There are so many people who rave about their love of Asian cuisine, particularly Indian food. Its signature is the use of flavorful and aromatic spices. Indian food has always been characterized as unique, yet tantalizing. While the use of spices in Indian food enhances our enjoyment of their dishes, it also has unfamiliar medicinal properties that our health can benefit from.
There are 6 flavors that Ayurveda requires us to eat daily: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, and pungent, and one health promoting spice in Ayurveda Medicine is turmeric. Because turmeric from India is bitter, pungent and astringent, it can be, it’s believed to promote balance in our health. .
The most common Ayurvedic health benefits of turmeric curcumin are its anti-septic, anti-flatulent, anti-bacterial and decongestant properties. This explains why turmeric has been used for centuries in treating common ailments like stomach ulcers, indigestion, asthma, and skin cuts. Its use for medicinal purposes can be dated back thousands of years ago in different parts of Asia.
If you’re wondering what causes turmeric to be such a useful remedy, it is coming from one of its active chemical components called curcumin. Aside from its high antioxidant content, curcumin is known for its strong anti-inflammatory properties.
It’s also notable for maintaining the healthy bacteria in the intestines and helping guard it from gastric disorders. Because of its antiseptic properties, Asian people have been using turmeric paste to treat burns, wounds and skin infections since many years ago.
When taken orally, turmeric can help detox the liver. It can also stimulate the gallbladder to produce more bile which aids dietary fat breakdown and improve digestion. Because of this property, turmeric helps us regulate our metabolism thereby promoting a healthy weight loss.
For cough, pharyngitis or tonsillitis, you can mix a teaspoon of turmeric powder in a cup of milk, heat it up on a stove and drink it before bedtime. Gargling a teaspoon of turmeric powder and a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water can also ease the pain from tonsillitis. You can also employ the same mixture to help decongest dry cough or asthma.
If you want to treat your cuts and wounds in a traditional way, applying a mixture of turmeric and aloe vera can help heal the affected area. It can also be used on athlete’s foot and other fungal infections.
In treating canker sores or swollen gums, you can simply apply turmeric on the concerned area directly to achieve fast healing.
Diabetic patients can also utilize turmeric as an Ayurvedic healing medicine because the right dosage of curcumin can help regulate blood sugar levels. And because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it can help treat chronic inflammation and relieve pain caused by inflammation-related diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
Turmeric has become very popular among elders nowadays not just because it does treat their arthritis effectively. It’s also stated that turmeric curcumin can prevent or somehow delay the onset of age-related complications like memory loss and dementia. In fact, researchers believe that it prevents neurodegeneration by clearing out the plaques created by aging inside the brain.
Because it’s been known to do so, the brain gets better blood circulation and is able to distribute oxygen faster and deeper within its anatomical regions. This prevents brain cells from degenerating or even dying. Another known benefit of turmeric curcumin is that it fights tumors development and prevents them from reoccurring.
The benefits of taking curcumin daily impacts the immune system in many positive ways. Traditionally, Indians used turmeric early in the morning to help boost their immune system. They start their day by brushing their teeth, cleaning their tongue, then drinking a glass of warm water with a teaspoon of turmeric powder in it. There are some people who still do this, but there are now other ways to take turmeric curcumin more efficiently.
Today, the easiest way to add turmeric in your diet is by adding it to your food, or taking it in tablet form. There are also tinctures or liquid extracts sold in pharmacies that can be mixed with your drinking water. Incorporating natural healing modalities in your life is effective and safe. However, if you are already taking other medications for certain illnesses, you should get your doctor’s approval first.
There are many reasons why some people turn to natural healing. Getting treatment is one thing but taking medications constantly can contribute to liver damage. Aside from that, buying medicine from the pharmacy can be too expensive for some. Taking the ayurveda approach is a good option to consider.