Turmeric! It’s exploded in popularity for its multiple beauty uses, cooking finesse and health benefits to both the mind and body. But how much truth is there to the claims we hear about turmeric? Does it really work? How does it work? How long does Turmeric take to work?
Keep on reading to find out!
What is Turmeric?
Turmeric (pronounced ter-mer-ic) is a plant that is interestingly part of the ginger family, Curcuma longa, commonly grown in India and Southern Asia. Turmeric, AKA 'the Golden Spice' is bright yellow and is used as a spice to flavour recipes and is also known for its impressive list of health benefits. Turmeric comes from a plant and has a very long history of medicinal use, dating back nearly 4000 years.
It’s been considered an important part of Indian culture during this time and has been adopted by the west for its acclaimed health and beauty benefits.
How Is Turmeric Used?
With celebrities world over jumping on the Turmeric train - Gwyneth Paltrow and Kourtney Kardashian being just a couple of famous fans, let us consider the many ways in which we can respectfully utilise this golden spice.
Known for its bright yellow-orange colour and bitter taste, turmeric (or “haldi”) is most often used in cooking as a spice to flavour curries and Indian cuisine. Turmeric is often known as “Indian saffron” for this reason.
It’s also used within Eastern culture to dye clothes yellow or orange because its colour is long-lasting. As within all plant and spice histories, it is important to know and respect the origins and culture.
You can purchase turmeric as the whole root, in supplement form, as a dried powder and even liquidated! How you use turmeric is completely up to you.
Many people add a small amount of powder to their tea, soups, smoothies, and baked goods daily. Supplements, such as our Beautifully Nourished 360 Turmeric Multivitamin are typically higher concentration.
Known as “Haldi Doodh” in eastern cultures, turmeric lattes are a popular ingestion method. You can make one for yourself at home using almond, soy or coconut milk, turmeric, ginger, ground pepper, honey, and cinnamon. Stick around as we explore our very own Beautifully Nourished recipe!
Active Ingredients in Turmeric
Science has begun to investigate and support traditional claims that turmeric contains compounds with medicinal properties. These compounds are known as curcuminoids. The most important one is curcumin.
Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric and has powerful anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and has antioxidant effects.
Fun fact: Before Indian weddings, turmeric paste is applied to the bride’s skin as part of a ritual so that it may bring out a natural glow.
How Does Turmeric Help Skin?
Curcumin is known for its strong anti-inflammatory benefits. It can ease swelling and redness associated with skin certain skin conditions such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis .
It can even help control oil production. When curcumin acts as an antiseptic, it's antibacterial properties help combat and soothe acne and it can be used to soothe minor cuts, burns, and wounds.
a 2016 study, demonstrates the effects of Turmeric (Curcuma longa) on Skin Health, with alternate studies supporting the hypothesis that curcumin can help to prevent dark spots and hyper-pigmentation.
The golden spice is also a known antioxidant, helping to combat free radicals and UV damage that can prematurely age the skin.
One study revealed that curcumin improved both skin hydration and sebum content after photodamage.
When ingested in supplement form, turmeric can help to reduce the breakdown of collagen that results in fine lines and wrinkles.
It’s also generally well-tolerated by sensitive skin types, which is just one of the many reasons we love the spice here at Beautifully Nourished!
Skincare Benefits from Turmeric
- Inflammatory
- Antiseptic and Antibacterial
- Antioxidant
- Oil Controlling Properties
- Calms redness and Swelling
- Helps with acne, eczema, burns, wounds, psoriasis and minor cuts
- Can reduce and prevent dark spots
- Can fight against the effects of UV damage
- Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
What Are the Health Benefits of Turmeric?
Are there any benefits to taking turmeric? Our answer is and infinite YES!! There are so many turmeric benefits.
One of the reasons why turmeric is in the spotlight as a functional food is because it’s been approached as a food and a medicine. One ounce of turmeric has been said to give 26% of our daily RNI of manganese and 16% of the daily requirement of iron. It is also a great source of fibre, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
- Turmeric can help our body’s metabolism work more efficiently and can serve as a natural liver detoxifier.
- It may also help lower cholesterol levels and protect against heart disease.
- The golden spice is also being studied to help with gastrointestinal problems, improve digestion, and aid with weight loss.
- It may even help with arthritis treatment and reduce joint swelling.
- Curcumin is even being studied to research the possible effects in helping to fight cancer as it seems to kill cancerous cells and inhibit their movement throughout the body.
The benefits don’t stop there! Curcumin can also help relieve symptoms of migraines and muscle pain when taken in supplement form.
The Top 5 Health Benefits of Turmeric
In summary, what turmeric good for is a host of benefits to the body. The top 5 health benefits of turmeric include:
- The potential to improve heart health
- Research to suggest prevention against Alzheimer’s and cancers
- Positively support symptoms of PMS
- May also help improve symptoms of depression and arthritis
- It's antioxidant and inflammatory properties
Other health benefits of turmeric include:
Turmeric Supplement Benefits
There are so many ways to supplement with turmeric, such as: through tea, food, liquid, capsules and our 360 Turmeric Multivitamin.
We believe the best method for supplementing with turmeric includes taking it within your daily multivitamin.
How much turmeric should I take a day? The safe amount of turmeric to be taken daily is 1.4 mg / pound of body weight.
What are the Health Benefits of Including Turmeric in Your Diet?
While turmeric is a flavoursome spice that is nutritious to consume, it has also traditionally been used used to treat inflammatory conditions, skin diseases, wounds, digestive ailments, and liver conditions.
Beautifully Nourished 360 Turmeric Multivitamin
How Does it Work?
Multivitamins maintain wellbeing by filling in nutritional gaps and providing a consistent supply of essential vitamins, minerals, trace elements and nutrients. They can improve health and even reduce the risk of developing chronic diseases. They produce enzymes and hormones, boost immunity, improve body functions such as reproduction, maintenance and growth.
Which Multivitamin is Best? The best multivitamins should provide all essential vitamins and minerals at 100% daily RNI. We provide all of that, and a little extra!
Suggested Use
For optimal results, take 1-2 tablets daily, with plenty of water.
What Supplements Should not be Taken with Turmeric?
- Blood-thinning medications,
- Diabetes medications,
- Iron tablets and antacids.
When should you not take turmeric? You should not take turmeric if you have the following conditions:
- Gallbladder problems: Turmeric can worsen gallbladder problems because of its ability to increase bile secretion
- Bleeding disorders or those who take inject-able blood thinners.
- Gastroesophageal reflux disorder: Turmeric can worsen stomach problems.
- Infertility: Turmeric may cause infertility in men by: Lowering their testosterone levels and decreasing sperm movement.
- Iron deficiency: High amounts of turmeric may interfere with iron absorption in the body.
- Liver disease: There is some concern that turmeric might damage the liver.
- Surgery: Turmeric should be stopped two weeks before a scheduled surgery because of the risk of bleeding during and after surgery.
- Hormone-sensitive conditions such as breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis or uterine fibroids:
- Pregnancy: You should not take turmeric when pregnant. Turmeric is a uterine stimulant and may induce the menstrual cycle in pregnant women.
Turmeric For Inflammation, Depression, Immunity & Pain Relief
Can Turmeric Help Treat Depression? Antioxidants such as curcumin scavenge free radicals that create inflammation. By reducing oxidative stress, they can also reduce inflammation.
Evidence of Turmeric Benefits
A
Turmeric Uses in Food
Let's Get Creative!
Why not try a Turmeric latte recipe? Be sure to tag @officiallybeautifullynourished in your creations.
Disclaimer: This spice is bright! Be cautious with trying the many natural beauty DIYs out there - perhaps avoid white clothes when mixing and blending your own DIY Turmeric formulas. For removal of stains on the skin, make a gentle sugar scrub for exfoliation or moisten a cotton ball with water and rub it across the skin.
Beautifully Nourished's Golden Chai Turmeric Latte
Ingredients
Instructions
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Place the cinnamon sticks, sliced ginger, cloves, cracked pepper, and water in a medium sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for five minutes.
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Turn off the heat, add the black tea bags, cover once more and let the tea steep for 4-5 minutes. Pour the tea into a bowl through a fine mesh strainer or colander.
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Whisk the vanilla, honey, and turmeric into the tea. Taste and adjust the sweetness or other spices, if desired. This Golden Chai tea mix can be refrigerated and saved in the refrigerator for a few days. Adjust quantities accordingly for batch creations!
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To make each drink, heat 8oz. of milk (stove top, microwave, or steamer) and combine with 8oz. of the hot golden chai tea mix. Make sure to stir the Golden Chai tea mix just before combining with the milk. Serve while hot.
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Top Tip: Do not over-boil as this could reduce curcumin content!
What Are the Side Effects of Turmeric?
When exploring the turmeric side effects: health benefits and risks , there are afew points to consider. Are there any side effects of using Turmeric that you wouldn't want? Whilst turmeric is globally regarded as a safe and natural spice, as with anything, stay within the recommended daily amounts and sense check when taken in conjunction with medications. While negative side effects are rare, they’re possible. High doses of turmeric may cause gastrointestinal upset, such as bloating, nausea, vomiting, stomach aches, and, or diarrhoea. Patch test before use on skin should you make any DIY treatments.
How Much Turmeric Is Safe?
How much Turmeric a day? The recommended dose of turmeric for culinary purposes is 1 to 3g per day for fresh roots and 400 to 600 mg 3 x per day three for the powdered spice.
Powdered turmeric should be stored in a cool, dry place, and boiling it for 15 minutes can destroy up to 85% of its curcumin content.
Closing Thoughts
Known for it's health benefits to bring about a natural skin glow, turmeric has a whole host of vast health and beauty benefits that are still being explored to this day.
There are over 6,200 peer reviewed scientific studies on Turmeric, primarily focusing on the varied health benefits.
From and inflammatory to antiseptic, it seems Turmeric really can do it all. Similar to the multifaceted benefits of coconut, Turmeric's benefits are not limited to just one function, but many!
Have you yourself jumped on the turmeric train? How do you use it? Do you take our 360 Turmeric Multivitamin? We are eager to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
All our love, Team BN x
Comments
Always put it in my curries. I also sprinkle it in my morning orange juice along with ginger. Traditional anti-inflammatories only target one inflammatory enzyme. On the other hand, turmeric has an impact on several inflammatory enzymes and pathways. This makes it more efficient than alternative treatments. In one trial, turmeric was discovered to be able to control 30 distinct molecular targets, hence assisting in the reduction of inflammation throughout the body. beatgout.org/turmeric-gout/