Last week we touched on the incredibly powerful super-root Ashwagandha, and it’s amazing healing and preventative benefits. It seems every week I sit down to brush up on my health education, I learn about new research and discoveries in holistic health. It’s so exciting to play a part in spreading the word about “Self-Care” instead of health care.
This leads me to some more information I’ve found about one of my favorite superfoods: TURMERIC.
Turmeric is an ancient spice that’s been used for thousands of years for healing a multitude of different ailments. Today, over 5,000 different studies have linked this powerful plant to over 600 positive health benefits.
As an antioxidant
Turmeric permeates membranes of free radicals and neutralizes them. This prevents them from spreading and creating more oxidation.
As an inflammation treatment
Turmeric contains more than 2 dozen anti-inflammatory compounds, including 6 COX-2 inhibitors. COX-2 is an enzyme responsible for pain, and inflammation, so inhibiting or “blocking” that enzyme is imperative for pain relief.
As cancer prevention and treatment
In the book “Phytochemicals: Mechanisms of Action” respected ethnobotanist James A. Duke Phd noted curcumin and/or turmeric were effective in prevention and treatment of colon cancer, mammary cancer, prostate cancer, oral cancer, and other types of cancer.
In addition to that, numerous tests and studies have compared turmeric to popular pharmaceuticals, such as:
- Atorvastatin (commonly known as Lipitor) – Common diabetes treatment
- Prozac/Fluoxetine & Imipramine – Antidepression medication
- Aspirin – blood thinning and pain relief treatment
- Oxaliplatin – (a chemotherapy drug) as an antiproliferative agent in colorectal cell lines.
There are 4 ways that I like to add turmeric to my diet:
Whole turmeric root
I drop this in my juices and smoothies, and sometimes into soup broths, or sauteed with other veggies.
Turmeric powder
You can sneak this into anything, like smoothies, rice, stir fry dishes, and even on veggies and organic meats.
Turmeric capsules
I try to take two capsules of this per day, regardless of what I plan on eating.
Curcumin powder
Curcumin is the most active ingredient within turmeric. This is really potent, and will easily stain your kitchen, so be careful. I use this when I need a super high dose of the curcumin benefits. I often mix this with coconut or goat kefir. It tastes great, and the kefir makes it more absorbable.
So to make my super potent Kefir-Curcumin Drink, here’s the recipe:
Kefir-Curcumin Drink
- 1 cup of Kefir (substitute with non-dairy kefir if preferred)
- 1 tbsp of Curcumin
- Place both ingredients in a shaker bottle.
- Shake well until both ingredients dissolve/mix into one another.
- Drink and enjoy!
Article originally published on Fitlife.tv republished with permission
