Turmeric ginger cinnamon tea with lemon & honey

An easy & healthy turmeric ginger cinnamon tea with lemon & honey that only requires 5 ingredients. It is not only delicious, it's a treat for the eyes with its beautiful, naturally golden color!

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• Why Make this
• Health benefits
• Where to buy
• Side Effects
• Variations
• Tips
• How to store
• FAQ
• Other Asian tea
• Turmeric ginger cinnamon tea

Why Make this

1. It's good for you- the perfect drink for boosting your immunity during flu season. A warm cup of lemon ginger turmeric tea is the perfect anti-inflammatory drink in winter. (For more flu-busting foods, try this vegan wonton soup packed with ginger and garlic.)
2. It's so pretty: that vibrant golden hue is all natural! For more golden coloured foods, click here.
3. It's super easy to make.

For more turmeric recipes, click here, and for turmeric substitutes (though preferably not for this tea recipe, if you want to get its full health boost), click the 2nd link.

Health benefits

All of the ingredients in this turmeric ginger cinnamon tea have been chosen for their positive impact on the immune system.

Turmeric

Turmeric is a rhizome containing curcumin and thus is often extolled for its health benefits- it is used in Ayurvedic & Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a very common ingredient in Asian & Indian kitchens. In India, turmeric was a medicinal herb used for joint, respiratory, digestive and skin problems. 

Curcumin has good anti-inflammatory properties and is a potential treatment for osteoporosis & other illnesses. However, not much concrete evidence of the benefits of turmeric is available as its curcumin content is very unstable. (1 study claims that taking turmeric 3x a day is comparable to a daily 1200 mg dose of ibuprofen, but more research is necessary to confirm this.)

You can easily grow turmeric (and ginger) in a tropical garden- for more edible Asian garden recipes, click here.

Ginger

Ginger (Zingiber officinale), which has a bold, almost spicy flavour, has a lot of powerful anti-oxidant plant compounds. Its many bioactive compounds include lot of anti-inflammatory gingerols. Ginger is used in many cold, nausea and arthritis treatments.

A study of people with rheumatoid arthritis found that daily ginger powder over a period of 12 weeks helped to improve inflammation. Another 2019 Supportive Care in Cancer study found that taking ginger every day improved gastro-intestinal symptoms of advanced cancer patients.

Fun fact: ginger in animal studies has even been shown to boost testosterone!

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been used since 2800BC, and is a traditional remedy for respiratory and digestive illnesses. There are 4 types of cinnamon:

• True cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon (also known as Mexican cinnamon) (Cinnamomum zeylanicum)
• Indonesian cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanni)
• Vietnamese cinnamon (Cinnamomum loureiroi)
• Cassia cinnamon (also known as Chinese cinnamon) (Cinnamomum aromaticum)

Ceylon cinnamon is expensive but should be used whenever possible due to its low coumarin. Be careful of using too much Cassia cinnamon, which contains high amounts of coumarin, a carcinogenic substance that can harm your liver and is toxic in large doses. 

Cinnamon contains phytochemicals which help brains better utilize glucose. It also has anti-microbial elements and can limit the growth of Listeria, Escherichia coli & other bacteria in food. There are also many other cinnamon studies, researching its effect on:

• regulating glucose levels
• anti-inflammatory properties
• anti-oxidant effects
• heart diseases
• lipids
• cancer
• blood pressure
• etc

Note: all this information is FYI only and not meant as medical or health advice. Please consult a qualified health or medical professional for advice.

Fresh lemon juice

A squeeze of lemon juice not just makes the tea taste better, it also boosts the vitamin C content: 1 lemon has 31 mg of Vitamin C, an anti-oxidant that protects your cells from free radical damage, which is why warm lemon water is so good for you when you have a sore throat.

You could also try it with calamansi, another citrus fruit that has a delicious floral taste.

Tip: Serve each mug of tea with a slice of lemon on the side for visual effect.

Honey

A touch of honey helps to counter the sourness of the lemon juice.

Raw honey is preferred for its health benefits but, if vegan, you can use bone char free sugar or a sweetener of your choice.

Where to buy

Cinnamon, ginger, lemon and honey are all readily available in most super markets. For fresh turmeric, you will probably need to go to a shop like Whole Foods- alternatively, you can make do with ground turmeric, which can be found in most grocery stores.

Note: always check the cinnamon is Ceylon cinnamon- even the McCormicks ground cinnamon on your spice rack is Cassia, not Ceylon!

Side Effects

These spices may react negatively with certain medications, such as warfarin, so always consult a medical doctor first. 

Some people have also suffered from diarrhoea, heartburn etc after taking too much of this herbal tea, so everything in moderation!

Variations

1. This turmeric ginger tea recipe can be enjoyed both hot, on a cold day, or called as an iced tea in the summer
2. Turn it into Golden milk: this turmeric ginger and cinnamon tea also tastes great with milk, coconut milk or almond milk (start by using a 1:1 ratio of the turmeric tea to milk then adjusting to suit your taste, if necessary.)
3. If you enjoy spice, you can add a pinch of black pepper, cayenne pepper, clove or nutmeg to this soothing tea.

Tips

1. I used fresh turmeric ginger in my recipe but if you live outside of Asia, fresh turmeric may not be easy to get so feel free to use powdered ginger and turmeric if necessary- I often do, if I've not had time to do a grocery run!
2. If you like a really spicy taste, grate your fresh ginger to make it stronger. (Or simply add more ginger.) If you want a smooth tea and you're using grated ginger in your turmeric tea recipe, you may need to strain out the pulp with a fine-mesh strainer after simmering the tea. (That's why I prefer using ginger slices- much less work!)
3. Make sure you're using true Ceylon cinnamon and not Cassia cinnamon which can have negative effects on your health! (For more info on this see "Cinnamon" above.)
4. If you enjoy giving homemade food gift to friends, you can use pack dried turmeric powder, dried ginger powder and ground cinnamon into a tea bag as presents for friends. (Here are 21 more homemade food gift ideas for you.)
5. Turmeric stains everything super easily. Don't cut fresh turmeric root on a white counter top, and don't wear your favourite clothes when working with turmeric!

How to store

Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. This turmeric ginger cinnamon lemon honey tea can be drunk straight out of the chiller, or you can re-heat it if you prefer a hot cup of turmeric ginger and cinnamon tea.

FAQ

Other Asian tea