey M, Noakes M, Belling GB, Nestel PJ. Partial replacement of saturated fatty acids with almonds or walnuts lowers total plasma cholesterol and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol. Am J Clin Nutr 1994 May;59(5):995-9. 1994. PMID:16240.

Akoachere JF, Ndip RN, Chenwi EB et al. Antibacterial effect of Zingiber officinale and Garcinia kola on respiratory tract pathogens. East Afr Med J. 2002 Nov;79(11):588-92. 2002.

Amal S Abdel-Azeem, Amany M Hegazy, Khadiga S Ibrahim, Abdel-Razik H. Farrag, & Eman M. El-Sayed. “Hepatoprotective, Antioxidant, and Ameliorative Effects of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and Vitamin E in Acetaminophen Treated Rats. Journal of Dietary Supplements. September 2013, Vol. 10, No. 3 , Pages 195-209 (doi:10.3109/19390211.2013.822450). Accessed October 17th 2013.

Aranya Manosroi, Warangkana Lohcharoenkal, Parirat Khonsung, Worapaka Manosroi, and Jiradej Manosroi. “Potent antihypertensive activity of Thai-Lanna medicinal plants and recipes from “MANOSROI III” database”. Pharmaceutical Biology. November 2013, Vol. 51, No. 11 , Pages 1426-1434 (doi:10.3109/13880209.2013.796391). Accessed October 17th 2013.

Ensiyeh Jenabi. “The effect of ginger for relieving of primary dysmenorrhoea.” Journal of Pakistan Medical Association. Vol. 63, No.1, January 2013. Accessed October 17th 2013.

Maghbooli Mehdi, Golipour Farhad, Moghimi Esfandabadi Alireza, Yousefi Mehran. “Comparison Between the Efficacy of Ginger and Sumatriptan in the Ablative Treatment of the Common Migraine.” Phytotherapy Research. 9 MAY 2013. DOI: 10.1002/ptr.4996. Accessed October 17th 2013.

Balasubramanian K. Molecular Orbital Basis for Yellow Curry Spice Curcumin’s Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. J. Agric. Food Chem., 54 (10), 3512 -3520, 2006. 10.1021/jf0603533 S0021-8561(06)00353-0, Web Release Date: April 20, 2006. 2006.

Cruz-Correa M, Shoskes DA, Sanchez P, Zhao R, Hylind LM, Wexner SD, Giardiello FM. Combination treatment with curcumin and quercetin of adenomas in familial adenomatous polyposis. i>Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Aug;4(8):1035-8. Epub 2006 Jun 6. 2006. PMID:16757216.

Dorai T, Cao YC, Dorai B, et al. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in human prostate cancer. III. Curcumin inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, and inhibits angiogenesis of LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vivo. Prostate 2001 Jun 1;47(4):293-303. 2001. PMID:16280.

Ficker CE, Arnason JT, Vindas PS et al. Inhibition of human pathogenic fungi by ethnobotanically selected plant extracts. Mycoses. 2003 Feb;46(1-2):29-37. 2003.

Gururaj A, Kelakavadi M, Venkatesh D et al. Molecular mechanisms of anti-angiogenic effect of curcumin. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2002 Oct 4;297(4):934. 2002.

Hidaka H, Ishiko T, Furunashi T et al. Curcumin inhibits interleukin 8 production and enhances interleukin 8 receptor expression on the cell surface:impacgt on human pancrreatic carcinoma cell growth by autocrine regulation. Cancer 2002 Sep 15;96(6):1206-14. 2002.

Ippoushi K, Azuma K, Ito H, Horie H, Higashio H. [6]-Gingerol inhibits nitric oxide synthesis in activated J774.1 mouse macrophages and prevents peroxynitrite-induced oxidation and nitration reactions. Life Sci. 2003 Nov 14;73(26):3427-37.

Kang BY, Chung SW, Chung W et al. Inhibition of interleukin-12 production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophage by curcumin. Eur J Pharmacol 1999 Nov;384(2-3):191-5. 1999.

Kang BY, Song YJ, Kim KM et al. Curcumin inhibits Th1 cytokine profile in CD4+ T cells by suppressing interleukin-12 production in macrophages. Br J Pharmacol 1999 Sep;128(2):380-4. 1999.

Kiuchi F, et al. Inhibition of prostaglandin and leukotriene biosynthesis by gingerols and diarylheptanoids. Chem Pharm Bull 40 (1992):387-91. 1992. Nature Immunology Online. Nature Immunology Online. 2001;10.1038/ni732. 2001.

Khor TO, Keum YS, Lin W, Kim JH, Hu1 R, Shen G, Xu1 C, Gopalakrishnan A, Reddy B, Zheng X, Conney AH, Kong AN. Combined Inhibitory Effects of Curcumin and Phenethyl Isothiocyanate on the Growth of Human PC-3 Prostate Xenografts in Immunodeficient Mice. Cancer Research. 2006 Jan; 66(2): 613-621. 2006. PMID:16423986.

Lim GP, Chu T, Yang F, et al. The curry spice curcumin reduces oxidative damage and amyloid pathology in an Alzheimer transgenic mouse. J Neurosci 2001 Nov 1;21(21):8370-7. 2001. PMID:16240.

Nagabhushan M, Amonkar AJ, Bhide SV. In vitro antimutagenicity of curcumin against environmental mutagens. Food Chem Toxicol. 1987 Jul;25(7):545-7. 1987. PMID:3623345.

Nagabhushan M, Bhide SV. Curcumin as an inhibitor of cancer. J Am Coll Nutr. 1992 Apr;11(2):192-8. 1992. PMID:1578097.

Nakamura K, Yasunaga Y, Segawa T et al. Curcumin down-regulates AR gene expression and activation in prostate cancer cell lines. Int J Oncol 2002 Oct;21(4):825-30. 2002.

Rhode JM, Huang J, Fogoros S, Tan L, Zick S, Liu JR. Ginger induces apoptosis and autophagocytosis in ovarian cancer cells. Abstract #4510, presented April 4, 2006 at the 97th AACR Annual Meeting, April 1-5, 2006, Washington, DC. 2006.

Srivastava KC, Mustafa T. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and rheumatic disorders. Med Hypothesis 29 (1989):25-28. 1989.

Srivastava KC, Mustafa T. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) in rheumatism and musculoskeletal disorders. Med Hypothesis 39(1992):342-8. 1992.

Wigler I, Grotto I, Caspi D, Yaron M. The effects of Zintona EC (a ginger extract) on symptomatic gonarthritis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2003 Nov;11(11):783-9.2003

Yang F, Lim GP, Begum AN, Ubeda OJ, Simmons MR, Ambegaokar SS, Chen PP, Kayed R, Glabe CG, Frautschy SA, Cole GM. Curcumin inhibits formation of Abeta oligomers and fibrils and binds plaques and reduces amyloid in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2004 Dec 7; [Epub ahead of print]. 2004. PMID:15590663.

Zhang L, Fiala M, Cashman J, Sayre J, Espinosa A, Mahanian M, Zaghi J, Badmaev V, Graves MC, Bernard G, Rosenthal M. Curcuminoids enhance amyloid-beta uptake by macrophages of Alzheimer’s disease patients. J Alzheimers Dis. 2006 Sep;10(1):1-7. 2006. PMID:16988474.

Risks and precautions:

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the use of herbs can interact with other herbs or medications.

Therefore it’s important to talk to your doctor before taking ginger or turmeric. You should not take ginger if you suffer from a bleeding disorder or take blood-thinning medications (such as warfarin or aspirin).

Also Note:

The information on this website is for informational and educational purposes only.

It is not an attempt by the writers or publisher to diagnose or prescribe, nor should it be construed to be such. Readers are hereby encouraged to consult with a licensed health care professional concerning the information presented, which has been received from sources deemed reliable, but no guarantees, expressed or implied, can be made regarding the accuracy of same. Therefore, readers are also encouraged to verify for themselves and to their own satisfaction the accuracy of all reports, recommendations, conclusions, comments, opinions, or anything else published herein before making any kind of decisions based upon what they have read.

If you have a medical condition, please consult your medical practitioner.