Warming your body up via a sauna session or exercise provides great benefits such as increased cardiovascular health, improvements in metabolism and longevity, as well as enhancing physical endurance and decreasing stress. But did you know that the foods we eat and the spices we consume can also have a big impact on body temperature, and help us get the benefits of heat therapy too?

Thermogenic Spices

Whenever we eat, this stimulates metabolic processes that cause a slight rise in body temperature. If you want to boost your metabolism and warm your body up after a walk out in the cold weather or through Winter months however, specific spices can be effective for providing a thermogenic effect. Thermogenic simply means something that triggers a production of heat in the body, and can improve immune health, fat loss, faster recovery from exercise and injury, as well as increased tolerance to stress.

Spices are not only a delicious way to make meals more interesting; they’re also loaded with health benefits. Many spices are high in antioxidants, help balance blood sugar and even improve sleep. Thermogenic spices naturally warm the body, can speed up metabolism, improve circulation, and are the ones you’ll want to reach for on a cold day:

• Ginger: A warming and powerful anti inflammatory, which is also part of the same family as turmeric
• Cinnamon: Adding cinnamon to a meal naturally helps keep blood sugar in balance, as well as having a naturally sweet taste that can help curb sugar cravings
• Cardamom: High in antioxidants, this spice can also lower blood pressure and has cancer-fighting compounds
• Cloves: An ancient remedy for tooth pain and oral health, cloves are antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal.
• Nutmeg: A natural sedative that can help shorten the amount of time it takes you to fall asleep. Nutmeg can also relieve pain, boost skin health and enhance immune function.

In this recipe, we’ll combine these warming spices with curcumin, an extract of turmeric that is particularly beneficial for reducing inflammation, improving exercise recovery, reducing joint pain and preventing prostate issues. You can read more about the benefits of curcumin in this blog post. Together, the combination of warming, anti-inflammatory, metabolism boosting spices is a great way to help keep yourself warm and well as we power through the rest of Winter here in the Northern hemisphere.

Ingredients

(serves 1)

• 1 cup milk of choice
• 1 scoop Hydrocurc or 2 capsules of Curcumin 95 + Bioperine
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• Seeds of 1 cardamom pod, crushed

Method

• Add all ingredients to a pan
• Stir as you bring the pan to a gentle simmer
• Once warmed, remove from the heat and whisk to froth the milk
• Pour into a mug and add honey to sweeten if you like

Enjoy!