Over the last decade, Turmeric, an herb that was traditionally used in Asian and Middle Eastern cultures as a cooking spice, has become increasingly more popular as a supplement. While turmeric is a great spice, it’s more than that; it is packed with rich antioxidants and a plethora of health benefits.
The spice can be found in pill form, as a spice, or even applied as a spray. It touts longevity, anti-inflammation properties, and even works as a natural liver cleanser. If you are suffering from inflammation or inflammatory disease, turmeric might be worth adding to your diet. Let’s dive in and take a look at some of the best Turmeric supplements.
What Is Turmeric?
Turmeric is a spice known for its orange-yellow color. It is a staple for Asian cooking, especially in Southeast Asian and Indian regions.
But turmeric is more than just a spice or ingredient used for your cooking. It is packed with nutrients and can aid in helping with some severe health problems. For instance, turmeric is great for dealing with arthritis, stomach pain, heartburn (or dyspepsia), joint pain, and many more ailments. It is also good for helping with common conditions like colds, headaches, fevers, and even larger conditions like cancer and post-surgery recovery.
Over the last couple of years, the “Golden Lattes” has become quite popular. This drink, originating in Asia, is made from turmeric and milk. It’s a great way to consume turmeric in a healthy fashion.
Turmeric Supplement Benefits
Turmeric, being a superfood, can benefit you in a variety of ways. Here are just some of the health benefits you can get by using turmeric:
1) Turmeric increases the antioxidant capabilities in your body – Free radicals are often involved in oxidative damage, which in turn is responsible for many diseases and aging in the human body. To counter this, your body produces antioxidants to protect you from free radicals. Enter turmeric: unlike other antioxidants, turmeric is one type of antioxidant that both fights free radicals and, at the same time, enhances the antioxidants inside your body.
2) Turmeric is good for the heart – Turmeric is great in improving your endothelium, which is the lining of your blood vessels. If your endothelium is not in its top shape, things can go very bad for your heart health. A bad endothelium can cause irregular blood vessels and blood clotting, among various factors. Turmeric, according to research studies, is shown to improve your endothelium, hence decreasing your risk of heart attack and other heart-related diseases.
3) Turmeric can help you fight Alzheimer’s disease – One of the major diseases that can affect us all is Alzheimer’s disease; a neurodegenerative disease and the leading cause of dementia. Unfortunately, there is no found cure for Alzheimer’s disease yet. Hence, if you want to avoid developing Alzheimer’s in the future, and it runs in your genes, adding turmeric to your diet is a great way to keep your brain healthy.
One way turmeric helps against Alzheimer’s is by working as an antioxidant, which is very helpful in fighting oxidative damage, which is one factor in Alzheimer’s disease. Also, turmeric has shown to clear amyloid plaques – protein tangles that, when built up, can become a key cause in Alzheimer’s disease.
However, there is no clear picture yet on how much turmeric can combat Alzheimer’s disease because there has not been cumulative research. It still needs to be studied properly.
4) Turmeric is helpful in dealing with arthritis – Arthritis is another common disease that can impact us. Since it is joint inflammation, and turmeric works well in healing joint problems, turmeric can be very helpful in dealing with arthritis and other joint problems. It’s also an anti-inflammatory which helps with decreasing arthritis inflammation.
5) Turmeric can help in dealing with depression – Depression is a very serious mental and emotional concern. Many lives are ruined by it, so it’s important we keep our mental health in shape – both for ourselves and loved ones.
Consuming turmeric can help you in dealing with depression. According to one study, turmeric can as effectively fight depression as Prozac. Essentially, turmeric can act as a great antidepressant.
How To Take Turmeric Supplements
There are a variety of ways to add turmeric into your daily diet. It comes down to adding the spice itself to your food, drinking the spice, taking it in capsule form, or using it as a body spray.
Cook It
Cook turmeric with your favorite dish of choice. If you are a fan of Indian curry, that’s a great way to start. There are many more dishes with turmeric involved, so feel free to explore and choose what you like.
Add Turmeric To Your Coffee
Either you add a little bit of turmeric powder on top of your espresso for an Instagrammable “Golden Latte” or blend the turmeric together with your coffee. Either way, turmeric can be a great twist on your favorite morning drink. Not only does it taste great, but you will get both the energy-boosting benefits of caffeine and antioxidants of the superfood turmeric.
Use Turmeric In A Smoothie
Fond of your fruit smoothie? You can experiment with it by blending turmeric with your favorite smoothie for a special twist.
Make Tea With Turmeric
Yes, it’s also possible to make a tea using turmeric. Turmeric tea will, well, give you the benefits of this superfood.
Does Turmeric Really Work?
Now that you’ve read a lot about the amazing benefits of turmeric, you may begin to wonder: are these all true or just another hype in the health industry?
The answer: they’re true. Turmeric does work wonders because of one of its components called “curcumin.” Curcumin is responsible for most, if not all, of the health benefits turmeric can give you. Curcumin represents about 2–8% of most turmeric preparations and is known for its anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antioxidant effects.
How To Know If Turmeric Is Right For You
Assuming you are in a normal state of health, turmeric should be fine for you. However, while this is a superfood, there could be potential side effects depending on your body’s reaction to it. Here are some of the side effects of turmeric when taken too often or when under specific circumstances:
Problems with bleeding – Because turmeric impacts the blood circulatory system, it can also negatively impact the healing process of wounds (blood clotting). While this is not a common problem, people that have sensitive skin or can become easily cut should stay away from turmeric.
Too low blood sugar – Just as we don’t want our blood sugar to get too high, we don’t want it to stoop too low either. Too much turmeric can severely lower your blood sugar, which can be very bad for your health, especially if you are diabetic or prediabetic.
Possible iron deficiency – Another side effect of turmeric is the lowered absorption of iron, which can eventually cause you to experience an iron deficiency. Some symptoms of possible iron deficiency include headaches, tiredness, shortness of breath, paleness, and palpitations.
Do not take it before a surgical operation – If you are scheduled for surgery and you regularly take or eat turmeric, make sure to not do so prior to the surgery. As mentioned above, turmeric lessens the ability for your blood to clot, hence slowing down the healing of your wounds. It is suggested that you stop taking turmeric at least two weeks before a surgery.
Infertility for men – Turmeric can lower testosterone levels and decrease sperm count in males. As a result, this can reduce fertility. So, if you are trying to have a baby, be sure to limit or stop your turmeric intake so it won’t affect your testosterone or fertility level.
Best Turmeric Supplements
Turmeric can be taken as a tea, in a latte, as a seasoning on your favorite dish, in pill form, or even as a spray. Depending on what kind of dose you’re looking for, picking a product should be based on your desired outcome.
If you are only looking for a moderate dose, then you can add it to your food. If you are looking for a larger supplementation then taking turmeric in pill form or as a latte might be the right choice for you. On the other hand, if you want your body to absorb turmeric quickly, using a spray might be best considering it is absorbed into your bloodstream almost instantly.
There are countless turmeric supplement brands on the market to choose from, but here are the top five turmeric supplements:
Garden of Life Extra Strength Turmeric Gummies
This supplement is a great option for people that desire the convenience of turmeric, but don’t want to take it in pill form. Created in partnership with Actress Alicia Silverstone, these Garden of Life gummies are organic, non-GMO, and vegan.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON GARDEN OF LIFE EXTRA STRENGTH TURMERIC GUMMIESVimerson Health Turmeric Curcumin Supplement
This supplement is a quick and easy way to get in the turmeric you need. It includes 1200mg turmeric root extract as well as 100mg turmeric 95% curcuminoids and 10mg bioperine.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON VIMERSON HEALTH TURMERIC CURCUMIN SUPPLEMENTResults RNA C3 Curcumin Complex Extra Strength Joint Spray
This joint spray is a great option for consumers who have arthritis or just general pain in their joints. It’s easy to apply, is absorbed quickly, and targets the specific pain. This is a great choice for someone who does not want to wait for a capsule to be absorbed, or a powder to be digested.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON RESULTS RNA C3 CURCUMIN COMPLEX EXTRA STRENGTH JOINT SPRAYPuraTHRIVE Curcumin Gold Liposomal Curcumin Supplement
This liquid turmeric is great because of its bioavailability and quick absorption. It’s more expensive than the other supplements here, but it lasts longer and is worth the quick absorption. This blend is great for stomach relief because it contains other powerful antioxidants – DHA (Vegan Omega 3) and Ginger Oil. The company also offers another turmeric product, PuraTHRIVE Liposomal Turmeric.
GET THE BEST PRICE ON PURATHRIVE CURCUMIN GOLD LIPOSOMAL CURCUMIN SUPPLEMENTNavitas Turmeric Powder
This turmeric powder is the perfect choice if you are looking to add turmeric to your coffee or make a golden milk latte. It’s a great brand that is transparent about their ingredients, process, and mission, and not to mention it tastes great!
GET THE BEST PRICE ON NAVITAS TURMERIC POWDERTaking Turmeric With Other Supplements
One thing you always have to be cautious of when taking supplements is making sure that you are taking complementary supplements. Turmeric is a relatively easy supplement to take, but you should make sure to take it with black pepper. You can take turmeric plain, but when you pair it with black pepper it allows the body to fully absorb the turmeric, enhancing the benefits.
The one thing to be cautious of is not to take it if you are taking medications that slow blood clotting. There are mixed studies, but some have demonstrated that turmeric can slow blood clotting. When you add turmeric to medications that are already slowing clotting, your chances of bleeding and bruising also increase.
Aside from that type of medication, there are no other supplements that mix poorly with turmeric. It is a highly safe supplement to take.
Turmeric is a great superfood with loads of health benefits. Best of all, there are many ways to take turmeric, based on your taste of food. However, take caution and remember the possible side effects of turmeric. If the situation deems that taking turmeric is bad, then it’s best to stay away from it, at least for a while.
Now that you know the best Turmeric supplements, maybe you want to add a few more supplements to your diet? If so, you may also enjoy our guides to the best vitamin D supplements and the best potassium supplements.