With more and more people becoming aware of the significant health benefits turmeric has to offer, some are questioning if they should be it consuming it in supplement form or in its raw spice form.
What is turmeric?
Famously known as a staple spice in Indian cuisine, turmeric is one of the most powerful spices you could possibly consume in your diet. As it stands, there are currently more than 10,000 reviewed articles found on PubMed.com, which discuss and prove the benefits of turmeric and its healing compound, curcumin (the active substance found in turmeric).
Turmeric and curcumin
Now, if you’re wondering if turmeric and curcumin are the same, then let me explain… In some ways they are and in some ways they’re not…
In fact, curcumin is only a mere 3% of weight of turmeric and is the key active ingredient in turmeric – rather than the two being the same. Turmeric however, is the bright yellow spice root and comes in whole form.
Turmeric is also known as ‘Curcuma longa’ which is the plant that it’s extracted from. To make turmeric you simply grind the dried root of the Curcuma longa plant. Once ground it will then turn into the vibrant yellow turmeric spice we all recognise.
How turmeric can help benefit runners
When it comes to running, curcumin can help benefit the body thanks to its pretty incredible anti-inflammatory properties.
Not only can it help with short-term inflammation in the joints after a long run, but it can also help speed up recovery after a workout. A 2017 study supports this theory and even states the possibility of turmeric preventing delayed onset muscle soreness (aka, DOMS).
As runners are no strangers to inflammation, especially following long runs and intense speed work, it’s important to keep inflammation low and controlled. Too much inflammation is linked to fatigue, pain and chronic diseases.
But that’s not it, turmeric can also have many other benefits which can help support runners when consumed daily:
- Positive effects on brain function and cardiovascular health
- Contributes to the normal function of joints
- Aids the formation of new brain cells and decrease memory loss
- Help aid digestion
Turmeric spice vs turmeric supplements
While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with consuming ground turmeric spice, many people only consume between ½ to 1 teaspoon of it daily. And while this has been found to have certain benefits, it may not be enough if you want to reap its full benefits…
Many previous studies haven’t used turmeric spice itself, but instead, turmeric extract. This means the concentration is often increased to as high as 95%. Whereas only 3% of the weight of turmeric powder is curcumin.
Therefore, turmeric supplements typically contain a high concentration of curcumin and other curcuminoids. Making it much higher than you’d get in a standard serving of ground turmeric (95 percent versus 3 percent!).
What’s more, in order to reap the benefits, it’s best to consume curcumin with black pepper to increase bioavailability.
Primal Living’s Turmeric Curcumin with BioPerine®
To help you get the most of curcumin, we’ve designed a formula which contains patented BioPerine® to enhance absorption up to 200x faster than other turmeric supplements on the market. Bioperine is the only product sourced out of piperine (responsible for the pungency of black pepper and long pepper) to obtain a patented status for its ability to increase the bioavailability of nutritional compounds.
What’s more, our patented technology delivers a powerful response, getting to work fast and arriving where the body needs it most. 5mg of scientifically backed BioPerine® aids solubility, unlike regular turmeric which is limited by low bio-availability in the gut.
You can find out more about our Turmeric Curcumin supplement here.
To conclude, we believe that if you want to reap the full benefits of turmeric, especially when it comes to inflammation, a supplement is the best way to go. Not only will it be absorbed more efficiently by your body (thanks to a formula like ours), but it’ll be able to cross through the gut lining and offer support in specific areas in a short amount of time.
By consuming turmeric in its raw form, your body will need to do the extraction itself, which will require more effort, and you’ll need to consume a large amount of turmeric daily with black pepper to receive the same benefit.
To find out more about Primal Living, please visit our website here.
You can also find us on social media where we’ll happily answer any questions you may have – @theprimalliving
