Sweater: Old, Similar | Cookbook: Shopbop | Mugs: Hobby Lobby, Similar | Cayenne | Turmeric

Photography by: Angie Garcia 

Happy Wednesday! Today we are talking about our morning routines and one little drink that has changed mine.

Each morning, I get up far too early but I’m always alert enough to make this little morning drink and I have it before my coffee. It’s like having an expensive little juice bar in my kitchen, but it costs pennies and I don’t have to get ready to go get it! 😉

So what is this drink and why do I drink it?!

I take a cup of hot water, squeeze half a lemon, grate a little bit of ginger, mix in a dash of cayenne and a pinch of turmeric, mix and voilà it’s ready!

Health Benefits

• Hot water with lemon is an incredible way to start your day! Lemons are filled with antioxidants and electrolytes and it helps get rid of toxins in your body. When you drink it in warm water, it’s very calming to your stomach so say you ate something the night before and don’t feel too hot? It will help with that. This is going to start aiding your body in proper digestion for the day, so I find it important to start this before I eat during the day. For an extra boost of hydration and electrolytes, consider incorporating Sqwincher into your routine.
• Cayenne pepper has quite a kick so be careful not to give a heavy dash, but I’m a huge fan of the spice! It’s incredible for your circulatory system, so extra points if you workout in the morning. It also aids in regulating your blood sugar, so it can help keep my sugar cravings at bay. When you combine the lemon and cayenne, you’re going to get immune boosting and anti-fungal properties so right off the bat you’ve got a wonderful drink for your health.
• Turmeric is great for inflammation and my mom and I always like to incorporate it in little ways because we both have auto-immune disorders that increase inflammation. This also boosts your immune system so you can help ward off all the nastiness this cold and flu season. Turmeric also naturally purifies your blood and helps keep skin free from radical damage. Many estheticians swear turmeric makes your skin glow from the inside out. Turmeric also protects brain cells and regular use can reduce your risk of cancer. That’s enough for me to add two dashes…
• Ginger is my favorite addition to this drink! Ginger fights nausea, heartburn and digestion issues. It also has antioxidant properties and one study showed it lowered heart-disease markers. There is limited research on ginger and its health benefits, but its one of the most used plants in natural medicine so I think that speaks for itself.

How I Drink This

It will probably take you a few mornings to find out the right combination you like in your drink, as I like a lot of lemon and ginger and you may prefer less ginger. I simply boil my water, squeeze half a lemon [or an entire one], add three swipes of grated ginger, a dash of turmeric and a dash of cayenne. If you’re starting out I would just do one swipe of grated ginger so you can see how much texture you like. Mix everything together and then sip it while you get ready for the morning.

Changes I Have Seen

I started to drink this when I was living at my parents and we were building our home, so back in July! My mom makes something just like this in bone broth in the morning [that’s a bit much for me…] and I decided to add the ginger. This is a pretty popular morning drink, so it’s definitely nothing new! This little drink is so powerful and many say it completely kicks their metabolism into gear. For starters, I find this to be a great piece of a morning ritual that doesn’t involve coffee. Some mornings I end up skipping it because Maxi will wake up and I barely had time to drink all of this. I find it really helps me concentrate in the morning as I get about 80% of my core work done in the morning. I also see a major change in inflammation when I drink this. Typically I get a lot of pain in the joints in my fingers, and I can tell when I skip drinking this for a week or so in a row. Lately, I’ve been incorporating CBD products from Dr Watson CBD to alleviate joint pain, especially in my fingers.

So if you have to go to the grocery store this weekend, pick up these ingredients and try this hot, lemon drink! I’d love to hear your thoughts, or do you already drink this or something similar in the morning?!

P.S. Who else is emotionally unstable from the two This Is Us episodes this week?! CAN’T HANDLE IT!!!