If you missed my post earlier this week, one of the 40 Days of Sparkle is about assessing your nutritional needs. I’m going to give Turmeric a try and see if the hype about helping inflammation is true…..read on!
I’ve been very sore in my hips, knees and shoulders recently and I’m not sure if:
- I’m overdoing it
- I’m just seeing the effects of getting older and the wear and tear on my body
- I’m not following the proper channels for recovery (hence my resolution to get more massages)
What is Tumeric? It is a plant of the Ginger Family. It is one of the key ingredients in many Asian dishes.
What are the so called “benefits” of this Super Powder?
Turmeric has long been known for it’s anti inflammatory properties and that’s what I’m most interested in learning more about.
It has been found to work just as well as ibuprofen for pain relief and reducing inflammation. Joint pain and inflammation are the key areas that it is said to help with.
Turmeric can be taken in powder form or capsule form (250-500mg increments).
You can experiment with it in cooking or ingest it in tea form as well.
Taking it with black pepper increases it’s bioavailability – meaning, a more pure absorption ratio occurs. When drugs are administered intravenously, you get 100% absorption. So, when ingesting turmeric with black pepper, you get a stronger dose so to speak….less is diluted in the bloodstream.
I’ve been suffering from hip, knee and shoulder pain the past few months and I’m on a mission to see if the combination of taking turmeric and getting more frequent massages will help with this. I will keep you posted on my progress. Stay tuned!
Other benefits of this so called Super Powder are:
Cancer prevention or slow growth. The studies have found that Turmeric may
- Stop certain cancer cells in their tracks and cause them to die.
- Metastasis prevention – which is stopping the spread of cancer to other areas of the body due to ingestion of this super powder.
- Slow down or stop the growth of existing cancerous tumors.
Alzheimer’s prevention – it may prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimers by removing plaque buildup in the brain.
Obesity – Turmeric can be a powerful weapon in the fight against obesity by activating fat burning gene signals.
Liver health – it may be a natural detoxifier of the liver for both alcohol induced liver damage and damage caused by a high fat diet.
Parkinsons and Multiple Sclerosis – may help prevent or slow down the process of these two diseases
Depression – proven to be just as effective as prozac in treating depression and slightly more effective when taken with prozac.
Better Sleep.
How long after taking Turmeric will it take to see results?
The pain-relieving properties of Turmeric – provided you get a brand that has pipeline (black pepper) in it, to aid with absorption, should kick in quickly — hours rather than days.
The anti-inflammatory properties will take a little longer — day or two or three. The full effects of turmeric for joint flexibility and pain relief may take as long as six months.
I just started taking it a week ago and I think I already feel the benefits, but I’ll keep you posted!