Benefits of Turmeric:Â Be Smart While Using Turmeric as Supplement
Turmeric also is known as Haldi or “Manjal” in south India or “Indian Saffron” due to its yellow color has been used as an Ayurvedic medicine since Vedic times dating to almost 4000 years ago. We all know that there are plenty of health benefits of turmeric and the word Haldi has been derived from the Sanskrit name Haridra which means close to Lord Hari or Krishna. Turmeric has numerous health benefits including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic, anti-diabetic, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-ulcer, and hypo-cholesteric, etc. It is extensively used as a spice, food preservative, and coloring material in India and South Asian countries that use the benefits of turmeric for the human body. It contains around 100 components including Curcuminoids, essential oils, vitamins, resins, etc. Amongst the essential volatile oils in turmeric, the ones responsible for the aroma of turmeric are turmerone, arturmerone, and zingiberene. Curcumin, which has powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, is the most active constituent of turmeric, making up between 2-11% of this spice. It is scientifically proven that most of the health benefits of turmeric come from curcumin and its derivatives even though the other components also have medicinal value.Â
According to recent market trends, consumers are increasingly cognizant and concerned about diet and lifestyle-related health problems which are making them move towards natural ingredients that are safe and health-promoting. Curcumin based supplements come on the top of the list globally due to the wide benefits of turmeric and are proven to have several health benefits. The mainstream uses of turmeric and curcumin supplements are becoming increasingly popular and are the fastest-growing category of supplements worldwide. In fact, Preserva Wellness is the only brand in India that has worked extensively to develop products using this Golden Herb with other ingredients to bring wellness into the everyday lives of people. Everyone is realizing the immense potential of Turmeric and Curcumin on the medicinal front which is leading people to consume raw turmeric or turmeric powder in their day to day lives considering that they work like health supplements, but it is not true at all. Therefore it is very important for one to understand how differently these supplements work on the body as compared to turmeric powder or raw turmeric rhizome. Further, it is easy to get confused about which supplement is right for you and whether to use the whole turmeric-based or standardized turmeric-based extracts. The main problem with regular turmeric powder or raw turmeric root or lower grade normal supplements is that they contain very little amount of curcumin up to 5% and are not nearly as effective as turmeric extracts which are standardized with a high percentage of therapeutic component, curcumin. Most clinical studies are reported with standardized turmeric extracts or curcumin and not with turmeric powder. Therefore, it is not strange for a capsule containing 500 mg of turmeric extract to provide 400 mg of curcumin, while the same amount of turmeric powder or raw turmeric might provide only about 15 mg of curcumin.
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TURMERIC AND CURCUMIN
Turmeric contains approximately 2-11 percent curcumin by weight, so in general, a tablespoon of turmeric with 2% curcumin, which weighs approximately 7 grams, contains only 140 milligrams of curcumin. Therefore if you need to supplement turmeric, for therapeutic benefit, plain powder or raw turmeric is not a good choice as it is not easy to consume 7 grams of powder thrice approximately 25 gm of turmeric powder in a day. On the other hand, if one wishes to include turmeric as a spice for taste, color, and aroma 1-2 teaspoons of turmeric powder is a good option but not enough for effective health benefits. According to published research for therapeutic benefits, turmeric dosages must supply 400 to 600 milligrams of curcumin two to three times per day. Turmeric supplements containing turmeric extract standardized to 95% curcumin are much more effective than the ground turmeric powder since they contain a higher amount of curcumin providing immense health benefits more effectively.
TURMERIC BASED HEALTH AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
Preserva Wellness formulated Turmeric and Curcumin based health and dietary supplements in the form of capsules, tablets, teas and juices which are easy to use in comparison to powder. They contain an adequate amount of curcumin by using 95% standardized turmeric extracts, whole turmeric powder, and turmeric rhizome extracts(10:1). One of the main challenges in consuming curcumin supplements is the poor bioavailability of curcumin as curcumin is water-insoluble and is therefore poorly absorbed in the bloodstream and gets eliminated very fast from the body. There are many ways to increase the bioavailability of Turmeric like its combination with black pepper, ginger extract, cinnamon essential oils, fats, aloe vera, and other roots from the Zingiber family or by application of heat. All of our herbal formulations are scientifically designed in a way to provide maximum curcumin absorption by using a combination of black pepper, ginger, cinnamon, Mulethi and Aloe vera, etc. The presence of lipophilic content of turmeric whole extract known as turmerone also enhances the bioavailability of curcumin and we have used turmeric whole powder in some of our products as the enhancer for curcumin absorption in a natural way.