If you're anything like me, you're constantly seeking for methods to improve your health. I'm always looking for new ways to spice up a healthy diet, from healthy smoothie recipes to inventive dinner recipes. Start adding a little turmeric to your diet if you're looking for a way to get the health benefits while also spicing things up (literally)!
If turmeric is new to you, it comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant. It has tough brown skin and a deep orange flesh, with a bitter but warm and peppery flavor. Turmeric is known as one of the ingredients in curry, and it’s been used for centuries as a powerful anti-inflammatory in both Indian and Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of illnesses, including liver disease.
Turmeric for Liver Function And Cancer Prevention
Your liver holds the important responsibilities of converting food to energy for your body, cleaning toxins from your blood, and producing bile to aid in digestion. Studies suggest that turmeric may improve liver function by increasing its ability to detox. Turmeric has also been shown to help reduce free radical damage, protecting your cells and tissues. One of the active ingredients in turmeric is curcumin — a powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antifungal and antibacterial… basically anti-everything bad and pro-everything good! Turmeric has also been shown to reduce liver injury caused by ethanol (alcohol), iron overdose, liver disease, high toxicity levels and cirrhosis. It is also proven to help relieve oxidative stress, due to its healing properties.
Turmeric for Brain Health
Researchers have found that curcumin plays a role in improving Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s, and stroke damage. Thanks to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, it also promotes brain health. Studies have shown that curcumin may alleviate the effects of glutathione depletion, which causes oxidative stress, mitochondria dysfunction and even cell death. Recent research suggests that another bioactive compound in turmeric (aromatic-tumerone) can increase neural stem cell growth in the brain by as much as 80%, aiding in the recovery of brain function and neurodegenerative diseases.As if you needed more information supporting turmeric’s potential to support brain health, research has shown that it may also help protect against depression. The curcumin acts against oxidative and inflammatory responses that are generated during depression while repairing the damage done by free radicals.
Just 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric a day can reduce any inflammation in your body and help protect against diseases while improving your brain function. So, how can you be sure that you’re getting a daily dose of this powerful spice? The good news is that you have plenty of options. Turmeric can be taken in pill form as a supplement; you can use the root to make tea; you can use turmeric oil in your cooking, and the list goes on. Here are a few ways to use turmeric on a daily basis:
- Use a pinch to spice up scrambled eggs or tofu
- Toss some into a roasted veggie dish
- Add it to rice for extra flavor
- Sprinkle it on greens
- Use it in homemade soups
- Blend it into a smoothie
- Simmer turmeric with milk and honey to make tea
- Make a curry dish
- Try this turmeric-roasted garlic and cauliflower dish
How To Get The Most Out Of It
It is hard for our bodies to absorb the curcumin in turmeric (the stuff that does all the work), when taken raw, you can really only absorb 1% of the curcumin. The best way to use turmeric is to buy high-quality certified organic turmeric extract with 95% curcuminoids. This doesn’t mean that turmeric isn’t doing anything if you eat it EVERY DAY. In emergency situations, the extract is necessary, but ¼ tsp of turmeric every day will reduce the inflammation in your body and help keep diseases at bay and/or away.A great way to get your curcumin for the day is to boil water, and add ¼ tsp turmeric and let it boil for 10 minutes. When you let it cool and drink it, you’ve created a 12% solution.
Another great way to eat it is to mix turmeric with some sort of oil or fat. Blend 1-2 egg yolks with a teaspoon of coconut oil and a tablespoon of turmeric. When you mix turmeric with fats, it’s more easily absorbed (7-8x better absorption). That means, you don’t need to mix turmeric with eggs and oil to gain the benefits completely. Throw it in a soup, curry, or any recipe of your choosing– since most recipes have fat in them, the turmeric will flow into you easily and get to work.
Sources:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/10/13/turmeric-curcumin.aspx
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=78
https://www.alz.org/braintour/plaques_tangles.asp
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-662-turmeric.aspx?activeingredientid=662
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781139/
http://alzheimer.neurology.ucla.edu/Curcumin.html
https://www.alz.org/braintour/plaques_tangles.asp
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/thioacetamide#section=Top
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19811613
Credits: Healthy Holistic Living, David Wolfe