Why you need turmeric in your tummy

by Apr 12, 2021

** I am not a nutritionist or a dietician, but am sharing some researched posts on diet as I feel it is an essential aspect to health. I work with energy medicine, and sound in particular, but I like to come from a holistic perspective and that includes what we put into our bodies. ** 

 

Why you need Turmeric in your tummy?

Do you want less pain and a better mood?

How about less brain fog and a better memory?

Why you need turmeric in your tummy…not on your skin! A few years I met a lady in a hot tub who had been putting turmeric on her face as she had read that it was good for your skin. She hadn’t realised that it stained skin so strongly. Just a warning guys, there is a reason it is used as a fabric dye. The poor lady looked like a mandarin orange and that turmeric glow didn’t look like it was going anywhere for a while!
Turmeric
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
A number of years ago when I started my Auto-Immune Protocol diet, I started taking a high quality turmeric supplement (with added Piperine to increase absorption) to help with the inflammation in my joints. I can honestly say, that out of every supplement that I have taken over the years, (and there have been a lot!), this has been by far the most effective at reducing pain and inflammation in my joints and eyes.

What is Turmeric?

Turmeric is a plant from the ginger family and is native to southern Asia. People in ancient India believed that turmeric brought abundance, cleansed the energy body and contained the vibration of the Divine Mother.

The bright yellow spice is made by boiling the rhizomes for 45 minutes and then drying them in hot ovens before grinding. Fresh turmeric is becoming more widely available in the west now and I believe that the benefits of the fresh herb are even more pronounced. The helpful active ingredient of the turmeric is curcumin and so if you take the fresh turmeric, then you are getting the best chance of receiving that constituent, although good quality organic ground turmeric is still useful.

It is important to consume some kind of fat at the same time so as to absorb the curcumin better and the fresh turmeric already has this oil in it, whereas the dried spice will not. The way I see it is that mother nature has provided all these substances for us and we get the most benefit from them if we consume them with all their elements intact physically and energetically. Also, consuming the curcumin with black pepper increases the bioavailability of the curcumin considerably.

Turmeric
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

What is turmeric good for?

More than 6000 peer-reviewed articles have been carried out on the benefits of curcumin and the evidence is unequivocal. I am not going to reference all the articles here but Turmeric for Health has excellent information on all the health benefits with references cited.

Positives include:

Anti-inflammatory comparable in power to pharmaceutical medicines. ( In fact this study* showed it to be more effective at reducing pain and safer than a NSAID)

Anti-coagulant
Anti-depressant (In fact a study showed it to be superior in action to Prozac)*. For more information on foods that improve mood see my post Food as a Mood Booster
Decreases tumour size and kills cancer cells.
Helpful for diabetics as reduces blood sugar.
Painkiller analgesic.
Inhibits auto-antibodies. (Great news for Auto-immune condition sufferers)**
Blood purifier.
Broad spectrum anti-microbial agent.
Protects the heart and brain from diseases.
Improves cognitive function.
Helps inflammatory bowel disease.
Supports healthy gut flora.

Helps prevent Alzheimer’s Disease.

Turmeric
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Precautions as this is a powerful substance:

Consume responsibly as this substance is potent. (Normal amounts used in cooking are not an issue.)

It can interact with other drugs such as blood-thinning medication and drugs to reduce stomach acid so take medical advice and research well.
Avoid if you have active gallstones.
Use caution in pregnancy.

Recipes:

The Turmeric for Health website gives great information on the best suppliers of high quality organic turmeric and black pepper in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.

Golden Milk (Turmeric Latte) 

Golden milk has been a traditional health drink in India for a long time, in recent years trendy people are calling it Turmeric Latte! Funny! I like this recipe from Wellness mama:

Turmeric Tea Golden Milk Recipe.

Prep time Cook time Total time 

Author: Wellness Mama
Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of milk of choice (almond, pecan, coconut and dairy all work in this recipe)
  • 1 teaspoon Turmeric or Turmeric Spice Mix
  • ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon raw honey or maple syrup or to taste (optional)
  • Pinch of black pepper (increases absorption)
  • Tiny piece of fresh, peeled ginger root or ¼ tsp ginger powder
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
  1. First, blend all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth.
  2. Then, Pour into a small sauce pan and heat for 3-5 minutes over medium heat until hot but not boiling.
  3. Drink immediately

I would advise to avoid the dairy milk and omit the Cayenne Pepper if you have an Autoimmune disease as it is a nightshade.

Turmeric
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
The recipe below is my version of Turmeric Honey and it is a great resource for when you are a bit under the weather. You can add it to smoothies and juices or just make a tea with it.

Turmeric Honey Alchemy

Ingredients:

1 cup of  Raw organic or Manuka honey

2 tbsp organic ground Turmeric

1 tbsp Organic Coconut Oil

1 tsp Organic Apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp Finely ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Melt the coconut oil to a liquid and then mix with the spices and the apple cider vinegar. This can then be mixed into the honey stirring it well. Cover and store in the fridge. This will keep for two weeks.

Turmeric
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

 

I believe that Turmeric (Curcumin) is a gift that we should be using to its full advantage. After all, its ability to reduce inflammation alone is reason enough to be consuming it regularly. I found this photo of Turmeric flowers too and was amazed at how pretty they are. I love this plant!!

* Chandran, B. and Goel, A. (2012), A Randomized, Pilot Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin in Patients with Active Rheumatoid Arthritis. Phytother. Res., 26: 1719–1725. doi:10.1002/ptr.4639
** Jayesh Sanmukhani, Vimal Satodia, Jaladhi Trivedi, Tejas Patel, Deepak Tiwari, Bharat Panchal, Ajay Goel, Chandra Bhanu Tripathi. Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin in Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Phytother Res. 2013 Jul 6. Epub 2013 Jul 6.
***Kurien, Biji T., Anil D’Souza, and R. Hal Scofield. “Heat-Solubilized Curry Spice Curcumin Inhibits Antibody-Antigen Interaction in in Vitro Studies: A Possible Therapy to Alleviate Autoimmune Disorders.” Molecular nutrition & food research 54.8 (2010): 1202–1209. PMC. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.