Turmeric

A month or so ago, I became aware of the health benefits of turmeric.  Click here for that article.  It is apparently related to ginger, and I was looking for something to help with inflammation. I absolutely hate taking ibuprofen, and needed a back up plan for My Pain Relief Tea. I figured that something as innocuous as a spice would be easy enough to incorporate into my life, and from research, there were not any side effects that I, myself, needed to be worried about.

I ordered some from Mountain Rose Herbs, 8 ounces for $4.25 of certified organic ground turmeric root (rhizome). I have ordered more than a few times from Mountain Rose Herbs and have been completely satisfied with everything about them, their products, their professionalism, their delivery. Here is the turmeric that I ordered.

When I got it, I tried it in a tea (made the paste, etc.) and guess what? I don't like it. I just don't like the taste of it. I even tried a lemon turmeric iced tea, and ... no go. I just can't stomach it. I don't like Indian food either, and turmeric is used in curry.

So what to do?


Enter The Capsule Machine. :)

This is a handy, nifty tool for filling your own capsules with whatever you want to fill them with. I got mine from Amazon.com, but you can shop around.














Mine came with 1,000 capsules.

It really is a great machine! If you ever have rolled your own cigarettes? this is so much easier than that, and way better for you than that too.

I am going to get my turmeric into my body somehow!












I read from Dr. Weil that turmeric is not well absorbed without piperine, which is in black pepper (see another great article here) so I added some black pepper to my turmeric.

I didn't get too scientific here, just put a few dashes of black pepper into my turmeric bowl and mixed it up.

I'm not sure if it was enough or not, as I can not find ratios anywhere that might be best.



But onward I pressed, and found that the machine is super easy to use. Maybe a little messy, and be forewarned, turmeric stains things yellow...even my fingers.
But I now have some turmeric that I can stomach! YAY!
















I will update in the next several months to let you know if this helped with my arthritic and muscle pains from fibromyalgia.
Best Wishes!
~~Mama Trep
*please do your own research on this great spice!

My Pain Relief Tea

Just a quick note about this thing I've been doing this week.

Some of you may know I have been struggling with abscessed teeth. In order to get these teeth pulled, I have had to come off of my regular regime of ibuprofen for my muscle and joint pain, as otherwise I would bleed too much when the teeth were pulled. I tried a couple months ago to come off of ibuprofen, replacing with Cats Claw supplement, but this didn't work.

And because I don't give up, and I'm always learning, I decided to try ginger. I used to drink straight up ginger tea to prevent stomach ulcers way back when, a long time ago, when I was on prednisone for my illness. Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties.

Peppermint helps to soothe muscles; the lemons are great for boosting the immune system; cucumbers help the liver in detoxing, and aid in connective tissue regeneration; the honey is for a mild sweetener, also aiding in seasonal allergy reactions.

I can successfully say that what I have been doing now works for me. I don't need the ibuprofen anymore. This is important to me, because:

• I'm less reliant on a store for pain relief
• I won't have the skin issues I have had from taking ibuprofen
• With the exception of lemons, these are things I can grow myself
• My kidneys will thank me
• There are other benefits to taking this, besides just the pain relief

 So here it is, My Pain Relief Tea:

1 cucumber, washed with peel left on, sliced
1 lemon, washed with peel left on, sliced
1 handful of peppermint leaves, washed and rolled and chopped
about 3 inches of ginger, peeled and chopped fine or grated
one gallon of water, boiled
1/4 cup local honey

Put all except honey in gallon jug, and allow to cool completely. Strain. Add honey. Refrigerate. Sip as needed.

My plans are to can enough of the ingredients for a year supply, in concentrated form, so that one jar (not sure what size yet) can make a gallon. I will update you on this.

I also plan to find and try turmeric, which has a lot of anti-inflammatory properties.

I did a quick google search and found this link which is about the same. 

YAY!
Have you given up on finding a natural cure for what ails you? Keep trying to find it!