There are endless reasons why turmeric is becoming so much popular!

Curcumin is the yellow pigment that gives turmeric its medical properties. MEDLINE, which is the bibliographic database of study abstracts with the National Library of Medicine. It shows more than 600 possible health benefits of turmeric and curcumin, the main polyphenol in it.

You can improve your overall health by including turmeric into your regular diet, but make sure to know about the following before you start using it.

Key Nutrient & Limitations of Absorption

When you eat turmeric, your goal is to absorb curcumin. But what is concerning is that it is not an ingredient that can be absorbed easily by your body.

There are so many clinical and animal studies that show that the concentration of curcumin in peripheral tissues, urine and blood plasma remain every low without concern how much dosage is taken. Because of this low absorption rate, you will not be able to experience this medicinal food’s health benefits.

So How Can You Improve Turmeric’s Bioavailability?

The best thing is that you can follow some wonderful kitchen strategies for improving turmeric’s bioavailability.

1. Use Black Pepper

Black pepper can not only help enhance turmeric’s bioavailability, it is also a great medicine in itself. It is also a highly potent turmeric adjuvant too.

When someone is given a bunch of curcumin from turmeric, there’s no significant increase in the levels in the blood stream when tested in 1 hour. The reason there’s no big boost is because the liver is always working to eliminate it. However, when this procedure is suppressed through intake of 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper, the results are entirely different. You will notice that your curcumin levels rise like anything.

When it was tested by giving equivalent amount of curcumin as earlier, but along with black pepper, the bioavailability increased by 2,000 percent. Taking even a pinch of pepper (which is equal to 1/20 teaspoon), can have a major impact on the process. The best thing is that black pepper is so commonly used – it is one of the main ingredients in curry powder along with turmeric.

According to a study titled: Influence Of Piperine On The Pharmacokinetics Of Curcumin In Animals And Human Volunteers, it was found that the human subjects were co-administered piperine with curcumin, their curcumin bioavailability increased a staggering 2,000 percent.

2. Adding Some Healthy Fat

Do you know turmeric is soluble in fat? You can enjoy its health benefits by combining it with some fat so that your body can absorb it fully.

When you take with healthy fats like ghee, olive oil or coconut oil, curcumin gets readily absorbed into your bloodstream via the lymphatic system. Thus, it bypasses the liver.

The best thing about this process is that curcumin doesn’t get as much exposure to metabolic enzymes and stays in its free form. This allows it to remain in your body for a longer duration (Source: DrNibber).

3. Heating for Increasing Bioavailability

As already mentioned, curcumin, the potent ingredient found in turmeric, cannot be readily absorbed by our body. But with some help from your sauté pan and warm oil, things can be different. This has been claimed by Dr. Sukumar.

Dr. Sukumar claims that he uses turmeric in all sauté – 1/4 teaspoon. He says that everyone should use it as much as they like. There’s no reason to be reserved.

He claims that everyone should use it widely in their cooking. Sprinkle it in your sauté. When the oil is heated and turmeric is added, it will become fully bioavailable.

So when you want to optimize the efficacy of turmeric, you should follow these 3 steps:

– Heat it to activate turmeric.

– Combine turmeric with freshly ground black pepper to increase its absorption by a staggering 2,000 percent.

– Use turmeric mixed in some healthy fat and this will help in bypassing your liver.

The University of Maryland Medical Center claims that you should follow this turmeric dosage:

– Cut root – 1.5 to 3 grams a day

– Dried and powdered roots – 1 to 3 grams a day

You can also prepare golden milk recipe using it.

 

 

Source: Daily Health Post