Skin Food Saturday – Turmeric Latte Recipe

If you’ve been following us for a little bit, you’ll understand why we’re super excited about this latest addition to our bog! Our Skin food Saturday posts combine our love for all things delicious, fuss-free beauty, skincare and of course bioscience! On the heels of our avocado truffles, tuna and squash fishcakes and breakfast smoothie, we are excited to present the Turmeric latte for this week’s skin food. Find out what makes turmeric so fantastic for your skin and how to incorporate it into your beauty routine!

This week’s Skin food under the spotlight  is Turmeric

This delicious spice has been used for centuries in a wide variety of eastern cooking. In more recent years it has taken the wellness industry by storm with nutritionists and health coaches advocating for its magical health benefits as ‘natures wonder drug’. No doubt you will have tried it in a curry or stew, or for the more experimental, you might have swapped your morning coffee for a golden latte. I must say, I’m a big fan!

But what exactly are the health benefits of Turmeric? and is really worth it?

This blog will dive straight into the science and uncover how Turmeric is not only great for your overall health, but for your complexion too! We are also sharing our favourite Turmeric milk recipe below so don’t miss it!

Why so Bright?

You will recognise Turmeric for its bright yellow colour, which comes from the active ingredient Curcumin. This property is where Turmeric holds most of its medicinal qualities. Containing high levels of anti-oxidants, Turmeric is a great anti-inflammatory. Nutritionist and author of ‘Re-Nourish’ Rhiannon Lambert believes that the proof is in the science. Without over complicating it, she explains the link between oxidative damage, the existence of free radicals in the body and poor health. Free radicals caused by physiological and environmental factors – so think smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, stress, diet, exercise, pollution for example – can damage healthy cells leading to chronic diseases. With its high concentration of antioxidants Turmeric can boost your body’s ability to fight these free radicals.

What does this mean for your skin?

These bioactive components in Turmeric make it great at tackling inflammation on the skin also. The spice can help boost your natural glow firstly. Secondly, it is an effective wound healing agent. As stated in The Journal of Life Sciences, Turmeric slows down the oxidation process which improves tissue remodelling and collagen production. So for those who suffer with…

• Acne
• Dry skin
• Psoriasis
• & Eczema (as just a few examples)

…adding Turmeric to your diet, or into your skin care regime topically in a mask form can really help reduce redness and quicken the healing process.  This applies to pigmentation and scarring from acne too.

Wider Health benefits

We may have a long way to go, however, research into Curcumin specifically has proved very positive. Its anti-cancer properties and ability to help patients with Alzheimer and a variety of cardiovascular diseases makes it high on the natural ingredient list for improving overall health! Curcumin has been found to kill a vast range of tumour cells and improve memory. Additionally, statistics show that ‘65% of people were considered to have lowered their risk of post-bypass heart attack after taking 4g of Curcumin extract over the course of just 8 weeks’.

Our favourite Turmeric milk recipe

How can we incorporate Turmeric into our diets then? It can be a very versatile spice when you know what to pair it with. Personally, I add it to my one-pot recipes, soups, stews, and curries. I also sprinkle a little on top of my fried eggs. But my absolute favourite way to have Turmeric is as a coffee substitute.  Here is my go-to recipe…

Ingredients

1 tsp of ground turmeric

1 tsp of cinnamon

A sprinkle of black pepper

1 tsp of honey (or any other preferred sweetener)

300ml of hot milk (I use almond or oat)

I like to mix all the spices together with a small drop of the milk to form a paste, then add it to the rest. Mix really well and sprinkle with a touch of cinnamon to finish!