Putting together my cookbook was a bit of a dance. It was this delicate balance as I strived to offer recipes using ingredients you already know and love, introduce a few new ones, but overall, keep the recipes familiar. I wanted it to be a book that invited you to simply upgrade the healthy/awesome factor in the recipes you already adore.
And then I pushed the limits a little. I added in a fermented nut cheese, a kombucha margarita and a real experiment: Jamu Juice.
The Jamu Juice recipe was based on a drink my husband and I had enjoyed when we were in Bali. The main ingredient, turmeric, is not part of the typical North American diet, and even many nutrition-loving folks aren’t quite sure the best way to consume it outside of a typical curry.
To my surprise and delight, the Jamu Juice recipe was a hit (and it’s actually available on Amazon! If you go to the page with my book and click “look inside” it’s one of the recipes available for preview). I think this recipe showed up more than any on instagram.
I probably should have known better. Two of the most visited recipes on this website this year are:
And so, in honour of this clearly beloved and well needed ingredient, and also because I required this drink more than anything, I came up with yet another new and delicious cold and flu turmeric tonic. This one is for cold and flu season.
For the last two years, at this time of year, usually when the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program is wrapping up, I get hit with a terrible cold. This year had the potential to be no exception and so I called turmeric to the rescue as a preventative. At the first hint of a sore throat I knew it was now or never.
My cold and flu immune power plan included the following:
I did this for three days in a row – three days better spent resting and preventing than being a coughy-snotty-mess. And I got better. It’s no wonder, really. When we work to heal, instead of fight against, we recover.
Aside from supporting immune health, check out the magic induced by curcumin, one of the active ingredients in turmeric!
benefits Of Turmeric
Curcumin offsets the neurotoxic effects of fluoride. (Source)
“Curcumin has been shown in the last two decades to be a potent immunomodulatory agent that can modulate the activation of T cells, B cells, macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells.” (Source)
Curcumin is more effective than NSAIDS in anti-inflammatory properties. (Source)
Research has documented that the physical structure of curcumin is able to bind to cells and reduce the entry of a virus into a cell. (Source)
This is truly the ultimate cold and flu tonic. Combining vitamin C-rich citrus with immune modulating herbs and a little fat to usher in the fat-soluble nutrients makes this a powerful option.
Ingredients are simple enough: turmeric root, ginger, orange and lemon.
I put them through the juicer to make a concentrate of sorts.
You could absolutely shoot this back cold and flu turmeric tonic as a 1 oz shot, if you’re tough like me.
But I love taking 1 oz of the concentrate, diluting it in a cup of hot water, and then stirring in raw honey and a little ghee or coconut oil.
Drink every two hours alongside a healthy dose of rest and your immune system will be giving you a warm hug of thanks, in the form of health through the holidays!
Print
A cold and flu fighting tonic using fresh immune modulating turmeric and ginger and vitamin C rich citrus.
Ingredients
Scale
1/4 cup fresh ginger root or 1 Tbsp dried
1/4 cup fresh turmeric root or 1 Tbsp dried
1 orange, peeled
1 lemon, peeled
Water, honey and ghee/coconut oil as needed.
Instructions
Place all ingredients through your juicer. If using dry spices, juice the citrus and then add to a blender with 1/2 cup water and the dried spices and blend until smooth.
To prepare
Mix 1oz of concentrated mix with 1 cup of hot water. Stir in raw honey, ghee or coconut oil.
Sip.
Repeat every 2 hours.
Prep Time:10 mins
Category:Beverage
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Love my turmeric tea! But that last point about impairing tumor suppressor function is actually a bad thing… from the cited source: “These results are consistent with the observations that curcumin exhibits a modest carcinogenic risk (19) and antagonizes apoptosis [cell death] induced by p53-dependent chemotherapeutic agents used for breast cancer (22).” However, there is a larger and more current body of evidence that argues it’s anti-cancer benefits through a variety of mechanisms (just search Pubmed for “curcumin cancer prevention”).
Hi Meghan. I have your book and have prepared your Jamu juice a couple of times. It’s delicious! How long would that concentrate keep in the fridge? Many thanks.
Thanks for the great recipe! I recently heard about turmeric being contaminated with lead to the point that a child in one family had elevated lead levels – yikes! Would choosing organic turmeric sidestep this problem, or do you know of any reliable spice companies that test for this in their spices?
This is so delicious! I always make some when I feel like I could be getting a cold or if I’ve been around people with colds. It kicks that big away and tastes so good!
It’s a very informative post.As turmeric is highly rich in Curcumin and volatile oils which can treat the people suffering from cold and cough as Haldi has all antiviral and anti-bacterial activities to help your body to fight the infection. Thanks for sharing it. Keep going
Hi there everyone I am bodybuilder and I love Turmric it’s one of the best things out there, it made my bones extremely strong, and whenever I get sick I add lemon and 2 table spoons of Turmric and honey in water then put in microwave, and then I to this for 3 days and my cold is gone. People ask do u take steroids and I laugh and I tell them no I take Turmric it has helped me with recovery and heal my bones faster than anything in life I love Turmric!!!!!
Hi Meghan, this recipe couldn’t have come at a better time for me and I improvised with whatever I had available.
I whirled together 1 peeled lemon, water, and a 1/2″ chunk of ginger in my NutriBullet, strained it and then whirled some of that mixture together with hot water, coconut oil, dried turmeric, and honey. (I was tempted too add cinnamon bark or matcha but didn’t.) It’s lovely :-)
I’ll follow up on how it affects my impending cold.
I’m on day 2 of the tonic! Thank you,..on the road to recovery. Your overall cold & flu plan has coffee enemas listed…it I just read your updated post on them. Assuming this is removed? Do you find a more useful elimination support?
I started to get bronchitis so I mixed turmeric powder, black pepper, cayenne, raw honey together…take a teaspoon when you start coughing…no exact amounts just for the taste you like…would have added ginger powder but didn’t have any.
Do you use the juicer or Vitamix for this? When I used the juicer, I noticed how much discard there was (I made a big batch). I didn’t want to waste this. So I added water to the discard so that it can steep like a switchel. Do you have any other recommendations for the discard? Thanks!
Can this be given to a 13 month old? He has been battling a cold since September and the medications including Antibiotics just not working. I need to figure out how to boost his immune system
Looks good. I make a hot cider that is very effective, but is much more complicated to make. Just one small question, from everything I’ve read about turmeric, I thought adding black pepper was required to make the curcumin more absorbable by the body?
Reading Time: 4 minutes 
I probably should have known better. Two of the most visited recipes on this website this year are:
And so, in honour of this clearly beloved and well needed ingredient, and also because I required this drink more than anything, I came up with yet another new and delicious cold and flu turmeric tonic. This one is for cold and flu season.
For the last two years, at this time of year, usually when the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program is wrapping up, I get hit with a terrible cold. This year had the potential to be no exception and so I called turmeric to the rescue as a preventative. At the first hint of a sore throat I knew it was now or never.
My cold and flu immune power plan included the following:
This is truly the ultimate cold and flu tonic. Combining vitamin C-rich citrus with immune modulating herbs and a little fat to usher in the fat-soluble nutrients makes this a powerful option.
Ingredients are simple enough: turmeric root, ginger, orange and lemon.
I put them through the juicer to make a concentrate of sorts.
I probably should have known better. Two of the most visited recipes on this website this year are:
And so, in honour of this clearly beloved and well needed ingredient, and also because I required this drink more than anything, I came up with yet another new and delicious cold and flu turmeric tonic. This one is for cold and flu season.
For the last two years, at this time of year, usually when the Culinary Nutrition Expert Program is wrapping up, I get hit with a terrible cold. This year had the potential to be no exception and so I called turmeric to the rescue as a preventative. At the first hint of a sore throat I knew it was now or never.
My cold and flu immune power plan included the following:
I put them through the juicer to make a concentrate of sorts.
You could absolutely shoot this back cold and flu turmeric tonic as a 1 oz shot, if you’re tough like me.
But I love taking 1 oz of the concentrate, diluting it in a cup of hot water, and then stirring in raw honey and a little ghee or coconut oil.
Drink every two hours alongside a healthy dose of rest and your immune system will be giving you a warm hug of thanks, in the form of health through the holidays!
Print
Love my turmeric tea! But that last point about impairing tumor suppressor function is actually a bad thing… from the cited source: “These results are consistent with the observations that curcumin exhibits a modest carcinogenic risk (19) and antagonizes apoptosis [cell death] induced by p53-dependent chemotherapeutic agents used for breast cancer (22).” However, there is a larger and more current body of evidence that argues it’s anti-cancer benefits through a variety of mechanisms (just search Pubmed for “curcumin cancer prevention”).
Hi Meghan. I have your book and have prepared your Jamu juice a couple of times. It’s delicious! How long would that concentrate keep in the fridge? Many thanks.
Just to let you know that the Jamu Juice recipe isn’t on preview on your book in Amazon.
:-)
Hope you are having a great break.
I love this but you may want to check into the benefits of adding a little black pepper with the turmeric.
This is EXACTLY what I need today to help kick this sore throat to the curb. Thanks M!
~Bottoms up :)
Hi Meghan,
I am curious why you chose to not post my comment?
Thanks,
Gail
Thanks for the great recipe! I recently heard about turmeric being contaminated with lead to the point that a child in one family had elevated lead levels – yikes! Would choosing organic turmeric sidestep this problem, or do you know of any reliable spice companies that test for this in their spices?
I just finished making a batch of Turmeric cold and flu tonic. I must say it is delicious! Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
Oooh!
I just made this and added a Tbsp of Surthrival colostrum powder to it. Wow! Orange creamsicle!
This is so delicious! I always make some when I feel like I could be getting a cold or if I’ve been around people with colds. It kicks that big away and tastes so good!
Would you recommend taking a turmeric supplement?
do I have to add fat?
excellent tonic. worked well knocking my cold out
How long does it have to be taken? One day, two days, a week?
It sounds really promising! Do you have any ideas on what to do if you don’t have a juicer?
It’s a very informative post.As turmeric is highly rich in Curcumin and volatile oils which can treat the people suffering from cold and cough as Haldi has all antiviral and anti-bacterial activities to help your body to fight the infection. Thanks for sharing it. Keep going
Why don’t you use orange and lemon Peel?
curious why you juice this versus blend. any reason why I can’t use my Vitamix ? (I don’t have a juicer.
Hi there everyone I am bodybuilder and I love Turmric it’s one of the best things out there, it made my bones extremely strong, and whenever I get sick I add lemon and 2 table spoons of Turmric and honey in water then put in microwave, and then I to this for 3 days and my cold is gone. People ask do u take steroids and I laugh and I tell them no I take Turmric it has helped me with recovery and heal my bones faster than anything in life I love Turmric!!!!!
Best thing to take for what ails me
How are you measuring the 1/4 cup of the roots? Are you suppose to juice the tumeric and ginger first to get that measurement?
Hi Meghan, this recipe couldn’t have come at a better time for me and I improvised with whatever I had available.
I whirled together 1 peeled lemon, water, and a 1/2″ chunk of ginger in my NutriBullet, strained it and then whirled some of that mixture together with hot water, coconut oil, dried turmeric, and honey. (I was tempted too add cinnamon bark or matcha but didn’t.) It’s lovely :-)
I’ll follow up on how it affects my impending cold.
Doesn’t tumeric require black pepper to be fully effective?
Is this turmeric tonic basically the same idea as Moonshine Mama’s Turmeric Elixir? Would you suggest including some of the lemon zest too?
Great recipe! Easy to make in the Vitamix and tastes great.
Just made this! I must say et made me feel better instantly. My only question is how and for how long do you store it? :)
I’m on day 2 of the tonic! Thank you,..on the road to recovery. Your overall cold & flu plan has coffee enemas listed…it I just read your updated post on them. Assuming this is removed? Do you find a more useful elimination support?
I started to get bronchitis so I mixed turmeric powder, black pepper, cayenne, raw honey together…take a teaspoon when you start coughing…no exact amounts just for the taste you like…would have added ginger powder but didn’t have any.
Do you use the juicer or Vitamix for this? When I used the juicer, I noticed how much discard there was (I made a big batch). I didn’t want to waste this. So I added water to the discard so that it can steep like a switchel. Do you have any other recommendations for the discard? Thanks!
Can this be given to a 13 month old? He has been battling a cold since September and the medications including Antibiotics just not working. I need to figure out how to boost his immune system
I am going to use the dried ingredient do I have to do it warm can I just mix it with green tea cold
Absolutely delicious ! I found it to be amazing.
I don’t have a juicer so can I just blend the ingredients together ?
Can you tell me how long this will last and should it be stored in the fridge
Looks good. I make a hot cider that is very effective, but is much more complicated to make. Just one small question, from everything I’ve read about turmeric, I thought adding black pepper was required to make the curcumin more absorbable by the body?