Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2021. We’re republishing it today because it’s now enabled with our on-site shopping tool, so you can buy Golde’s stomach-soothing turmeric powders without leaving the page.
Whenever I’ve just received some bad news, missed a deadline, or sent a particularly risky text, my stomach twists and constricts itself, and nearly without fail, I have to run to the nearest bathroom. When the going gets tough, I have to go. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve tried everything out there — chewable antacids, Pepto Bismol, even over-the-counter heartburn medication — and I struggled to find something to help in the long-term. I’ve somewhat abated my stomach’s most unpleasant symptoms over the years by eating more whole foods, limiting dairy, and adding supplements and probiotics — but even these changes haven’t eliminated all of my issues.
So when I learned about Golde, a “superfood-boosted” health and wellness brand co-founded by a Black woman, on social media, I figured I had nothing to lose by trying its best-selling product, except $29 (and the chance to reduce my need to go). What I certainly didn’t expect was for its turmeric-latte powder to become my go-to for calming my stomach, clearing my skin, boosting my energy, and even serving as the secret ingredient in lots of my homemade baking recipes.
Superfood is admittedly a nebulous term, but Golde’s latte blend contains turmeric — which it sources from Diaspora Co., itself a queer-woman-of-color-owned business — along with coconut, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, and black pepper. Even if you’re not a fan of the term super, all of these are known for being good for immunity and general health (like that cup of ginger tea someone always makes you sip when you’ve got a cold).
The latte blend comes in a powder form in three different flavors — original, with matcha, and with cacao — and you just add hot water or milk to two teaspoons of powder and mix for an easy at-home latte. I was skeptical, but the unusual yet comforting, earthy flavor of the latte really drew me in, and eventually I found myself in the habit of making it daily, sometimes even twice a day.
And after two months, my routine stress-induced bathroom runs were far less routine, even after I was sent home to finish out my last semester of college in New York, then the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued to experience all of the other terrible things in the news — all things I’d usually expect to leave me in a tailspin.
But there were other changes too. Friends started complimenting me on a brighter complexion, which certainly wasn’t due to a better sleep schedule, drinking more water, or starting a new skin-care routine. And I felt an overall boost in energy, which is admittedly hard to quantify, but I can say that a nightly cup of the cacao mix helped me stay awake through a stretch when I was working 12-hour-days followed by late nights studying for exams (and made me feel less jittery than I would with coffee).
On top of all of that, it just tastes good — super-pleasant, calming, and very fall in New England, with slightly spicy hits of ginger and coconut and, of course, turmeric. I love the flavor of the original latte blend so much that, after seeing chef-slash-influencer Sophia Roe use it in a recipe for falafel, I decided to use a spoonful of it in place of the spices Alison Roman uses in her chickpea stew, and it tasted even better than my first attempt. I also use the cacao blend in baked goods, like banana bread or cookies, and it gives them a slightly spicy, chocolaty kick.
So maybe it is the turmeric that’s in all of these latte blends that makes me feel better, but even if it’s just a placebo, I really do notice the difference without it. In the days or weeks when I’m waiting for my restock, I often notice my stomach returning to its more irritable ways. It’s something that has become a must-have ingredient in just about everything I consume, and the benefits have far exceeded my expectations.
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