Golden Banana Milk

Have you heard of Golden Milk? It’s a delicious Ayurvedic concoction of milk, sweetener, oil, and the spice turmeric. (Scroll way down under my recipe to read all the many reasons why daily turmeric consumption is recommended.) Here is how to make the classic recipe:

When I follow this recipe I use homemade almond or cashew milk, raw agave, and coconut oil. But sometimes I just don’t feel like taking all the steps or consuming the fat, yet would like to consume turmeric daily. So I was thinking: what is creamy, already sweetened, and low in fat?

Bananas!

And bananas make a great milk. In my recipe below bananas take the place of homemade nut milk, oil, and the raw agave. This is how I made a delicious, quick batch of Golden Banana Milk.

Measure out 1/2 cup of purified water (I use distilled water) and 1/4 cup turmeric spice, ideally organic.

In a small stainless steel pan, add the water and turmeric. Be very careful because turmeric stains horribly….your kitchen linens, countertop, pans, and utensils!

Whisk the water and turmeric together. While stirring, heat until the mixture starts to boil. After the boiling point is reached, lower the heat and for roughly ten minutes continue to stir or whisk while the mixture reduces into a paste.

The mixture will darken a bit and thicken into a paste.

Put your turmeric paste in a glass container for storage. This batch will last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator.

Next, choose two bananas. Make sure they have lots of freckles. Here’s why freckled bananas are the only wise bananas to consume.

Have your two bananas, 1 cup of water, turmeric paste, and blender (preferably high speed) ready.

Blend two bananas and 1 cup of purified water.

This is creamy, sweet, low-fat banana milk!

Banana milk!

Now add between 1/4 teaspoon and 1 teaspoon of turmeric paste. I used 1 teaspoon and the flavor is strong, so if this is your first round, use less and slowly acclimate to the taste.

This is the banana milk with turmeric added. See how the color changed?

Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy. This recipe is not heated, but by using room temperature bananas instead of frozen, room temperature water instead of cold, and a high-speed blender, the final product is warm….oh, so pleasantly warm. And quick!

Why do you want to consume turmeric daily? According to Dr. Michael Greger in his book How Not to Die on page 351:

“We have seen [so far in this book] how curcumin(the pigment in turmeric that gives it that bright yellow color) may play a role in preventing or treating lung disease, brain disease, and a variety of cancers, including multiple myeloma, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer. But curcumin has also been shown to help speed recovery after surgery and effectively treat rheumatoid arthritis better than the leading drug of choice.

It may also be effective in treating osteoarthritis and other inflammatory conditions, such as lupus and inflammatory bowel disease. In the latest trial for ulcerative colitis, a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study found that more than 50 percent of patients achieved remission within just one month on curcumin compared to none of the patients who received the placebo.”

Dr. Greger recommends about a 1/4 teaspoon a day of turmeric. He also writes that cooked turmeric appears to offer better DNA protection, while raw turmeric may have greater anti-inflammatory effects so he recommends to enjoy it both ways. If you’re not up to making turmeric paste, include 1/4 teaspoon of dried turmeric spice straight out of the jar in your banana milk. Raw turmeric root (which looks very much like ginger root) is another option and apparently has a more mild flavor. Dr. Greger warns that turmeric may complicate gall and kidney stones so be sure to read up on his advice about that on page 356 before consuming turmeric.