Turmeric Medicine
Turmeric gets a LOT of attention in the scientific community. A quick search of published studies done today yields 13,214 papers with Turmeric in the title and 38,375 papers with the word Curcumin in the title! That’s a massive amount of research into this bright yellow ginger family root. As a comparison, dandelion, another very useful root, has a measly 1,046 searchable studies.
As herbalist Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa says, “The more I use this yellow wonder, the more uses it seems to have. I call it ‘the medicine cabinet in a jar.’” (1)
Properties of Turmeric:
Taste:
Bitter, Aromatic, Pungent, Mildly Spicy
Energetics:
Warming, Drying, Stimulating/Tonifying
Of special note - this yellow colored spice will stain pretty much everything it touches including your fingers. This makes it a great natural dye for anything from yarn to eggshells
Additional useful information: Turmeric is poorly absorbed on its own. When working with turmeric pair it with fat, alcohol, black pepper, or plants rich in berberine like Oregon grape or barberry.
When not to use turmeric:
when pregnant - it can cause uterine contractions
if you have a blocked bile duct as it increases bile secretions
When you are starting blood thinning therapy or are stable on blood thinners, work with your doctor/pharmacist to create a sustainable and regular daily dose.
If you are allergic to turmeric
If your inflammation is Hot and Dry - try a cooling and moistening herb like Marshmallow instead.
Actions of Turmeric:
Turmeric is many things: anti Inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antiarthritic, antimicrobial, antiatherosclerotic, antilithic, anticoagulant, alterative, antidiabetic, cholagogue, choleretic, carminative, cardioprotective, cholesterol lowering, digestive, emmenagogue, hypotensive, hepatoprotective, nootropic, vulnerary (2)
That is a LOT of medicinal action. To summarize it quick and dirty, turmeric is a potent anti inflammatory substance that improves your digestion, lowers your risk of blood clots and clogged arteries, protects and restores liver function, improves cholesterol and blood sugar metabolism, lowers blood pressure, breaks up stones in the kidneys and gallbladder, increases the flow of digestive juices, reduces the pain and swelling of arthritis, restores and protects nervous system function, reduces the risk of cancer, heals skin wounds, and protects you from oxidative damage from the free radicals created in the body through everyday living.
That does sound like “a medicine cabinet in a jar!”
Conditions Turmeric May Help With:
Turmeric is at its heart an anti inflammatory and antioxidant herb. This gives it broad spectrum use throughout the body. When in doubt, try turmeric!
Inflammation:
Any condition that ends with the letters -itis are inflammatory conditions. Inflammation over the short term is healthy and needed for cellular repair and protection against infection, but, when inflammation continues unchecked, it wreaks havoc through the body. Here we see conditions such as arthritis, dermatitis, hepatitis, cholangitis, gastritis, uveitis, colitis, diverticulitis, thyroiditis, and more. We also see autoimmune conditions like Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriasis, Hashimoto’s, etc. Turmeric can be a useful treatment for all of these conditions.
Turmeric reduces inflammation through several different pathways from reducing levels of inflammatory chemicals like TNF-alpha and IL-6, to reducing prostaglandins and cyclooxygenase chemicals. (3) This can stop inflammation in its tracks and mimick or accentuate the effects of many pharmaceuticals. Turmeric is considered an “equally effective and safer alternative to NSAIDs for chronic inflammation.” This means things like Ibuprofen, Advil, and prescription anti-inflammatory medications.
Metabolic and Liver Disease:
Turmeric shines here as well especially with its restorative effects on the liver. As the liver functions more efficiently, cholesterol levels decrease along with blood sugar levels. Turmeric has been shown to protect the liver from developing fatty infiltration in the setting of high cholesterol levels and metabolic syndrome! (4) Turmeric has also been shown to speed the healing and recovery of liver damage as well as protective against the liver damaging effects of medications such as Statin drugs.
Neurological Issues:
Turmeric has been studied and shown helpful in cases such as dementia, MS, post-stroke syndrome, and post head injury. Not only does turmeric lower inflammation and protect against oxidative damage, it helps nervous tissue heal and rebuild, and increases brain levels of Dopamine and Serotonin. (3)
Digestion:
Turmeric is also a fantastic digestive remedy. Again through reducing inflammation and oxidative damage, but also through promoting digestive activity. For people with sluggish digestion who experience pain or heaviness after eating, painful or bothersome gas, and constipation, turmeric is a great bitter alterative to add to their diet to get things moving.
Skin issues:
Again, we have those anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Add in the liver effects and resolution of a sluggish digestive tract and you will see clearing of skin issues. Turmeric is also a vulnerary which means it stimulates skin healing. You can use it topically, but be ready for bright yellow skin! Studies have shown turmeric effective at reducing the extra skin cell production seen in psoriasis too!
Working with Turmeric in Your Kitchen:
Now that we know why one would like to work with turmeric, let’s talk about how.
First, as with all herbal medicine, working with the whole plant is always best. Much of the research is done on specific chemicals found in herbs; see the above difference between the search results for turmeric and for curcumin the “active ingredient” in turmeric for a clear example of this. The problem with this is that we are now viewing a plant as a drug with chemicals that can be patented for profits. The other problem is the fact that turmeric and other plant medicines have multiple “active ingredients” and when taken together, they make the medicine safer and more effective.
As an example, imaging your closest relationship. If you were to pick the one thing you most appreciate about that person and that was the only way they could interact with you from here on out, you would be missing out on all the other aspects of that person. You may even find that that one quality starts to get irritating, one dimensional, and perhaps even causes harm to your relationship. Working with plants is working in relationship with another living being.
Alright, I put that soapbox away with my stash of others for the moment.
The best way to work with turmeric is to mix it in with your food. This can be as the raw root, the powdered root, or by creating a paste of root and fat to increase the absorption.
The herbalist Julie James of Green Wisdom School has a great way of storing and using turmeric that involves ghee! If you eat dairy butter and have never made ghee, please do give it a try, it will make your house smell wonderful and is quite satisfying. Once you have some ghee, simply mix ¼ of this golden fatty wonder with 1 oz by weight of turmeric powder. Gently warm this on the stove until your mixture is slightly darker in color and more aromatic then pull it off the heat and pour into a jar. You can then add this by the spoonful to your food, coffee, or tea. You can also add a spoonful to a mug of warm milk (dairy or other) along with some favorite spices like cinnamon and ginger to make a quick and delicious golden milk.
Golden milk is one of the most common traditional uses of turmeric in Ayurveda. Yum!
Curry dishes are made with a blend of turmeric and other spices creating an antioxidant and anti inflammatory nutritional powerhouse of a dish. You can make all sorts of spice blends that include turmeric. Try adding a bit to your Autumnal root bake, your next soup or stew, to your veggie dishes, and incorporated into other spice blends. A great book to use as inspiration for working with herbs and spices in the kitchen is The Herbal Kitchen by Kami McBride.
If you do not enjoy the flavor of turmeric, start slow and add in a small amount at a time. If it remains off putting, you can use turmeric tincture as the alcohol will improve the absorption or purchase a supplement with Meriva ® or BCM-95 ® but these products will be quite expensive.
I like to use turmeric powder in my cooking as my primary way to work with this plant. For regular use, I aim for about 1 teaspoon daily and if I am experiencing an increase in inflammation, I will work up to 1 Tbsp of powder daily. Since I switched to getting my medicine in through food and herbal teas/tinctures, I’ve saved a ton of money, I’m no longer taking any pharmaceuticals (x 4 years now), and my health continues to improve year after year. Sometimes I feel a bit like Benjamin Button. See the pictures below for the difference. The first was taken when I was 28, the second at age 35, and the final is me this year at 39.
This is the medicine I use because it works!
To our health!
References
De La Foret, R, Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal.
Tilgner, S, Herbal ABC’s: The Foundation of Herbal Medicine.
Stansbury, S, Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals: Volume 4
Stansbury, S, Herbal Formularies for Health Professionals: Volume 3