My love affair with Turmeric

Originating from southwest India, turmeric is part of the ginger family (all those bobbly bits, yup, I can tell they're brothers!) It has a wonderful earthy, sweet, bitter taste, which can be used in sweet and savoury dishes and drinks.  Turmeric is used fresh or ground in cooking, teas, beauty products, but most interestingly used in medicines in Ayurvedic and Unani systems, dating back to 250BC!!  (I have no idea how my sources know that, but that's a loooooooong time ago!)  So its isn't one of these new 'SUPERFOODS' that we have swarming the supermarket shelves today. Turmeric is up there in the ranks of the SUPERFOODs of the old world.



Organic Ground and Fresh Turmeric

Back in the day, my husband and I used to make, or buy take away currys and foods that had turmeric in them and would have the conversation, 'geez if it can stain your hands and counter like that, what's it doing to your insides?"  Little did I know exactly what it was doing to our insides.

Turmeric has an active ingredient in it called Curcumin. Curcumin is a compound with powerful anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties.  But curcumin isn't easily absorbed into the bloodstream, so to help it jump onto the red roller coaster, we have to give it something to ride on. That something is can be ginger, pepper and some say coconut oil too.  Adding either of these amazing spices or oils to turmeric helps bind the curcumin into the bloodstream and that badboy gets distributed throughout the body, throwing out anti oxidants and anti inflammatory goodness everywhere.
Some studies have shown that curcumin can:-

• Reduce the growth of cancerous cells by making changes on the molecular level, which could lead to prevention or perhaps treatment.
• Boosts brain health by increasing the growth of new neurons and fights degenerative processes in the brain.
• Helps arthritis and joint pain, so much so that in some cases it is more effective than an anti inflammatory prescribed drug. (check with your doc before making any rash changes to your meds)
• Helps battle depression by boosting brain neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine.
• Can normalizes insulin and triglyceride levels while boosting antioxidant defenses. By keeping triglyceride and insulin levels low effectively reduces your risk for numerous health conditions like metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and – you guessed it – diabetes.

I do truly love the taste of turmeric and have become slightly obsessed with it lately. So much so that one day I may resemble Marg Simpson, minus the fantastic hair.
Seriously though, you can pop this baby into smoothies, porridge, stews and even bedtime milk, no one will be any the wiser, but their insides will thank you for it.

Turmeric porridge

Turmeric and Cinnamon Nut Butter

Turmeric Tea with Ginger, Lemon and Tulsi Basil






My favourite drink Turmeric Tisane.
(Available to purchase locally)