Golden Milk – A Hug in a Mug

Golden milk – a hug in a mug. Soothing and comforting. At the right time, it even hits the spot more than tea and that’s saying something.

I do love a cup of tea and was reflecting the other day that perhaps I drink too much? When we were in the hospital, there was no tea. I’m not sure how I survived 9 whole days without any Tetley or Yorkshire!

My friend asked me what the Spanish drink for comfort as they really don’t know how to do tea at all. They drink, as far as I can tell, Cola Cao which is basically hot or cold chocolate milk. In my house, we call it glook, which is a word Joshua, who will be 21 in three weeks, made up when he was about 3 and it’s been that way ever since. And that’s what I had every dinner and snack time in the hospital.

Changing our drinking

Since the stroke, as well as changing what we eat, we have had to change what we drink too. Well, I don’t have to but I’ve switched to decaf coffee with Mac, not that I drink that much coffee anyway, maybe two cups a day? One of the things they told us in the hospital was that too much caffeine can cause high blood pressure and I think that Mac had about 8 cups a day, and when I say cup I mean bucket – we like a big cup!

Speaking of which, I bought myself a couple of fancy cups for Christmas, but they are so lovely, I am using them already. The blue one is next to me right now.

I am a tea person, I’ve always loved a cup of tea, like most English people I suppose, but when I quit drinking, I really turned to tea to help me through the cravings and as my friend said, to soothe and comfort.

What to drink?

Recognizing that I drink a lot of tea, I’ve tried to switch things up by experimenting with fruit teas, iced tea, homemade lemonade, water with infused fruits and herbs, still water, sparkling water, hot water, and iced water, but I just can’t stick with it. I have a pretty water bottle which I bought to help me drink more water during the day – it’s not working as well as I thought it would.

Anyway, Golden Milk made an appearance when we got home from hospital, Mac had to have a weird test done that involved weeing into a bottle containing hydrochloric acid over two days, not directly into the bottle, of course, that would be dangerous! The diet he had to follow the day before and during the two days of peeing in a bottle was even more restrictive than what we’d just about been managing to cope with.

No caffeine, no sweeteners, honey, no lemon or citrus fruits, and other things I can’t even remember so basically, the plainest blandest food and to drink it was water, water, and water. Milk was allowed and they never said anything about spices so I made golden milk which is basically warm milk with turmeric in it or if you’re trendy, a turmeric latte.

The recipe I use is this one by Jasmine Hemsley and the one that I had hanging around for the longest time before I felt brave enough to try it. It was the pretty mug in the picture that made me look at the recipe, which was featured in a Tesco magazine.  

Back in May when I made it for Mac I didn’t put any kind of sweetener in but now I put some honey in. It’s delicious and quite literally a hug in a mug, perfect for days like today when it’s wild and windy outside.

It is not difficult to make and don’t be put off by the ingredients, all together they make something quite wonderful and I enjoy the slowness and the time it takes to cook. I know it’s not as handy as boiling the kettle and chucking a teabag into a cup, but I think that’s the point, making it even nicer to savour once is ready.

Ayurveda

I didn’t really understand it at the time, and to be honest, I’m still learning, but golden milk is an example of a healing Ayurvedic drink. There are lots of explanations of Ayurveda, but on her website, Jasmine Hemsley says,

Ayurveda is the ancient Indian art of living a more healthy, wholesome, “Sattvic” life, through our diets, our routines, rituals, and even through the thoughts and intentions we choose to concentrate on.

It is a natural and holistic approach to physical and mental health widely practiced in India and is said to be one of the oldest medicinal systems in the world. I do think that there is lots more to explore here in terms of Ayurvedic living given I really know nothing about it!

But, it does seem to support my efforts in finding a slower, more balanced, intuitive way of living (and eating) that is in tune with nature and my own natural rhythms and seasons, so I will be sure to take a closer look.

If you’ve any experience with this, then I’d love to hear your thoughts. What began as being inspired by an image of a pretty cup seems to be taking me on a bit of a quest. Watch this space…