I’ve tackled sleep troubles ever since my early teenage years. It started with a simple curiosity to stay past my bedtime and simply witness the night go by. As a true romantic and a little dumb teenager, I imagined myself the protagonist in a novel or the main character in a movie, falling in love with the idea of dusk and dawn.
One night turned into two and then three and even as I said goodbye to my teenage years, the sleeplessness followed me. I would have to study and work on as little as two hours of sleep at night. With dark circles that threatened to leak all over my face, I’ve dedicated most of my adult life in fixing my erratic sleep schedule.
The beginning of a new night's routine
As I mention in this blog, I figured out that most of my sleeplessness stemmed from evening caffeine intake. It’s not that I drank super strong coffee, I just drank a lot of it. I’d drink two mugs full of coffee at 7 PM and would be jittery till 10 and keep my body at caffeine high well till 3 in the morning.
Understandably I don’t remember most of my early twenties.
Nepal Tea Collective: A beginning of a good habit
After I joined Nepal Tea Collective and had to do my own research into coffee, tea, and caffeine levels and the effect they had on the circadian rhythm, I bettered my relationship with caffeinated beverages. I drink coffee only on the rarest occasions and only in the mornings.
Working with Nepal Tea Collective has truly spoiled me with their unlimited access to the highest quality loose leaf teas, I am drunk on white teas most of the time. I especially love cold brewing them ever since I found out it’s the heat that activates caffeine in tea leaves, I like them cold.
But a few weeks ago, I struggled with falling asleep once again. I spent almost exactly two weeks awake till the odd hours and struggling through the day to keep up with the world. How am I supposed to care about the friendly neighborhood gossip when my brain screamed sleep and my body screamed sleep? Could do I anything but that?
A deeper dive into turmeric
So I started looking into turmeric.
Now I am a true South Asian and no stranger to the seemingly magical powers of turmeric. My mother prepared all sorts of concoctions for any and all ailments that included and dare I say even highlighted turmeric.
Almost every meal that’s prepared in the Rajbanshi household contains turmeric in them for good measure. We are Nepali after all. We believe turmeric strengthens the immune system when consumed.
Various uses of turmeric
But I’ve seen so many uses of turmeric- the main ingredient of Nepal Tea Collective’s Golden Milk tea, throughout my lifetime that while on my reading spree, I realized I’ve mostly been overlooking the almost miraculous presence of turmeric in my life.
- I’ve used turmeric as a face mask to rejuvenate my face on dull days.
- I’ve used turmeric as a hair mask to soften the dryness.
- I’ve used turmeric to calm and soothe wounds, especially small annoying burns.
- I’ve seen turmeric being used to lessen stretch marks.
I myself have used turmeric to reduce the ever-darkening dark circles around my eyes. ( I must confess it didn’t work very well on me, but then I was never known for healthy restful sleep)
Golden Milk for Sleeping aid
In Indian films, it’s common for characters to be offered golden milk as a before-bed drink. That too is such a common scene that I never bothered to explore it myself.
But a little bit of reading for work and I discover amazing facts and studies being done to prove this seemingly very normal phenomena in the South Asian world.
The naturally occurring chemical component curcumin, which gives turmeric its color, was and always has been the star player on our sleeping team.
Curcumin a naturally occurring compound in turmeric has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that can help prevent and treat a wide range of health problems that may be affecting your ability to fall asleep or the quality of your sleep once you do.
Also apparently, curcumin improves serotonin and boosts dopamine synthesis. A more pleasant, relaxing night's sleep is frequently a natural result of a more optimistic outlook and lessened stress.
So I’ve been adding Nepal Tea Collective’s organic Golden Milk tea to my nightly routine. I’m glad to report that this addition and other changes in my routine like exercise and reading before sleep has bettered my nights once again and will recommend you the same if you’re here looking for some salve for your sleeping troubles.
Also below are some of the other findings that I thought were interesting in case you’re reading this at 3 in the morning!
Golden milk has a long history, especially in South Asian household. As I mentioned earlier, it’s so common that you won’t find a single Bollywood movie without a reference to haldi doodh literally turmeric milk in Hindi. Yes, the drink that’s been trending lately in social media has been culturally a popular drink, especially in South Asia. In Nepali, turmeric milk is called besaar doodh. It has long been a staple of South Asian culture and is primarily associated with its medicinal benefits. The drink is often served during colder seasons when catching a cold or flu is common. Golden milk tea is shared as a way to prepare the body against any oncoming ailment due to the cold days and nights.
The beautiful gold beverage is made from white milk and yellow turmeric. In recent years, attributing to its distinctively pretty look, it has been a familiar sight in social medias around the world. Making golden milk is easy in many different ways. Animal or plant milk, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, and some sort of sweetener are all included in the basic recipe. Black pepper, nutmeg, and other spices and sweets may also be used in some recipes.
The golden milk in Nepal Tea Collective’s collection is 100% organic and has additional delicious ingredients like ginger and cinnamon. Get a pack of this healthy easy on eyes drink from our collection and let us know your spin on the traditional besaar doodh or the more trendy Golden milk tea!