This week I enjoyed a steady diet of milkshakes, smoothies, and soup.

Yes, that’s right people, I got my wisdom teeth out!

While the milkshakes were certainly delicious, I think I would have rather not had any, and avoided the chipmunk cheeks, soreness, and inability to chew pizza altogether! Luckily, after a bit of advice from a neighbor and my mom, I actually found a way to reduce the pain I was in. And when it comes to pain, decreasing it even the smallest bit goes a long way!

How so? It’s all thanks to two little spices: turmeric and ginger.

Ever grabbed a can of ginger ale to treat an upset stomach? Well, ginger has known anti-nausea properties, and is also antibacterial and anti-inflammatory. Speaking of anti-inflammatory, turmeric is basically the king of all spices when it comes to anti-inflammatory properties! This bright orange spice has been used in Chinese and Indian medicinal practices to treat toothaches, joint pain, and chest pain, among other things, for years. It’s time-tested, and definitely effective!

With these two spices in mind, I decided to create an Indian-inspired smoothie that would both taste delicious, and decrease the soreness of my mouth! The result was an easy-to-make mango smoothie with all the sweetness of a tropical dessert, and a nice kick from the spice. Surprisingly, the spices were my favorite part of the smoothie! They were mild enough not to overpower the mango flavor, but definitely woke me up and added a nice flavor dimension I typically don’t enjoy during breakfast.

In fact, I almost liked this smoothie more than the three peanut butter chocolate milkshakes I ate last week! 😉

Mango Ginger Smoothie

• 1 1/4 c frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 nectarine
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1/2 c coconut milk
• 1 scoop protein powder (if desired)

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!

Nutrition information: (calculated using MyFitnessPal)

Calories: 169

Fat: 3g

Carbs: 35g

Protein: 2g

(Yields 1 serving)

Nutrition information does not include protein powder. If including, macros will read as follows: 229 calories, 4g fat, 36 carbs, 15g protein.