Harness the Power of Turmeric to Reduce Inflammation: 2 Ways to Use this Super Spice
Tumeric is a non toxic spice which can help reduce the pain of inflammation in your body, particularly caused by osteoarthritis.
If so, then harnessing the power of turmeric may be the perfect solution. This super spice has long been used for its anti-inflammatory properties, anti oxidant properties, and is now gaining traction as a powerful health aid in the modern world. In this article, we’ll look at two ways to use turmeric to reduce inflammation, and why it’s so effective. You’ll also learn why it’s important to use turmeric regularly to get the most out of its healing and health-boosting properties. So if you’re ready to learn more about this amazing spice, let’s get started!
What is Turmeric and What are Its Health Benefits?
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is extensively used as a spice, grown mainly in India and has been used for centuries in differnent medicinal forms in Asia for the treatment of arthritis.
It has been used in traditional medicine as a household remedy for various diseases, including biliary disorders, anorexia, cough, diabetic wounds, hepatic disorders, rheumatism and sinusitis. For a period of time, extensive work has been done to establish the biological activities and pharmacological actions of turmeric and its extracts Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), the main yellow bioactive component of turmeric which has been shown through various trial to have a wide spectrum of biological actions. Although many benefits are found looking through trials the main area of interest is in its potential anti inflammatory properties notably in osteoarthrtis.
Looking though at the literature it does seem that using the dry yellow powder you buy in supermarkets may not break down into the useful pharmacological molecules which have its purported medicinal effect.
It’s important to use turmeric regularly in order to get the most out of its healing and health-boosting properties.
How to Use Turmeric to Reduce Inflammation
Possibly the most bioactive way to use tumeric is to incorporate it into your cooking using raw tumeric and grating it, this can be delicious adding it to curries. However I realise many of you may not wish to eat curries three times a day, so a tea can be made of this in traditional chines medicine around 10 grams is used and the grated herb can be boiled with water for 5 minutes and drunk along with ginger and a bit of honey for flavour as your new favourite tea.
Perhaps the easiest way to take it is as a capsule from a health food store. Looking through the literature it is unclear what the ideal dosage is, the bare minimum is 1000 mg /day at least that is the quantity used in most of the studies.. It would also do no harm to include this and the raw herb as well as some studies suggest 2 or 3 grams to be an ideal amount to have any therapeutic effect.
Another way is to Simply mix a teaspoon of turmeric powder into a cup of hot water, and allow it to steep for five minutes. If you like, you can add a teaspoon of honey or lemon juice to sweeten the tea and make it more palatable. Not only is this tea packed with inflammation-fighting properties, it’s also a soothing and refreshing way to start your day.
The Evidence
Below I have cited a few journals with trials in which go through the evidence.
tumeric biological actions: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24107978
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043466623000224
prevention of arthritis: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/np050327j
Conclusions Regarding The Use Of Tumeric
Like Glucosamine there is no hard or fast rule with regard to whether you should take tumeric and its potential effects. However there have been more trials demonstrating effectiveness than is the case with glucosamine. There are still question marks over the best way to take it and in which form to allow maximum absorbtion to benefit from its potential benefits. The good news is that it is not toxic and if there are side effects these are only mild gastro intestinal problems and that is after large dosages.
The important thing to remember is take it consistently for at least three months to see if it has a beneficial effect on you, and then incorporate a fair amount in your diet.
Where the trials have been done , tumeric shows to be of similar therapeutic potency as ibuprofen and diclofenac. The big advantage is that there is no toixicity or hazards which you can get with iburprofen and other non sterioidal anti inflammatoris (NSAIDS) in the long term.
So yes it is certainly worth a try. The worst thing you would get is a yellow stained mouth, agains a lifetime of pain relief.
