Turmeric & Ginger

Immunity-Boosting, Carcinogen-Blocking & Anti-Inflammatory

Make your own cold-press juice/puree using fresh, organic ginger & turmeric roots! Add some organic orange puree which adds a hint of nature's sweetness to "help the medicine go down". Use a high-speed blender (I like VitaMix) to puree peeled oranges to enhance the whole-food, plant-based nutrition (fiber, vitamins etc.). The turmeric root & ginger root should be juiced with a masticating extraction juicer, as pictured, in order to extract the most nutrients & to discard the skin.

If you don't like the thick mouth-feel contributed by the fiber and pectin in the oranges, I recommend just adding water to your shot to dilute. Try to avoid juicing fruit because it concentrates the sugars & removes the healthy fiber pulp. Juicing fruit results in a sugar-concentrated, pulp-free juice that can cause a sharp blood-sugar spike when consumed. It's best to avoid blood-sugar spikes to avoid metabolic dysfunctions like insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. If you don't like the water dilution option, then go ahead & juice the oranges if you must! The best way to consume a plant, or anything healthy, is the way that you will consume it most often! However, looking to nature, it's clear that we were made to consume the whole, peeled orange, not the sugar-concentrated orange juice.

Aside from sugar content, it's also optimum to consume the whole-food, in this case, the whole, peeled orange. Reducing an orange to individual, known components like sugar, vitamin C, fiber etc., we can miss out on other components in the food that may enhance nutrition and bioavailability of certain nutrients. In general, maximum health benefits are derived by combining the various plant components compared to individual purified phytochemicals. So it’s always better to eat the whole fruit/plant. For a more in-depth look at the benefits of whole-food nutrition versus what Dr. T. Colin Campbell refers to as "reductionism", I highly recommend Dr. Campbell's book, "Whole - Rethinking the Science of Nutrition".

I prefer smoothies for most veggies/fruit so the whole-food nutrition stays intact. I reserve juicing only for ginger & turmeric root as there's no known nutritional benefit or sensory advantage to consuming the skins of these roots. And because ginger and turmeric roots are very fibrous/stringy and don't blend well in a blender!

Organic turmeric from Hawaii is fairly expensive (~ $22/Lb), but this is a very concentrated shot since no water is added. Grocery store shots are mostly comprised of water, so by making your own shot concentrate, you can be sure you are getting the most nutrient bang for your buck! If you consume 1.8 oz. (50 grams) of this shot concentrate per day, it will cost about $1.70. Store-bought shots cost about 2x this amount, are diluted, do not contain whole-fruit puree and are often heat-treated which destroys the antioxidants.

If you want the benefits of ginger & turmeric (anti-inflammatory, carcinogen-blocking, immune-boosting) but don't have the time &/or money to make shots, you can fill your own plant-based capsules (cellulose) with organic ginger, turmeric & black pepper powder. I purchase these organic spices at my local co-op in the bulk spice section and it costs 3-4x less than packaged spices found at the grocery store! In order to get 3/4 tsp of ginger + 3/4 tsp of turmeric, you need to fill about 6-7 capsules of each spice. Add a dash of organic black pepper (contains peperine) or take the capsules with food containing black pepper for enhanced absorption of the curcumin in the turmeric.

Check out some of Dr. Michael Greger's short video clips & blog posts on the anti-inflammatory benefits of herbs/spices like turmeric and ginger:

"Which Spices Fight Inflammation?"

"How Plants Can be Both Safer & More Effective"

"Carcinogen-Blocking Effects of Turmeric"

Shot Ingredients:

~ 6 Oranges*, small, peeled (yield ~ 500 mL or ~ 2 cups juice)

~ 1 Lb. Turmeric Root* (yield ~ 345 grams juice)

~ 1 Ginger Root*, large, ~ 100 grams (yield ~ 87 grams juice)

Optional Shot Ingredients:

1/4 tsp. Citric Acid or Lemon Juice* to further reduce pH (increase acidity)

*Organic

Shot Instructions:

1) Wash/scrub turmeric and ginger roots thoroughly & place in a bowl of 200 ppm bleach solution (1/2 TB bleach + 1/2 gallon water or 5 mL bleach + 1 Liter water) for 1-2 minutes. Use a spoon to move the roots around in the bleach solution. Rinse roots with clean water and allow to air-dry on a clean, sanitized surface.

2) Place peeled oranges in high-speed, extraction blender like a VitaMix & puree. Keep lid on blender to reduce airborne mold from getting into the orange puree while you juice the roots.

3) Cut the ginger and turmeric roots lengthwise & place in electric masticating extractor juicer (extrusion, corkscrew-type) as per the juicer instructions.

4) Combine orange puree with turmeric & ginger juice & if desired, add citric acid or lemon juice to increase acidity and enhance preservation.

5) Store shot concentrate in a sealed glass container in refrigerator for ~ 2 weeks or freeze in ice cube trays for up to ~ 2 months**.

6) Enjoy 1 shot glass (~ 50 grams) of this concentrated juice/puree daily or dilute 1 shot with water if you prefer a juice-like viscosity & less intense ginger flavor. The fresh ginger packs a punch that can burn a bit if you're not used to it!

** Note: Shelf-life will vary depending on the microbial load. This is raw/cold-pressed (no heat-treatment)*** shot, so spoilage microbes are present. Spoilage can be slowed by controlling cleanliness of raw materials/ingredients and food-contact surfaces such as your blender, juicer, bowl, spoon etc. Spoilage can be further slowed by increasing acidity &/or storing under refrigerated or frozen conditions. Scrub, clean and sanitize all raw materials and food-contact surfaces before preparing juice/puree/smoothie.

***Raw foods such as cold-pressed shots not recommended for pregnant women or children.

Shot Yield:

1 batch ~ 870 grams

1 shot glass ~ 50 grams

Servings per batch ~ 17