Turmeric

Curcuma longa

Also: Haldi, Indian saffron

WarmingDryingTonifying

The golden root for inflamed joints and a slow liver.

A tropical relative of ginger with tall, banana-like leaves and knobby rhizomes that are deep orange inside. Turmeric cools inflammation, gets bile and digestion moving, and helps clear the stagnation behind achy joints.

Energetics: Hot, drying, toning
Taste: Bitter, pungent, acrid
Family: Zingiberaceae (ginger family)
Parts used: Rhizome

Medicinal uses 5

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Traditional useLab and mechanism studiesClinical studies

Joint pain & arthritisTLC
Curcumin eased knee arthritis pain about as well as ibuprofen in several trials.
Aches & painTLC
Calms inflammatory aches and soreness.
Sluggish liver & digestionTLC
Increases bile flow and supports a slow, congested liver.
Indigestion & bloatingTLC
A warming bitter that eases bloating and gas; a trial found it helped functional indigestion as well as omeprazole.
Cuts, scrapes & bleedingTLC
Applied as a paste, it cleans and helps heal small wounds.

Preparations

In food with fat and black pepper, golden milk, capsules, and tincture.

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Cautions

Large doses and curcumin supplements can thin the blood; stop them two weeks before surgery.
Leave out supplement doses with gallstones or a blocked bile duct.
Curcumin can bind iron; take it apart from iron supplements if your iron runs low.

Medication interactions

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Pregnancy & breastfeeding

PregnancyCulinary amounts

Turmeric in food is part of pregnancy in much of the world. Supplement doses can stimulate the uterus, so those wait until after birth.

BreastfeedingCulinary amounts

Kitchen amounts are considered compatible while nursing; concentrated supplements are best taken with practitioner guidance.

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Folklore

In Hindu weddings the haldi ceremony coats the bride and groom in turmeric paste for luck and glow. Its dye colored Buddhist robes in South Asia, and Marco Polo compared it to saffron. A 1998 study found black pepper's piperine raised curcumin absorption about twentyfold, the origin of the pinch of pepper in golden milk.

How to grow

A tropical perennial grown from rhizome pieces in warm, rich, moist soil, in pots indoors in cool climates. Harvest when the leaves yellow, 8 to 10 months after planting.

In the wild

Known only in cultivation, across India and Southeast Asia, where it was domesticated.

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