A Healthy Party Trick for the Holiday Season

I am about to share with you a little trick that will help your body recover after you eat a decadent dessert and have a surge of sugar flooding your system. This trick will leave you the talk of your holiday gathering.

But first, lets talk about Turmeric, that vividly yellow powder you can buy at the grocery store and put in your curries. Turmeric is currently trendy in the West and has been for some time now. You have probably seen “Turmeric latte” listed at your local café, or tried a fresh turmeric shot at the organic juicer.

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Turmeric comes from the root of the turmeric plant, Curcuma domestica. While it’s a popular health fad here, it has been revered as a potent medicine for over 3000 years in India. In the ancient Ayurvedic texts, it is recommended to add this medicine into cooking to prevent a large number of diseases and disorders. It is also used as an antibacterial agent on cuts and wounds, and on the skin for beauty treatments. Beyond its medicinal uses, it is a common part of many Indian rituals and ceremonies because of its generally auspicious nature.


Why am I telling you all this? Because Turmeric is going to be part of your trick, and so you should know a little bit about where it comes from.


Now for the trick. It should be performed at dessert. At most holiday parties, dessert happens after feasting on a number of rich and fatty foods, when we are already quite full and really have no business squeezing in another morsel, let alone dessert. We all know what it feels like to have a belly full of food and then to lay eyes on a dessert that looks too good to resist. And to eat the dessert, feel just a little bit sick, and have our body say “Oh no! What did you just do to me?”


This is when you pull out your little jar of Turmeric powder from your jacket pocket and offer everyone a simple and easy way to help their bodies process the excess glucose circulating in their blood stream, that is strongly threatening to turn on the yet-dormant diabetes gene. You can do this two ways. One, roll a half spoonful of it into a pill-sized ball using a drop or so of water (beware of having yellow finger tips if you do) and swallow it whole like a tablet (its quite bitter). Or two, mix the powder into a few sips of water, and down it like a shot.


Turmeric acts pretty quickly in your system to stabilize blood sugar levels, and help your body’s insulin response to excess circulating sugar. It can help prevent diabetes if you have a genetic propensity for it. Along with this, your body will also benefit from Turmeric’s many other beneficial properties. It is an antioxidant, anti-cancer agent, anti-inflammatory, supports kidney function, helps fat metabolism in the liver and of course, helps with digestion and immune function. I could go on about Turmeric and its almost-magical nature, but I will leave you with this for now.


So anytime you feel like you had a bit too much sugar, (whether is it is refined sugar or simple carbohydrates) try out this easy technique to support your body in staying healthy. I guarantee that there are no adverse effects from Turmeric to worry about. I really enjoy introducing it to people at gatherings. It always makes for lots of interesting conversation, and some pretty hilarious facial expressions. If you are wondering about what kind of parities I throw; yes, they are probably a bit stranger than the average; but I am a health coach after all, and I can never resist sharing some practical wisdom from my favourite alternative medicine system, Ayurveda.


I would love to hear your comments and experiences. Write to me at [email protected]


I wish you a healthy holiday season!