Daily ginger Tea Recipe
The benefits of ginger and turmeric are incredible. Not only does this tea have to potential to boost your immunity and enhance your body's anti-inflammatory response, it will also help prepare your digestive fire (agni) to efficiently assimilate food into nutrients.
Try incorporating ginger tea into your daily Ayurvedic routine.
INGREDIENTS
1-inch piece fresh ginger root, washed (or 2 teaspoons ginger powder)
1/2 inch piece fresh turmeric root (or 1 teaspoon turmeric powder)
4 cups water
instructions
Grate ginger and turmeric roots, or thinly slice (peeling is not necessary).
In a medium pot, combine ginger, turmeric and water. Bring to a boil.
Turn heat to low. Simmer 5-10 minutes, covered or partially covered.
Strain and serve.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
This ratio makes for a strong herbal tea; if you'd like to mellow it out a little, dilute by filling your mug halfway with ginger tea and adding equal parts warm water.
For simplicity’s sake, you may prefer to use Turmeric Ginger Tea Bags.
For an additional boost, add a pinch of ground black pepper to increase turmeric absorption in the body.
If you know you won't have time in the morning, make it the night before.
I like to leave it on the stove and drink it warm or at room temperature throughout the day (and even into the next day). Sometimes, I even find other purposes for my excess ginger tea, such as:
Incorporating a small amount in recipes that call for water
Adding it to soup (like miso) or kitchari.
Using the tea for a facial steam to break up congestion.
Letting it cook down even more to make an concentrated tonic that can be added to other herbal medicines.
Ginger: The “Great Medicament”
Scientific research is reinvigorating curiosity around centuries-old traditional herbs by shedding light on the naturally occurring compounds that may be responsible for their health-promoting benefits. Ginger is a classic example of an herb that has been prized for its potential therapeutic benefits, in addition to being a common feature in culinary preparations.
Ginger has been widely used by Indian and Chinese physicians for thousands of years. Within the healing science of Ayurveda, ginger is referred to as the “Great Medicament” — or vishwabhesaj, which can also be translated to “The Universal Medicine” — in honor of its vast array of possible health-supporting properties.
You may have known people to chew on ginger when they seek to ease nausea or to sip ginger tea when trying to ward off a seasonal sickness. An Ayurvedic Practitioner may recommend it be applied topically to the temples to help relieve tension of the head. Additionally, ginger is considered to be a sattvic herb, which means it neither agitates the mind nor creates dullness in the body — a perfect middleground for those seeking higher spiritual states. This sattvic quality is what makes ginger a common ingredient in the yogi diet.
Ginger comes in several different forms, the main three being: powdered ginger, cut/sifted dry ginger, and fresh ginger. Ginger Tea Bags typically use the cut/sifted version. All three versions of ginger are all derived from the rhizome of the plant, or the root. While the leaves and flowers of a ginger plant are beautiful, most of the nutritive and beneficial potency lies beneath the soil in the root itself.
The Ayurvedic Perspective on Ginger
In Sanskrit, ginger has two different names. It is called sunthi when it’s dry (like in powder form) and ardaka when it’s fresh and moist (straight from the root). Ayurveda classifies ginger as pungent, which is another word for spicy. It is also said to embody the sweet tastes and have a heating effect on the body. Have you ever noticed that you feel warmer after drinking ginger tea? That’s not just because the tea is warm in temperature, it’s also because of the heating action that ginger has within the body. Drinking a ginger kombucha or another ginger-based beverage will likely have a similar effect.
This is an excerpt from an article I wrote for Starwest Botanicals in March 2024.
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