How to best absorb the benefits of Turmeric
Many of us have encountered the vibrant, golden orange stain from Turmeric. Whether it has been an addition to cooking, served warm in a drink or taken directly as a supplement, the potent yellowy rhizome of Turmeric is a popular powerhouse when it comes to health and wellbeing.
Traditionally, Turmeric was cultivated to be used as dye and culinary spice. But over time, its positive effects to our health began to emerge and now has been the focus of many scientific studies that identify its potential supportive role in conditions of the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, immune & muscular/skeletal systems.
Most research has focused on Turmeric’s main active compounds called curcuminoids, of which curcumin is the most significant when it comes to positive health outcomes. It is curcumin that is largely responsible for the bright colour of Turmeric, as well as its health-giving qualities.
While these studies have reaffirmed Turmeric’s traditional therapeutic uses and uncovered some exciting new applications, findings have discovered that the curcumin is poorly absorbed when orally ingested. Luckily, ways to help combat this problem have been identified and with a few little additions we can see the rate of curcumin absorption significantly improve.
To full absorb all of the wonderful benefits of Turmeric, we have listed some simple tips below that will help boost uptake into the body.
- Add some good fat
Curcumin is a fat-soluble compound, meaning that it must be bound to a fat/lipid in order to be absorbed from the digestive tract. We can see that traditional Ayurvedic methods recognised the importance of consuming turmeric and good quality fat together, as it was commonly added to coconut milk-based curries or made into a warm, milky beverage.
How to: to boost the up-take of curcumin, be sure to consume with a good quality fat such as ghee, avocado, coconut or olive oil. Pair with coconut cream in curries, mashed into avocado before serving on top of ghee spread on toast or simply wash down your capsules with a small glass of coconut milk.
- Spice it up with black pepper
Black pepper is a humble household spice that can provide us with much more benefit than simply enhancing the flavour of our food. The principal component is known as Pipierine, and has been shown to help improve the issues with Curcumin absorption and metabolism. When taken with turmeric or curcumin extract, piperine can help to boost the amount of curcumin absorbed into our body as well as helping to slow the rate it is used and excreted.
How to: when using fresh or powdered turmeric in cooking, make sure to add a good pinch of black pepper to the mix. It’s a simple way to enhance flavour and curcumin absorption!
- Pick the right supplement
Great results from Turmeric supplementation has lead to an explosion of different products available on the market. Given that many of us want the most from what we are taking, it is important to consider the type of Turmeric supplement we take, and the form it is delivered in.
The types of Turmeric health products available that deliver superior absorption include:
- Powdered Turmeric (standardised curcuminoids) with added piperine and ginger
- Curcumin extract (like our Green Trading Organic Curcumin capsules)
- Liposomal Turmeric (standardised curcuminoids and non-GMO vegetable oil)
We are proud that Green Trading’s Organic Curcumin capsules comes from 100% turmeric extract. This means it is free from any binders, fillers, tableting agents and preservatives. And unlike Liposomal delivery systems, our high-strength capsules contain only powdered extract so there is no need to consume potentially pro-inflammatory vegetable oils such as sunflower oil.
References available upon request
visit us: https://www.greentrading.co.nz/