Turmeric is a perennial herbaceous plant, part of the same family as ginger, and native to southern Asia. Its bright yellow color, earthy delicious scent make it unmistakable, if you’ve ever eaten a curry you know what we mean. The health benefits of turmeric have been understood in these parts for a long time and are now being recognized by athletes, health researchers and scientists.

Turmeric contains a group of polyphenol plant pigments called curcumin Curcumin is a powerful anti-inflammatory which research shows can help protect against ailments and diseases linked with chronic low-level inflammation. It’s also a wonderful immune booster with potent antioxidant properties. 

The tricky part is; Curcumin by itself is not readily absorbed into the body which is why turmeric needs synergistic ingredients alongside it… read on.

Ginger is a member of the plant family that includes cardamom and turmeric. Its spicy aroma is mainly because of presence of ketones, especially the gingerols, one of the  primary components of ginger.

Much like its cousin, turmeric, ginger is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, studies show it’s useful in the battle against inflammation, osteoarthritis, and rheumatism and, for all those workout-junkies ginger reduces muscle pain from heavy exercise if taken for at least 5 days. 

Ginger root also contains a very high level of antioxidants. In each Little Elephant power shot we’ve put 20g of pure ginger juice, you’ll see what we mean when you drink one.

So what does it do?

In a few words, it slows your metabolism of the curcumin in turmeric. The term ‘metabolism’ is used very loosely these days. People say “I have a fast metabolism (or a slow one).” This ill-defined usage refers to all the bodily processes that convert food into energy. When we talk about the metabolism of curcumin, or any other single food item or food extract, we mean the process that converts it to other forms that can be used in the body. 

So, effectively, the black pepper slows this process down, allowing you to absorb the powerful curcumin. How it does this is a complicated process that you are free to read more about here.

 

Hemp seed oil is called “Nature’s most perfectly balanced oil”, because it contains the perfectly balanced 3:1 ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3  essential fatty acids, determined to be the optimum requirement for long-term healthy human nutrition.

Hemp seed oil also provides an adequate supply of antioxidants, carotene, phytosterols, phospholipids and several minerals.

In our power shots we included hemp oil not only for its intrinsic health benefits but also because, again, to increase bio-availability of curcumin our system require a fat or oil.

With all the heat of the turmeric, ginger and black pepper we need to round it off with something a little sweeter. We chose honey because unlike a sugar 

Honey has a healthy glycemic index meaning that it can be gradually absorbed into the bloodstream to result in better digestion. It's also a perfect brain-food.