Turmeric - in what form are you taking it?

[Purpletop]

Hi all, I've been looking into starting to take turmeric but I'm not sure what the best way it is to take it, i.e. is it pills or root or powder? What worked for you, please?

[LucyKris]

I was going to start using it more in cooking as heard it can be really useful, but didn't know you could get it in pill form, would be interested to know?

[Thaddeus]

Hello Purpletop

I use Turmeric in my rice, it gives a nice colour and the flavour works well in a pilau.

But; A few years back I met a chap who had served in the Indain army and had been involved in a horrific accident. He and his driver had left the base camp and driven up a mountain road, the jeep went off the road and rolled several thousand feet back down, the driver was killed and this chap was badly injured.

His wife insisted that as part of his recovery he drink a glass of milk each night with a spoon or turmeric mixed in.

As an example he pointed to the hundred and more stitches in his face. None of which I could see without close inspection. And this this man was fairly darks skinned.

Convinced me.

[Nightjar]

Hi, I use organic Turmeric in my cooking - practically every day. I have little by little exchanged all my kitchen spices and herbs for the organic version and feel really good using them. I try to stay as well as possible by using more and more organic produce and feel stronger for it. Though, however healthy our food is, I think most people living with a chronic condition still need to 'top-up' with some supplements.

[Barnclown]

I take solgar's Cherry Turmeric Complex daily. My pain specialist had advised me several years ago on the relative amounts of turmeric/omegas/vit D/vit C/vit B/co Q 10/selenium/ + ginger & cinnamon I could benefit from as supplements to the basic anti-inflammation diet I'd been on for say 8 years at that point. Last year my local solgar supplier got the solgar senior tech to check recommended levels of these supplements for lupus patients. She sent me a package of independent current research papers on this subject: what a great help that was! My gp & lupus nurse said this was all fine.

I like to think my supplements & diet are helping, but plaquenil 400 daily is too, a lot! E.g. Have reduced my rate of bone density loss, which was so fast over 9 yrs and 3 dexa scans that my rheumy wanted me on bisphosphonates: because i can't do much weight bearing exercise and have to stay out of the sun, there wasn't much else i could do than nutrition. Am trying to keep away from oral steroids due to consistently being prone to infections. But now my gp and podiatrist are starting to urge me to relax about trying steroids for vascular probs in feet & hands....but my feeling is that it's just possible this diet/supplements combo + plaquenil are increasingly damping down my vascular probs enough to mean I may get by without oral steroids a bit longer (have had to use topical steroids for years).....fingers crossed.

All in all, I've spent years researching the diet & supplements angle on managing our conditions, and I'm compnvinced it's really worth doing along with whatever Rx we need to take..... But it sure is a significant expense! If my drs weren't encouraging me, I'd be thinking even harder about this expense.

Sorry for straying off the subject of turmeric: it's just that it seems taking turmeric is most useful in our diets as part of the over all nutritional package that many of us are trying, seemingly with significant benefits.......fingers crossed anyway....

Take care

[Purpletop]

Thank you all for your input. I've ordered some in pill form and will start using in powder form too. I am also starting to adapt to an anti inflammatory diet, I'm hoping that combined they will make a difference for me too. All the best.

[Herb]

I cook with turmeric. I would put a level or heaped teaspoon in all my curries, and I eat a lot of curry. I also use marigold vegetable bouillion powder, which has turmeric in.