Golden Turmeric
A native to India and other parts of Southeast Asia especially Indonesia, turmeric is integral to Asian cooking. A member of the rhizome family, besides imparting a yellow color and a characteristic flavor to food, it has a long history of use in India Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine.
Turmeric is a perennial shrub native to Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and China. Botanically, it is referred to as Curcuma Longa. For its excellent health benefits and the golden yellow color, turmeric is more popularly referred to as golden turmeric. Golden turmeric belongs to the ginger family. Its roots, known as rhizomes, are cut into small pieces and boiled for a short time and then sun dried. Turmeric has a characteristic bitter sweet taste with a slightly pungent aroma. Turmeric uses in cooking are well known for thousands of years. Golden turmeric is widely used as a spice in most Asian countries for coloring and flavoring foods. Turmeric spice greatly enhances the taste of the foods due to its unique flavor. In addition to its use in cooking, other turmeric spice benefits include its health and beauty benefits. Some of the popular turmeric uses for health and beauty care are as follows.
• Regular intake of turmeric in your food greatly helps in keeping your digestive system healthy. It protects you from disorders of the digestive system such as indigestion, flatulence, and constipation. For this great benefit, turmeric in cooking is extensively used in most kitchens. This is one of the most common ground turmeric benefits.
• Turmeric has the ability to treat ailments related to the respiratory system. If you happen to suffer from coughs, common colds, chest congestion, or even asthma, regularly drinking a glass of milk at night with a pinch of turmeric mixed in it will help. This will not only give you relief from such problems but also guard you against such ailments. This is another great benefit of turmeric spice for health.
• Golden turmeric possesses excellent antibacterial properties. Therefore, it prevents the growth of bacteria. It also helps in quick healing of the wounds. If you have any external or internal injury, you should immediately drink a glass of hot milk with one teaspoon of ground turmeric mixed with it. This will protect you from bacterial attacks as well as prevent inflammation of the injured part of your body in addition to aiding healing. On external wounds, you can also apply the paste of turmeric and petroleum jelly mixture.
• Recent research has found out that turmeric spice prevents cancer. It was shown that it inhibits the growth of cancer cells to a great extent.
• Turmeric spice is also very beneficial for skin diseases such as eczema and ringworm infections. If you experience any such skin disorder, prepare a paste of ground turmeric with petroleum jelly and apply it on the affected area three times a day. This is another popular turmeric use.
• Turmeric powder has been extensively used for skin care. Several face packs containing turmeric are available in the market. Regular use of turmeric face packs makes your facial skin smooth and gives it a glow. You can also prepare a turmeric face pack at home. For this mix one teaspoon of ground turmeric in one cup of gram flour and make a paste by adding adequate water. Apply this paste on your face and around the neck. Allow it to dry up for half an hour and wash your face with cold water. Doing this twice a week will make your skin beautiful with a glow on your face. This is one of the greatest turmeric uses for face skin care.
You might be wondering whether there is any substitute for turmeric. As such there is no turmeric spice substitute, but saffron is sometimes used in place of turmeric for coloring and flavoring the foods. Although there are no known turmeric spice side effects, persons suffering from any gallbladder disorders should refrain from too much intake of this spice. Also, while buying turmeric powder, you should ensure that the pack is labeled as organic turmeric.
Health Benefits of Turmeric
Botanically known as Curcuma longa, derived from the Arabic name for kurkum plant, known as saffron, turmeric is often confused and substituted with the same. Totally unrelated to saffron, a member of ginger family, the root of the turmeric plant in its dried form is used as spice. Mildly aromatic with a pungent bittersweet flavour, it was called Indian saffron as its shares the deep yellow orange colour of the saffron.
• Turmeric is used as a condiment, textile and culinary dye. Turmeric is used extensively in Indian, Middle East, Moroccan, African and Southeast Asian cookery, especially in curries, vegetables, rice, fish and meat dishes to add colour and flavour.
• For the traditional ayurvedics, turmeric is a very important herb. Considered a cleansing herb for the whole body, it gives energy and grants prosperity.
• The finger like stalk is scalded, dried and used for medicinal preparations. An excellent natural antibiotic, it strengthens digestion, prevents the formation of gas and helps to improve large intestinal flora. It purifies the blood, aids digestion of protein, promotes proper metabolism in the body, correcting both, excess and deficiencies.
• It is used in treatment for fever, mild stomach upset, infection, arthritis, dysentery, jaundice and other liver problems. Ancient Chinese physicians used turmeric to treat chest congestion, menstrual discomforts and many more ailments. Turmeric may help to relieve carpel tunnel syndrome, joint inflammation and prevent cancer.
• Add a pinch or two of turmeric to warm milk to soothe respiratory aliments such as cough or asthma. Sprinkle a bit of turmeric with honey (optional), on cuts, bruises, or scrapes after a thorough wash, as the anti bacterial action will prevent wound infections.
• One should be careful while using turmeric since its deep colour can easily stain. Quickly wash the soiled area with water to avoid further staining. Turmeric powder should be kept in a tightly sealed container in a cool, dark and dry place. Fresh turmeric rhizome should be kept in the refrigerator.
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