Turmeric, the Super-Spice

Turmeric is one of several spices that have come into play as important in health maintenance and disease prevention.  It's a powerful anti-inflammatory for a range of conditions as well as an antioxidant.  

Turmeric is a whole body cleanser that has been used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.  It's also what gives Indian curry its yellow color.  

It's hard to beat turmeric as a natural anti-inflammatory.  And more and more research is showing that inflammation is at the center of nearly all bodily diseases and malfunctions.  My brother-in-law injured his shoulder and for a long time had been unable to sleep well because it caused him so much discomfort in bed.  After about a month of taking a hefty dose of turmeric every day, he is now able to sleep through the night.  His shoulder is still healing, and he is doing physical therapy for that, but the inflammation that exacerbated the pain has greatly diminished.  

According to Catherine Ebeling, RN, BSN, and Mike Geary, Certified Nutrition Specialist (from their website truthaboutabs.com, turmeric is beneficial for infections, fevers, digestion, liver and gall bladder problems and arthritis, as well as helping to prevent heart disease and Alzheimer's Disease. It may even help to burn fat by stimulating the flow of bile in the gall bladder and helping to digest fats, improving digestion at the same time.  

Curcumin is the active ingredient in this super-spice, and is what gives turmeric its yellow-orange pigment.  Be sure you get turmeric that has at least 4 percent curcumin, as some kinds have only about 1 percent.

I buy turmeric in bulk by the pound.  My favorite source is Frontier Natural Foods.  They are one of the major suppliers of health food stores across the country, and have been doing it since the 1970s.  You can form your own co-op and join as a wholesale buyer, but you can also purchase from them as a resale customer.  

I like to buy from Frontier because not only can you get herbs that are certified organic (important if you are going to ingest them on a regular basis), but it is also much less expensive to buy herbs in bulk.  It comes in sealed, foil-wrapped bags, so the contents are always fresh-smelling and very pungently aromatic.  Their website is at http://www.frontiercoop.com.  You  can also call them for a catalog.  They offer a huge variety of products, both their own brands as well as other manufacturer's products. 

I used to buy empty gel caps and make my own capsules, but soon got tired of doing it.  So now I take about half a rounded spoonful of turmeric every morning and just wash it down with a couple of swallows of water.  It's much cheaper and easier to use that way.   Although you can buy it in many stores already in capsules,  I prefer to use the bulk powder and swallow it alone.  At least I know what I'm getting that way.  

For more information about turmeric's wonderful benefits, click here.