Turmeric 101: What You Need to Know About Turmeric

If you are familiar of the Indian curry, you’ll have an idea of what a turmeric is – it is a
spice that gives curry its yellow color. But turmeric is more than a spice; it is packed with
health benefits and other stuffs. So, let’s get to know turmeric more, it’s benefits and
how can you use it.
What is Turmeric?
Turmeric is a spice known for its orange-yellow color. It is a staple for Asian cooking,
especially in Southeast Asian and Indian regions. As mentioned above, it is one of the
key ingredients of India’s famous curry.
But turmeric is more than just a spice or ingredient for your cooking. It is packed with
health benefits and can help you with some health problems. For instance, turmeric is
great for dealing with arthritis, stomach pain, heartburn (or dyspepsia), diarrhea, joint
pains and many more. It is also good for conditions like cold, headaches, fever, and
even big conditions like cancers and post-surgery recovery.
Lastly, if you’ve seen what is called the “Golden Lattes” on Instagram, you can take
turmeric for that – yes, that golden powder on top of the latte that makes it beautiful and
Instagrammable, that’s turmeric.
So, turmeric is a superfood in and of itself. Hence, this simple spice is worth
considering.
If you want to learn more about turmeric, keep reading on. We will discuss some key
benefits of turmeric, how to properly take turmeric, does turmeric really work and if
turmeric is a right spice for you. Let’s get started!
7 Key Benefits of Turmeric
Turmeric, being a superfood, is packed with a lot of health benefits. Here are just some
of the health benefits you can get by using turmeric.
1) Turmeric increases the antioxidant capabilities in your body – Free radicals are
often involved in oxidative damage, which in turn is responsible for many diseases and
aging. To counter this, your body produces antioxidants to protect you from free
radicals. Enter turmeric: unlike other antioxidant, turmeric is one type of antioxidant that
both fights free radicals and, at the same time, enhances the antioxidants inside your
body. It’s two points in one shot!
2) Turmeric is good for the heart – Turmeric is great in improving your endothelium,
which is the lining of your blood vessels. If your endothelium is not in its top shape,
things can go very bad for your heart health. A bad endothelium can cause irregulated
blood vessel and blood clotting, among various factors. Turmeric, according to studies,
is shown to improve your endothelium, hence decreasing your risk of heart attack and
other heart-related diseases.
3) Turmeric can help you fight Alzheimer’s disease – One of the major diseases that
can affect us all is the Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative disease and a leading
cause of dementia. Unfortunately, there is no found cure for Alzheimer’s disease yet.
Hence, if we want to avoid Alzheimer’s in the future, so far the best we can do is to
prevent it in the best we can.
Turmeric is shown to exhibit some properties that can help us in fighting Alzheimer’s.
One way turmeric helps us against Alzheimer’s is by being an antioxidant, which is very
helpful in fighting oxidative damage, which is one factor in Alzheimer’s disease.
Also, turmeric is shown to clear amyloid plaques – protein tangles that, when built up,
can become a key cause in Alzheimer’s disease.
However, there is no clear picture yet on how much turmeric can combat Alzheimer’s
disease. It still needs to be studied properly.
4) Turmeric is helpful in dealing with arthritis – Arthritis is another common, but not
major, disease that can afflict us. Since it is a joint inflammation, and turmeric is good in
healing joint problems, it makes sense to say that turmeric can very helpful in dealing
with arthritis and other joint problems.
5) Turmeric can help you in dealing with depression – Depression is a very serious
mental and emotional concern. Many lives our being ruined by it, so it’s important we
keep our mental health in shape – both for ourselves and loved ones.
Consuming turmeric can help you in dealing with depression. According to one study,
turmeric can as effectively fight depression as Prozac. Essentially, turmeric can act as a
great antidepressant.
How to Use Turmeric
There are different ways on how to use turmeric. Basically, it’s either you eat it or you
drink it. Here are some ways to use turmeric.
1) Simply cook it – Cook turmeric with the dish of your choice. If you are a fan of Indian
curry, that’s a great way to start. There are many more dishes with turmeric involved, so
feel free to explore and choose what you like. Also, you may want to add turmeric to
your current dish to give it a special twist.
2) Use it for your coffee – Either you add a little bit of turmeric powder on top for an
Instagrammable “Golden Latte” or you totally make a coffee with turmeric, turmeric can
be a great twist for your favorite morning drink. And hey, you get both the energy-
boosting benefits of caffeine and antioxidants of the superfood turmeric.
3) Add it to your smoothie - fond of your fruit smoothie? You can experiment it by
blending turmeric with your favorite smoothie for a special twist.
4) Make a tea with turmeric – yes, it’s also possible to make a tea using turmeric. A
turmeric tea will, well, give you the benefits of this superfood.
Does Turmeric Really Work?
Now that you’ve read a lot about the amazing benefits of turmeric, you may begin to
wonder: are these all true or just another hype in the health industry?
The answer: a big YES! Turmeric does work wonders because of one of its components
called “curcumin”. Curcumin is responsible for most, if not all, of the health benefits
turmeric can give you.
Is Turmeric Right For You?
Assuming you are in a normal state of health, turmeric should be fine for you. However,
inasmuch as this is a superfood, it has not without any possible negative side effects or
consequences. Here are some of the side effects of turmeric when taken too much or
when under certain circumstances:
Problems with bleeding – Because turmeric have some effects on the blood, for some
reason, it affects the healing process of wounds (blood clotting) which is quite similar to
that of diabetes – except, it’s not that severe as of diabetes. However, if you have a
sensitive skin or you’re easily cut, this can be a concern for you.
Too low blood sugar – Just as we don’t want too much blood sugar, we won’t want too
low blood sugar, too. Too much turmeric can severely lower your blood sugar, which
can be very bad for your health.
Possible iron deficiency – Another side effect of turmeric is lowered absorption of iron,
eventually causing you to have iron deficiency. Some symptoms of possible iron
deficiency are headaches, tiredness, shortness of breath, paleness and palpitations. So,
be sure that you mind your iron levels as well.
During a surgical operation – taking turmeric when you are scheduled for a surgery is
simply bad. As mentioned above, turmeric lessens your blood clotting, hence slowing
down the healing of your wounds. Now, imagine that you’re trying to feel a big wound
from a surgery – it will be very bad for you. It is suggested that you stop taking turmeric
at least two weeks before you take your surgery.
Infertility for men – Turmeric can lower testosterone levels and can decrease sperm
movement. In effect, this can reduce fertility. So, if you are trying to have a baby, be
sure to limit or stop your turmeric intake so it won’t affect your testosterone or fertility
level.
Conclusion
Turmeric is a great superfood with loads of health benefits. Best of all, there’s more
ways to take turmeric, based on your taste of food. However, take caution for the
possible side effects of turmeric. If situation deems that taking turmeric is bad, then it’s
best to stay away from it, at least for a while.