Recipes · Health Shot
Golden Turmeric & Black Pepper Shot
Reader ratingsFresh turmeric with a generous crack of black pepper and sweet orange juice — a sunny, earthy shot built around how curcumin is absorbed.
In Ayurveda and Indian home cooking, turmeric is traditionally taken with black pepper and fat, as in haldi doodh (golden milk).
Safety
- Turmeric may add to the effect of blood thinners such as warfarin and aspirin. If you take them, or have surgery planned within the next two weeks, check with your prescriber or surgeon first.
- Curcumin makes the gallbladder contract, so skip turmeric shots if you have gallstones or a blocked bile duct. Turmeric is also high in soluble oxalate and raised urinary oxalate in a crossover trial, so avoid it if you are prone to calcium-oxalate kidney stones.
- Concentrated turmeric supplements, including ones with added black-pepper extract, have caused rare cases of liver injury and are best avoided in pregnancy. A kitchen shot supplies far less, but stop and call your doctor if you notice dark urine, yellow skin or eyes, or pain in the upper right abdomen.
- A shot is a small extra to meals, not a substitute for one.
Why it’s good for you
Black pepper’s piperine helps your body absorb curcumin, turmeric’s best-studied compound, and the olive oil carries it — with orange juice adding vitamin C and natural sweetness.
Evidence
Limited evidence
Mostly small, early, or laboratory studies.
Curcumin, turmeric’s main active compound, is poorly absorbed on its own: in a small human study, adding 20 mg of piperine from black pepper to 2 g of curcumin raised blood levels roughly 20-fold. A 2021 meta-analysis of 15 trials (1,621 people) found turmeric and curcumin extracts eased knee osteoarthritis pain and stiffness better than placebo, and about as well as anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs) for pain. Those trials used concentrated extracts at doses far above what a kitchen shot supplies, and no trial has tested a turmeric shot.
General information from research and traditional use — not medical advice, and not a treatment for any condition. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition, check with your clinician first, and seek care for symptoms that are severe or do not improve.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Scrub the turmeric (peeling is optional) and chop it into small pieces. Juice the oranges and lemon and pick out any seeds.
- Juicer: push the turmeric through the juicer, then stir it into the orange and lemon juice. No juicer: blend the turmeric with the orange juice, lemon juice and 1/2 cup cold water on high for 60–90 seconds until no flecks remain, then pour through a nut-milk bag or fine sieve and press the pulp.
- Add the black pepper and olive oil, and whisk hard or shake in a jar — the oil will not blend in fully, so shake the bottle before every pour.
- Pour into a sealed glass bottle. Drink one 2 oz shot with a meal that contains some fat, such as eggs, avocado or nuts.
Tips
- Fresh turmeric stains hands, boards and plastic bright yellow — wear gloves, use glass jars, and rinse the blender straight away.
- Keeps 4 days in a sealed glass bottle in the fridge; shake first. Freezes well in ice-cube trays.
- Too earthy? Add a splash more orange juice or a teaspoon of honey (not for infants under 12 months).
- We use orange rather than grapefruit on purpose: grapefruit interacts with many prescription medicines.
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