Tired of my turmeric tea talk? When @ShaynaLaGrace (aka La La Grace) asked twitters to join her in a 30 day detox, I jumped right on in. The detox, Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life by Tiffany Cruikshank, reflects the changes I was already making, but having it written solidified my resolve. It also works well as my Wellness Prescription. For week 1 you scale back on caffeine, sugar and alcohol and add a series of yoga sun salutations. I've been doing a yoga work out lately that consists mainly of sun salutations, so that part seemed easy enough. I rarely drink so that's another easy one, but caffeine and sugar have my by the jowls. I'm not sure that's even a saying, but let's pretend it is.

One way to scale back on the sugar is to nix the Starbucks Chai which has 47 g of sugar (in a grande soy). The only ingredients I found online were for the Chai Concentrate, which I'm not entirely convinced is the same concentrate they use to make the drink behind the bar. The concentrate ingredients are:

WATER, BLACK TEA, BLACK PEPPER, GINGER, CARDAMOM, CINNAMON, CLOVES, STAR ANISE, NATURAL FLAVORS, CANE SUGAR, HONEY, GINGER JUICE, NATURAL FLAVORS, VANILLA EXTRACT, CITRIC ACID

I think the in-store version must have sugar and honey higher up on the ingredient list.Anyway, to cut back on sugar, I made my own concentrate to make and take with me to work. Basically I used 12 chai tea bags simmered in 4 cups of water for 6 minutes. The spices weren't apparent enough, so I added extra ginger, black pepper, turmeric, and a dash of pumpkin pie spices (mainly to enhance the cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom). I then sweetened it with honey and a bit of agave syrup. Serve it up with coconut milk and it's pretty good, but still not spot on. When I get it just right I'll share the exact recipe.

Do you make your own chai concentrate? What's your recipe? Are you a slave to the sugar monster? How do you (or do you even) ward him off?