If you have any food allergies, be careful about adding something new to your diet. But if you are like most people and can consume turmeric with no issues, then you need to add it to your life.
Research is beginning to prove why things like turmeric have been revered for thousands of years. This member of the ginger family has multiple potential benefits, including the potential to prevent Alzheimer’s, cancer and heart disease. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant with multiple protective properties. It can improve your mobility if you have arthritis, and may also help with depression.
Besides all of the health benefits, it adds great depth of flavour to food.
Action – The absorbability of turmeric, and it’s therapeutic component of curcumin, is somewhat limited. Most of the studies that show benefits use it in supplement form to increase the amount that can be consumed. I prefer to keep it in as natural a state as possible because sometimes extracting components from the whole alters the way things work. Plus it is something I can easily cook with or put into a smoothie almost every day.
Adding pepper to whatever you put the turmeric in will increase the bioavailability of the curcumin by a dramatic amount. It makes sense, because most curries are spiced not only with curry but with pepper as well.
Steps – Turmeric is a main ingredient in curry. Adding it to food is a delicious way to work it into your life, and adding some pepper with it will increase its absorbability. The whole root is easy to find in most grocery stores now and adding a piece to a smoothie is an easy way to get all of its benefits in a natural form.
It will stain your fingers orange when you cut it but it is that bright colour that hints of the powerful antioxidant properties it contains.
Discover Indian cooking – delicious curries or kitchari are healthy, tasty and have been touted as having curative effects. These are simple dishes that are easy to digest and full of healthy ingredients.
Why It Makes You Feel Better – When something is easy to take and it is proven to help the body, the knowledge that you are doing good for yourself while eating a tasty meal at the same time is a win-win situation. We do enough things that maybe aren’t great for us. Every little step we take in a healthier direction adds up and can motivate us to do even more.
Example – When I first found turmeric in the grocery store, I brought the root home and began to experiment with adding it to different things. I found that throwing it in my smoothie was the easiest way to make sure I was eating it regularly. Adding black pepper to help absorption didn’t affect the taste of what I was making either. A little goes a long way, and I add about a quarter of an inch piece at a time.
The little things we do can make a big difference. It’s important to include as many antioxidants as you can to fight free radicals and the destruction they cause to the body. Turmeric is a fantastic tool to add to your life that can help in many ways.