No photo today – I don’t grow my own! Let’s talk about turmeric. I’ve known what it is for a long time – a pungent yellow spice that my mom put in pickle relish and it wasn’t really summer until I smelled it.
Turmeric is used in lots of foods – pickles, curry, eggs, lots of Indian dishes, golden milk – and as an herbal remedy. You can take quite a bit of it, although it does have some oxalates in it, so maybe not so much if you have gallbladder issues or kidney stones. Turmeric is also not well researched for pregnant women, so it should be avoided while pregnant. Most ‘authorities’ (like the World Health Organization) advise 500-2000 mg/day, but when researching this, I saw for some acute illnesses up to 10,000 mg were suggested. I think I would turn yellow if I took that much!
I started taking turmeric when I was having knee pain. I had been told I had ‘arthritis’ in my knee, but that it wasn’t near bad enough for anything to do done surgically. I was wearing a brace on it, because it wanted to give out randomly, and it just ached all the time. Finally, I slapped myself upside the head and thought – what is a good herbal anti-inflammatory? Well, turmeric is not a good one, it is a GREAT one! It did take about 3 weeks for it to start really making a difference, but once it did, I have rarely had any knee pain.
Turmeric is a root like ginger that grows in hot climates like India. There it is eaten as a food source. It is such an amazing herb – anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-tumor, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, lowers blood sugar, protects your liver and heart, stimulates digestion, and helps get rid of gas. There has even been a study (I can’t remember where, but I know Aviva Romm has quoted it often) that 1000 mg of turmeric a day is as effective as Prozac. What’s not to love about this herb??
It’s not for everyone. I would hesitate to take it if I was on blood thinners (it can affect clotting times), was trying to get pregnant or was pregnant (it can cause uterine irritability and is considered anti-fertility – but I wouldn’t use it for birth control. I don’t think India has a concern about its population being too low!), or had gallbladder issues (it can stimulate the gallbladder, too). Some folks get bad heartburn after eating it.
My favorite way to take it is in capsule form with breakfast. I’m upright, so less chance of gastric distress, and I take it with some black pepper already mixed in (a constituent in pepper makes the curcuminoids in turmeric more bioavailable) and with some fat (the creamer in your coffee counts!). If I wanted to take it at night as an extra dose, I would fix golden milk. Golden milk is basically heated milk with some turmeric, honey, and sweet spices. Like kombucha, it’s an acquired taste.
If the change in the weather with the start of fall has your joints achy, or you are just feeling kind of ‘blah’, turmeric might be the answer for you. Start with about 1500 mg/day for a month, then drop back to what works for you. Any brand will do – I prefer mine with black pepper or piperine already added – and my favorite is the full-spectrum one from Swansons. But the ones from Safeway will work just as well.