Taka Turmeric & Yoga Design Lab Mat Review

Hi there, Healing Root fam,

I think we have earned ourselves this title now, no? I am so ecstatic to share that The Healing Root Instagram has reached plus 4000 followers! It amazes me and I am so grateful for each and every one of you that takes the time and energy to support me on this exciting and wondrous journey. It means a lot to me to be able to share what I am most passionate about (veganism, health, healing, wellness, Yoga, food etc.) with people who are receptive to the message that I am wanting to share and make accessible.

Today’s post is slightly different. A while back I was contacted by one of my favorite local South African brands called Taka Turmeric. Taka Turmeric is a mother-daughter company/brand that is rooted in sharing delightful, sustainable, organic products straight from the heart to our receptive mouths and bellies. And thank goodness for them. Truly. Because there have been many a night this Winter where their turmeric based teas or dreamy creamy raw cacao hot chocolate has come to the rescue of my soul. Especially during exams (shout out to you guys for being game changers). Sincerely, from my belly.

They reached out and asked if I would be interested in receiving some of their products in exchange for a review. Now, disclaimer: I don’t say “YES” to these kind of offers lightly – and I would most certainly not review something positively if I didn’t truly believe in the product or support it myself. But, as outlined above, I LOVE THIS BRAND. And I support them whole-heartedly. I love their mission. I love their vision. Their products have the perfect balance of flavors, fullness and so much authentic love that goes into creating the brand that naturally I was overjoyed when they reached out to me offering me a range of teas, turmeric smoothie mix and a divine Yoga mat by Yoga Lab Design.

Taka Turmeric Teas

The range of teas they have are simply fantastic. Each tea has turmeric in it (as the name suggests) but each has a clearly distinct flavor profile. All of the teas have black pepper in them too because black pepper helps the absorption of the nutrients in turmeric. They also all have desiccated coconut in them – adding a healthy plant based fat to ones’ meals always helps with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. As we can see they clearly know what they are doing!

What I love is that you can make any sweet iced tea beverage with any of these flavorsome teas, too for a refreshing drink in Summer.

Another thing I would love to talk about briefly is the incredible healing properties of Turmeric root. Turmeric has a highly Carcinogenic-Blocking effect which essentially means that it has been shown to be a potent force in cancer prevention. Carcinogen -blockers and antioxidants help to prevent or reduce the DNA mutation which results in cancer and then the antiproliferatives within turmeric work to stop/prevent already existing tumors or growths from growing or spreading. Curcumin within Turmeric was found to be one of the most potent and effective antimutagen agents (for more information on this read Michael Gregor's book How Not to Die).

1. Ginger Turmeric Tea: this one is my absolute favorite. It has a delicate ginger hum, a warmth from the turmeric & ginger combination that is so gentle but still fresh and sharp. It truly is just delicious! Perfect with a touch of honey/maple/stevia. The ingredients are: turmeric, ginger, coconut, lemon peel, rose hip, fenugreek & black pepper.

2. Vanilla Turmeric Tea: I love this one, too. In fact, it was a close call for me between the ginger one or the vanilla one as my top choice, but ginger took the cake. This flavor has a mild vanilla flavor but the game changer is the star anise! The ingredients are: turmeric, rooibos tea, coconut, cinnamon, vanilla, liquorice, star anise and black pepper.

3. Chai Turmeric Tea: This one is also just so fantastic! It has a very delightful chai exuberance to it that is just so warming to the bone. You can have it black or with milk, sweet or neutral. It’s simply fab! This one is a black tea base so there is caffeine in this one. The ingredients are: turmeric, black tea, cinnamon, coconut, cardamom, fennel clove & black pepper.

4. Loose leaf Golden Turmeric Tea: This is a great one! What I love is that it is loose leaf tea, so you get to choose how potent/strong any given cup of tea is. Personally, I also feel more connected to what I am eating/drinking when there is one less man-made step in the process of its making (i.e. no tea bag)! The ingredients are: turmeric, coconut, normal tea, ginger, cardamom, fenugreek, black pepper & … cayenne pepper! YEOW. It adds a nice feisty little punch.

5. Hibiscus Turmeric Tea: This one is my least favorite of them all but not because it is objectively not good but simply because I have a thing about hibiscus tea! What’s great is that it is not too bold of a hibiscus flavor although the hibiscus presence is still there. The ingredients are: hibiscus, turmeric, coconut, cinnamon, liquorice, orange peel, star anise, close & black pepper.

Other Taka Turmeric Products That I LOVE

· Their raw cacao & coconut hot chocolate mix: THIS IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I love the added coconut milk powder to the raw cacao base. However, I always find I need to add a bit more cacao just because I love a RICH, dark and deep hot cacao beverage. It is truly a fantastic buy, this. Ingredients are: coconut cream powder, organic cacao, cocoa, turmeric, maca, mesquite powder, cinnamon, Himalayan salt, black pepper, cayenne and cloves. What a soothing, warming & grounding drink this makes for.

· Turmeric Golden Smoothie mix: ingredients are turmeric, cinnamon, flaxseeds, coconut milk powder, yucca root, chia seeds, maca, ginger, pink salt & black pepper. This is a wonderful way of adding in a little nutrient-powerhouse kick to any smoothie or beverage or raw dessert.

Yoga Lab Design:

First of all, let me say that I LOVE the fact that these yoga mats are biodegradable, machine-washable, recycle-able AND free from phthalates. What a win am I right?

I also love the variety of mat designs that one can choose from. They offer some fun and funky designs! I chose the simplest design: the greyish colored one. For me Yoga is a time of deep connection, stillness and introspection so I always want a more monotone colored mat (one color throughout rather than multi-colored or too much design on it) to help facilitate a space of serenity and less external stimulus. Personally, I also always tend to go for more natural-looking colors.

I love the size of this mat – it is great for a travel mat because it is light and comes with a very handy strap. The top surface of the mat is slightly fluffy almost, but do not fret because the grip is enhanced by wiping a damp cloth over the surface of it before using it. I tried once without wiping it – and I don’t recommend doing that (lol) because then the fluffiness of it makes it hard to stay in a steady downward facing dog. I did find that half way through my practice I started to slip a little as the mat started to dry, but this may also change the more I use it. I feel like this mat is great for a hot vinyasa or bikram practice where you will be in a more humid/damp setting and you will likely be sweating more which will aid in the mats grip. This feature in itself is unique for a mat because usually yoga mats are notorious for getting more slippery with increased exposure to wetness or sweat. But this one is different, it’s got your back for those sweaty flows where the wetness actually helps.

I am very grateful for have been gifted this mat – I love it, it is wonderful and it is easy.

CONCLUSION:

I LOVE Taka Turmeric brand. It is delicious. They have a fantastic range of products from turmeric capsules to turmeric hot cacao beverages and a range of things in-between. I couldn’t actually rave more about their tea selection if I tried. Really.

In terms of the yoga mat, I love it HOWEVER, my favorite ever yoga mat and the one I recommend to everyone that asks me is Prana Revolution mats: they are HUGE, heavy, steady and have the most insane grip I’ve ever experienced. Those mats completely revolutionized my Yoga Practice.

Sending you all MUCH LOVE,

Maria