Turmeric, Curcumin: An Amazing Tool For Healthy Living!

I woke up this morning feeling like I’d been hit by a bus. Why? Because I ate too many simple carbs for dinner. You see, simple carbs raise blood sugar levels. Higher blood sugar levels raise insulin levels and flood the body with inflammatory chemicals and free radicals. The inflammation caused by my dietary indiscretions was miserable. So what to do? I took some turmeric (I actually took some of my Joint Support formula that contains turmeric). Turmeric is a remarkable anti-inflammatory. It decreases inflammation in several remarkable ways. It contains numerous constituents like curcumin that interfere with the activity of molecules that promote inflammation, such as cytokines and enzymes like cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). By inhibiting these inflammatory pathways, curcumin helps reduce the production of pro-inflammatory substances. Curcumin can also modulate the activity of immune cells, including T-cells, B-cells, macrophages, and neutrophils. It helps regulate the immune response, preventing excessive inflammation. This is wildly useful for decreasing the inflammation that occurs with autoimmune disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, lupus and the rest. I use turmeric in my Immunity AutoCalm formula to support the body’s normal regulation of immune-mediated inflammation.

Turmeric also contains powerful antioxidants. The chemical processes in our bodies that perform digestion, metabolism and elimination generate free radicals. So, what’s a free radical? A free radical is a molecule that’s short one electron. This makes the little rascals grumpy and they steal electrons from other molecules in the body causing damage to their structure. This process is called oxidative stress and can contribute significantly to aging, diabetes, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimers. The antioxidants in turmeric neutralize those free radicals and prevent the damage.

Speaking of brains, if you have one, it’d be a really good idea to feed it some turmeric. In addition to the benefits of preventing or slowing the progress of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, turmeric also improves normal brain function by increasing memory and other cognitive functions. So, if you take your turmeric you can remember to…well…to take your turmeric!

Turmeric is also very beneficial for regulating and stimulating metabolic processes. Remember when you were a kid and could eat like a horse and still be skinny as a rail? Well turmeric can increase your metabolism so that fat and calories burn more effectively. It also lowers blood sugars, decreases appetite and inhibits fat cell production. It’s not a magic bullet for making folks skinny. But when combined with other sensible weight-loss strategies turmeric can really help.

But wait, there’s more! Turmeric is great for the skin and useful for fighting acne and issues like eczema and psoriasis. It has immune-boosting powers to help the body fight off infections. It’s also great for the heart, the liver and the pancreas helping all of those organs function better.

There are a number of other great things that turmeric can do for us as a medicinal superfood and there’s no way to talk about them all here. In fact we’ve barely scratched the surface of what this amazing plant can do. But there’s one more thing I want to share. If you want to markedly increase the effectiveness and absorption of turmeric, take it with some fresh-ground black pepper. Black pepper is broken down by the same enzymes in the liver that like to destroy turmeric and the liver likes pepper better. So, if you take some black pepper with your turmeric, more of it gets past your liver enzymes and into your blood stream. Not just a little more, thousands of times more! Just make sure the pepper is fresh ground or tinctured. Once ground, black pepper has a very short shelf life. So use it fresh ground, or use a black pepper tincture that was made from fresh-ground material. Doing so will really improve your turmeric absorption.

So, what else is turmeric good for? I could go on and on. In fact I do go on and on in the HomeGrown Herbalist school of Botanical Medicine. Seems like I talk about turmeric in almost every lesson regardless of what body system or disease process I’m discussing. It really is amazing. If you’d like to learn more about what turmeric can do, I’d love to teach you. We can learn some great things together.

Doc Jones

See Doc’s Formulas That Use Turmeric

20 thoughts on “Turmeric, Curcumin: An Amazing Tool For Healthy Living!

  1. Diane Wilson says:

    Thank you for the informative blog on turmeric. My plants are currently blooming…beautiful! But I want to ask a question about tincturing bulky herbs. It seems impossible to get a 1:3 or even a 1:10 tincture from hops. The plant is so lightweight yet bulky that it takes a lot of vodka to cover it. Do you recommend powdering the hops prior to adding the vodka or just using the folk method of tincturing? TIA and for all you do.

  2. karepickett says:

    I have wanted to grow tumeric and maybe after listening to this video I will! I have been growing ginger for the last couple of years and love the fresh ginger! So much better taste.

    I do start it is small containers in Jan or Feb in my house. I use a plastic tray or container and poke holes in the bottom for drainage. The soil is only about 3 inches deep. It takes a while for it to sprout but no problem because I can’t plant it outdoors until May here in Kansas. I let it grow until a frost threatens in October and then dig it. I am sure I could grow Tumeric the same way.
    Thanks for all the videos! and your wealth of knowledge. I am fighting post co vid viral infection syndrome and am feeling better after getting on several of your tinctures!
    God’s Blessings to you!!
    Karen

  3. Maria Mendoza says:

    I would like to know what is the best natural medicine you have to bring down HBa1c and high potassium. I also have osteoarthritis. I greatly appreciate your help. Thank you!

  4. Dianne says:

    I want to incorporate black pepper into my diet but since I’m doing smoothies these days and don’t want to ruin the Flav by adding pepper just because I have turmeric in it, I ask, can I make fresh ground pepper capsules to ingest prior to drinking my smoothies?

    • Dr. Patrick Jones says:

      The only problem with that would be that the capsule may not dissolve until after the turmeric has gone through the liver. If you took the capsules half an hour before you drank hour smoothie that’d likely solve your timing issue. Better yet, just grind some pepper into a little water and drink it straight and then drink your nice smoothie to wash it down. :0)

  5. Rose Marie Felton says:

    I have a dog who has limped ever since I got him a few years ago. He doesn’t do it all the time so I figured he had some arthritis and made a blend of turmeric, water, fresh cracked pepper and coconut oil. He weighs 50-60lbs so I’ve been giving him a teaspoon in the morning with his food and a teaspoon at night in his food. He is no longer limping, but I’m unsure of how much I should be giving him. Since he quit limping, I’ve cut the blend back to only once in the evening, unless he starts limping again. Do you have any suggestions on how much I should be giving him?

  6. Jessica says:

    Do you think I can give my cats turmeric for inflammation? I am raising feral cats that get stressed easily and sometimes develop symptoms of idiopathic cystitis. I am trying to find long-term solutions. Thanks for all that you do.

    • Dr. Patrick Jones says:

      Yup. Turmeric is safe for cats. You could also give them some diuretic herbs like dandelion leaf or corn silk. SOme marshmallow would likely be a good addition as well. All of those are safe for long-term use and tasty enough that cats probably won’t mind.

  7. Karen says:

    I have a dog that is 14. She is in good shape but started limping and having difficulty getting on the sofa a year or so ago. I put her on your HerbPet Joint and Nutritive formulas. She is doing well. She has developed a slow growing tumor in her eye. The vet said it was just slow growing and she would probably die before it gave her any real trouble. Can I help her by giving her more of the two formulas I have her on or would you recommend a different formula. She also has several warts that have come up. I am giving her one scoop of each daily. She’s 56 lbs.

  8. Alicia Henderson says:

    I picked up organic powdered turmeric and ginger from Sam’s club. Can I make that into a tincture and will it be effective?

    • Dr. Patrick Jones says:

      I really have no idea. There are a lot of variables related to drying temperatures, storage conditions, age….You’d have to call the company selling it.

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