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So when it comes to the amazing health benefits of turmeric, I can talk the talk. That’s because I’ve been walking the walk with this extraordinary antioxidant for over 30 years and watched it slam muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, severe arthritis pain, inflammation, high blood pressure, the common cold. It’s an antifungal, antibacterial, anticancer, antimutagen, antiaging powerhouse of an herb.
When I first started taking raw organic turmeric decades ago as an anti-inflammatory and post-workout hack, I had no idea how amazing it actually is.
In fact the studies I’d read touting turmeric’s ability to relieve just about everything under the sun—which is why I took it in the first place—seemed too good to be true.
It wasn’t until I actually experienced the full wide range of turmeric health benefits in raw living color, e.g., witnessing firsthand its remarkable effects, that I started singing its praises to my friends, family, coworkers, even strangers in store check-out lines who looked like they could use a little curcumin boost.
Or perhaps their friends, relatives, maybe even pets.
(Did you know that turmeric is good for dogs?)
Anyway.
Aside from the fact that turmeric slams inflammation, oxidative stress, insulin resistance, and more, the day I ‘really’ got the epic health benefits of turmeric was when it crushed my mom’s arthritis pain. Severe, crippling pain she’d had for years.
And it all started when she came to live with me in her eighties and I changed her routine. Out went the spam, the dairy, all the unhealthy processed food, and in came organic, vegan, and gluten-free.
As well as nootropics—all those handy little herbs and shrooms I’d been chewing on for eons.
But even after dropping 55 pounds and ditching blood pressure meds with an adolescent BP—which I also have and attribute to a healthy vegan diet—she still had excruciating pain.
And being that I was loathe to get her started on the hardcore prescription drugs that ease pain, but hurt mobility—I’d seen firsthand from my experience in healthcare they can lead to falls—we tried turmeric instead.
It worked for me, so why not?
And unsurprisingly, it crushed it.
Pain gone. 💯
It also prompted every single member of my household to line up for their own daily turmeric shots, which is pretty unsurprising when someone’s racing around swinging their arms in the air and shouting hallelujah at the top of their lungs.
You start thinking hmm . . . maybe I should have some of that. 🤔
And who’s to say if the pain would’ve ever come back if she’d stopped taking it, because she never did. In fact every day it was the same routine: two tablespoons of raw organic turmeric powder PRN mixed with almond milk, black pepper, and a splash of coconut.
The black pepper (piperine) is a curcumin cofactor that ramps bioavailability by 2000%.
And the takeaway is? Turmeric rocks.
And that’s just one health benefit of this dope little herb.
But before we deep dive into the science . . .
What Is Turmeric?
You’ve probably already heard about the health benefits of turmeric (curcuma), because it’s a popular herb.
But what exactly is turmeric? You can see from above that it’s a gorgeous blooming plant.
Well turmeric is a rhizomatous, herbaceous, perennial with over 130 species worldwide. It’s native to Asia and used in cooking, natural medicine, and Ayurvedic cures.
And as a member of the ginger family, it’s huge in foods. Think Indonesian, Indian, Brazilian, Hawaiian, Thai—slews of mouthwateringly rich cuisines.
But its real import, or at least lately, is as a superfood. A go-to Herculean herb. Which is partly due to ‘curcumin,’ an antioxidant in the rhizomes of the plant. It gives turmeric that rich golden color it’s known for.
It also contributes to an enormous constituency of rich phytochemicals, including flavonoids, steroids, coumarins, tannins, saponins, phenols, and more.
Health Benefits of Turmeric
One of the key constituents of turmeric that promotes its extraordinary health benefits is called curcumin, a bioactive powerhouse and pharmacological windfall located in turmeric’s rhizomes.
What Is Curcumin?
Also known as diferuloylmethane, curcumin is the active ingredient primarily responsible for turmeric’s health benefits. It’s an antioxidant polyphenol that boosts cellular functions throughout the human body.
As a fat-soluble chemical with derivative curcuminoids, it curbs high blood pressure, inflammation, and oxidative stress. It also boosts arterial health and multiple organ systems, including the heart and brain.
Through molecular modulations of key bodily functions including enzymes and pro-inflammatory cytokines, it’s widely touted for its anti-inflammatory and medicinal effects.
And it’s pretty unsurprising that it crushed my mom’s arthritis pain in light of this report: “Curcumin may work as well or better than anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers for the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Regular ingestion of curcumin may improve artery function similar to an hour of aerobic exercise training per day.”
Other studies note its benefits for cancers, degenerative eye conditions, kidney conditions, anxiety, hyperlipidemia, and more. Its ability to “help in the management of exercise-induced inflammation and muscle soreness” is well known.
In fact the benefits of turmeric (curcumin) are immense.
There are countless studies past, present, and ongoing examining the health benefits of turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin.
Many are directed toward inflammatory and degenerative disease, but turmeric’s anticancer properties are becoming well known.
Turmeric has been shown to be a promising treatment for cancers of the breast, brain, blood, colon, kidney, liver, pancreas, and skin.
Indeed research has uncovered the ability of turmeric to act as an anti-proliferative and anti-carcinogenic herb with the ability to induce apoptosis (cancer cell death).
What the Science Says
According to this report: “Laboratory and animal research suggests that curcumin may prevent cancer, slow the spread of cancer, make chemotherapy more effective and protect healthy cells from damage by radiation therapy.”
It was also recently observed that curcumin, in conjunction with its constituents, can help prevent colorectal cancer (CRC): “Several evidences demonstrate that curcumin falls within the category of plant origin substances able to prevent CRC. Different possible mechanisms have been demonstrated in studies performed both in vitro and in vivo in animal models. Additionally, evidence of clinical benefits have been observed in mice with inflammatory and genetic CRC.”
Which is definitely significant in light of the following report: “In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women, and it’s the second most common cause of cancer deaths when numbers for men and women are combined. It’s expected to cause about 52,550 deaths during 2023.”
Turmeric & Molecular Pathways
Studies examining the effects of turmeric and curcumin on cancers have been largely encouraging. One study found that “Curcumin is a potential anti-cancer agent because of its multidirectional properties with regard to the signaling/molecular pathways. Curcumin possesses the ability to modulate the core pathways involved in cancer cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, paraptosis, autophagy, oxidative stress and tumor cell motility.”
Lastly: “Since 1987, the National Cancer Institute has tested more than a thousand different compounds for chemopreventive, or cancer-preventing, activity. Only a few dozen have made it to clinical trials, and curcumin, turmeric’s bright-yellow pigment, is among the most promising. . . . Including multiple myeloma and cancers of the breast, brain, blood, colon, kidney, liver, pancreas, and skin.”
The amazing health benefits of turmeric are so multidimensional it’s hard to find a condition it doesn’t help.
It offsets diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, dementia, anxiety, and more.
For instance:
Turmeric and Heart Disease
Turmeric and curcumin have been shown to benefit heart health in multiple ways. It reduces inflammation, high blood pressure, and oxidative stress. It boosts arterial function, reduces plaque, and improves cholesterol.
One study found that coronary bypass patients had a substantially decreased risk of heart attack when taking curcumin: “The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcuminoids may account for their cardioprotective effects shown in this study.”
Turmeric and Type 2 Diabetes
Turmeric is good for Type 2 diabetes because it increases insulin sensitivity, reduces blood sugar, and mitigates weight gain. Studies have shown that its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects are pronounced.
According to one report: “Recent research has provided the scientific basis for “traditional” curcumin and confirmed the important role of curcumin in the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its associated disorders. Curcumin could favorably affect most of the leading aspects of diabetes, including insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and islet apoptosis and necrosis (Figure 2). In addition, curcumin could prevent the deleterious complications of diabetes.”
Turmeric and Cholesterol
Turmeric has been shown by numerous studies to improve cholesterol by lowering LDL (bad cholesterol), raising HDL (good cholesterol), and curbing triglycerides.
It also reduces plaque, prevents cholesterol in the gut, and offsets cholesterol proliferation in the liver: “Curcumin is able to control LDL cholesterol and its dangerous effects on arteries through a number of mechanisms. It prevents the liver from producing cholesterol, increases the amount of LDL cholesterol that the liver clears from the body, and prevents the intestines from absorbing it.”
I might add that when I first started taking hefty doses of turmeric decades ago, I got a phone call from my doctor. The cholesterol test (lipid panel) I’d done was astonishing, he said. It’d inspired him to call and congratulate me on having the best blood he’d ever seen in all his years of practice.
Evidently my LDL, HDL, and triglycerides were literally off the charts. In all the right directions. And though I was on a healthy vegan diet and worked out daily, I think the turmeric helped. Along with apple cider vinegar and nootropics, supplements, and bioactive herbs.
Does Turmeric Lower Blood Pressure?
Studies show that one of the most epic health benefits of turmeric (curcumin) is that it can help lower high blood pressure. That’s because it reduces inflammation, oxidative stress, and boosts heart health. It also offsets obesity, improves arterial function, and curbs triglycerides. And that’s in addition to reducing LDL cholesterol and high blood sugar.
According to this report: “In healthy middle-aged and older adults, 12 weeks of curcumin supplementation improves resistance artery endothelial function by increasing vascular nitric oxide bioavailability and reducing oxidative stress, while also improving conduit artery endothelial function.”
Well, artery endothelial function is directly related to blood pressure.
In addition: “It is foreseeable that curcumin is likely to be a therapeutic agent for hypertension and vascular remodeling going forwards. . . . In short, curcumin might benefit hypertension and vascular remodeling via multiple mechanisms, such as suppression of vascular contraction, inhibition of VSMC proliferation and migration, amelioration of endothelial cell dysfunction, and blockade of the renin angiotensin system (RAS), etc.”
So now that we’ve seen the many health benefits of turmeric, let’s see some more.
Turmeric and Brain Health (Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Memory)
Turmeric is highly beneficial for brain health and can help offset Alzheimer’s, dementia, and memory loss. This is largely due to the synergistic benefits of whole turmeric including curcumin and curcuminoids.
Studies reveal that turmeric boosts memory, cognition, and has neuroprotective effects.
What the Science Says
According to this report: “Curcumin’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-amyloid, and possible anti-tau properties may offer neuroprotective benefits.2, 3 Epidemiological studies indicate a lower prevalence of Alzheimer disease in Indian people who consume curcumin in curry and a link between dietary curry consumption and better cognitive performance in older adults, supporting the hypothesis that curcumin consumption may provide neuroprotective benefits.”
And according to this Alzheimer’s (AD) data: “Curcumin as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipophilic action improves the cognitive functions in patients with AD. A growing body of evidence indicates that oxidative stress, free radicals, beta amyloid, cerebral deregulation caused by bio-metal toxicity and abnormal inflammatory reactions contribute to the key event in Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Due to various effects of curcumin, such as decreased Beta-amyloid plaques, delayed degradation of neurons, metal-chelation, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and decreased microglia formation, the overall memory in patients with AD has improved.”
Alzheimer’s Study
Here’s what Dr. Greger has to say: “What about treating Alzheimer’s disease with the spice turmeric? An exciting case series was published in 2012. Three Alzheimer’s patients treated with turmeric, and their symptoms declined, along with the burden on their caregivers. Let me show you what these data mean in real lives.
Case number one: 83 year old woman, started losing her memory, getting disoriented. Then she started having problems taking care of herself, wandering aimlessly, incontinent. After the turmeric though, her agitation, apathy, anxiety, and irritability were relieved and she had less accidents. Furthermore she began to laugh again, and sing again, and knit again. After taking turmeric for more than a year she came to recognize her family and now lives a peaceful life without a significant behavioral or psychological symptom of dementia.
Case 2 was similar, but with hallucinations and delusions and depression, which appeared relieved by turmeric. She began to recognize her family again and now lives in a peacefully serene manner. And the third case, similar as well, including an improvement in cognition. This is the first demonstration that turmeric may be effective and safe for the treatment of the behavioral and psychological symptom of dementia in Alzheimer’s disease patients.”
And that’s not all.
Turmeric’s neuroprotection extends to other diseases as well: “Based on existing studies, curcumin has been used as a potential therapeutic agent for various neurological disorders, such as dementia, AD [Alzheimer’s], PD [Parkinson’s], multiple sclerosis, and Huntington’s disease (HD), due its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-protein aggregating abilities.”
One of the most common questions about the benefits of turmeric concerns weight loss.
Can Turmeric Help You Lose Weight?
Turmeric is an effective herb for a weight loss plan because it induces ‘autophagy,’ which decreases hunger and burns fat.
It also reduces blood glucose, insulin resistance, and food cravings.
In fact research supports it as an obesity crusher overall: “Experimental evidence supports the activity of curcumin in promoting weight loss and reducing the incidence of obesity-related diseases. With the discovery that obesity is characterized by chronic low-grade metabolic inflammation, phytochemicals like curcumin which have anti-inflammatory activity are being intensely investigated. Recent scientific research reveals that curcumin directly interacts with white adipose tissue to suppress chronic inflammation. In adipose tissue, curcumin inhibits macrophage infiltration and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation induced by inflammatory agents….Curcumin also has effects to inhibit adipocyte differentiation and to promote antioxidant activities. Through these diverse mechanisms curcumin reduces obesity and curtails the adverse health effects of obesity.”
Turmeric for Cramps
Turmeric is an effective remedy for stomach and pelvic pain, including menstrual cramps, because it reduces inflammation and boosts arterial function.
It’s renown for tackling some of the worst pain ever, including rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, and its neuroprotective effects are well known.
I personally reach for turmeric for every kind of pain under the sun.
Turmeric and Depression
Studies have shown that turmeric exerts a powerful anti-depressant effect by boosting mood and relieving anxiety, depression, and chronic fatigue. It targets multiple pathways in the body responsible for mood, including mitochondria, the hippocampus, and the amygdala.
According to this report: “Curcumin has displayed, in a number of studies, a potency in modulating neurotransmitter concentrations, inflammatory pathways, excitotoxicity, neuroplasticity, hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal disturbances, insulin resistance, oxidative and nitrosative stress, and endocannabinoid system, all of which can be involved in MDD [major depressive disorder] pathophysiology. To date, a handful of clinical trials have been published and suggest a benefit of curcumin in MDD. With evidence that is progressively growing, curcumin appears as a promising alternative option in the management of MDD. . . . These studies suggest that curcumin can alleviate depressive behavior through activation of the ERK/BDNF neurotrophic pathway, especially in the hippocampus, the pre-frontal cortex, or the amygdala that are involved in depression pathophysiology.”
I’ve personally always noticed a mood boost whenever I take turmeric.
How Long Does It Take For Turmeric to Work?
There are many reports that suggest it takes weeks for turmeric to work, but for me personally it works and has always worked within 30-45 minutes.
It completely eliminated my mother’s severe arthritis pain in less than one hour. And across all the years I’ve worked in healthcare, I’ve never seen it fail to show results within a two-hour window.
Of course everyone’s different with different biochemistries, so clearly there are variables.
How To Use Turmeric
I’ve been rocking turmeric for over 30 years and I add the raw organic powder (from the health food store) to fluids such as vegan kefir with the cofactor black pepper.
I keep it in a jar in the pantry because I use it often. At least four days a week.
I read that whole organic turmeric root intact or ground into powder is superior to curcumin isolates and other processed forms.
Says this report about turmeric: “There are several components that can increase bioavailability. For example, piperine is the major active component of black pepper and, when combined in a complex with curcumin, has been shown to increase bioavailability by 2000%.”
It’s also important to mix turmeric with a smidgen of healthy fat like coconut milk or vegan kefir. If you take it in water on an empty stomach or while fasting add a drop of olive or coconut oil.
How Much Turmeric Per Day
When it comes to how much turmeric to take daily, the rule of thumb is eight grams a day or less, such as 500 to 1,000 milligrams. I’ve always taken at least a tablespoon a day, and more when I’m addressing post-workout.
It’s easy to add it to a beverage or smoothie and space it out, sipping it slowly across several hours. You can also have it during different timeframes such as morning, afternoon, evening, or all three.
I consider it a PRN herb—take as needed—though it’s also a feature of my regular routine.
How Many Teaspoons Is 500 MG of Turmeric?
One teaspoon of turmeric powder equals 200 milligrams of curcumin, varying with source. One tablespoon equals 600 milligrams, which is well within my norm.
Best Time To Take Turmeric
Pharmacy experts suggest taking turmeric with meals to increase absorption. They also suggest taking it in two doses eight to 15 hours apart to reduce potential side effects.
My mother always took it in the morning and evening with a snack. I personally take it at any time mixed with vegan kefir or a smoothie.
It’s also great in foods. 😋
Turmeric Side Effects
Turmeric isn’t known to cause serious side effects, though some people have experienced nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, or stomach upset when taking it in large doses.
High quality brands are generally safe for consumption and topical applications.
Please note that it’s important to consult your physician about taking turmeric if you have medical conditions and/or take prescriptions drugs.
You can get turmeric on Amazon here.
Or in a Happy Gut Golden Latte by Four Sigmatic with organic turmeric, black pepper, ginger, tulsi, and turkey tail mushroom onboard.
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The medical and health topics covered on the Plate of Grass website and blog have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to prevent or cure any disease. This article and its content is presented ‘as is’ for informational purposes only.
