How to Make Homemade Turmeric Juice

Turmeric or Curcuma longa is a member of the ginger family. We call it yellow ginger or "luyang dilaw" in local language. I must admit that I didn't know much about it until I made this lens and had to research more information.

You see, Mom is a proponent of alternative medicine, esp. homemade herbal teas. Yellow ginger is one of those ingredients she would usually use. She told me that it helps when she's feeling some pain in her arm or hand. So that got me interested and wanted to try it out too.

It turned out that I made a good decision as further research led me to various sites that enumerate the health benefits of yellow ginger -- more popularly known as turmeric. It is used as a spice in curries and other Middle Eastern cuisines, for dyeing, and to impart color to mustard condiments.

Photo credit : By Badagnani (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Mom buys them by the kilo. It's a good thing that we live near the market. She actually prepares them by batches. A kilo can be good for two or three batches of turmeric juice.

Photo credit : All images of turmeric and preparation are mine. @ Rosyel Sawali a.k.a. iamraincrystal. All rights reserved.

You can prepare the turmeric in two ways. One way is to peel off the skin. Mom finds this process a bit tedious as each rhizome is rather small. Plus, your hand is left with this yellow color that is a bit unsightly.

So Mom uses her mortar and pestle to pound on the turmeric and turn them into smaller pieces.

The downside of pounding on the turmeric is you are left with some big pieces. However, they do get squeezed a bit, so Mom doesn't mind. She will be straining the juice anyway when it's ready.

Note : You need to make sure that you wash each rhizome thoroughly before pounding so you're sure it's clean.

Add around three cups of water to the turmeric in the pan.

Bring to boil for around 20 minutes.

The juice has a tangy taste and rather pungent odor. Most first time drinkers find it distasteful. A friend of my mom said she couldn't drink her preparation. However, I find that if I refrigerate it for a few minutes, I could drink my glass without trouble.

Strain your juice as you pour it in your glass.

Refrigerate for a refreshing cold drink of turmeric juice.

One batch usually makes around 4 to 5 glasses.

I probably wouldn't like this drink if I didn't read about its health benefits. Here are some of the health benefits that got me interested in drinking my daily dose of turmeric juice:

> a natural liver detoxifier

> may prevent and slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease

> may aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management

> has long been used in Chinese medicine as a treatment for depression

> Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it is a natural treatment for arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

a.k.a. raincrystal

I've enjoyed publishing lenses on Squidoo since I joined the site back in July 2012. I'm a mom. daughter, and an Internet marketer. I've been active online since mid-2010. I'm a blogging enthusiast and a text ad exchange owner.

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