Disclaimer: Me no doctor. You no do things just cause I say. Talk to doctor first. K. Cool Moving on.

What, exactly, is Turmeric?

Turmeric, or Curcuma longa, is a flowering plant in the same family as ginger. Its rhizome (that’s a fancy word for “root”) is consumed often as food or a spice. If you like curry, you’ve tasted turmeric. You’ve also gotten to see its very distinctive yellow-orange color.

Tumeric is popular in witchcraft for healing and strength spells, and it’s huge in Hinduism as an herb used for anointing people at during big life events, like weddings and funerals.

How best to use turmeric?

As mentioned, turmeric is usually used as a spice in food, mostly curries and smoothies. It can also be used in teas and tinctures, but it seems to work best when you’re eating it. For topical purposes, turmeric can be in a liniment.

When eating turmeric, it’s been found that you’ll see greater bioavailability when it’s consumed with pepper and/or something fatty, like avocado.

What is turmeric used for?

Turmeric loves the digestive system, and so it’s going to be helpful for a number of things in that realm. It helps digestion, liver function, and even some gallbladder function.

This little plant is also a cracking antioxidant and circulatory stimulant, so if you deal with depression or low mood due to a sluggish circulatory system, it’s been found that turmeric can be helpful for that.

Ok, so how does turmeric feel?

I got into taking something called golden milk every day, and that was my introduction to turmeric.

For the uninitiated, golden milk isn’t milk; it’s a mixture of spices that also includes cinnamon and pepper. It’s called “golden milk” because it’s expected to be mixed with milk in order to add that needed fatty catalyst.

I started taking a heaping teaspoon of it in my tea with oat milk every morning, and at first, it was AMAZING. I was happy, present, and energetic. Life was a goddamned episode of Mr. Rogers. I was also taking this with vitamins B6 and B12, fish oil, and cacao, so I’m sure that also played into it. But still…I was feeling great.

Then my tummy decided it had had enough.

One day, I woke up feeling horribly nauseous and gassy. It was so bad that I was in bed practically all day. I did drive my kids to school, and I remember thinking beforehand that it was going to be horribly inconvenient if I had to pull to the side of the road to puke at some point. I didn’t, but I felt like I might.

The next day, I was mostly fine, but the stomach discomfort did continue at varying levels for almost a week before I started to figure that something I was taking was the culprit. Sure enough, there are studies that show that, for some, taking large amounts of turmeric, or taking it for a long period of time, can lead to stomach upset. It’s not widespread; many I asked had no idea what I was talking about.

BUT. Soon as I stopped taking it, I felt better. I don’t think it’s coincidence.

Soooo if you take turmeric, just be mindful of how much and how long you take it. And listen to your body. If it says stop, stop.

So that’s that! Do you take turmeric? Lemme know how it works for you!