Golden Milk....Turmeric info

[Guest guest]

Hey, I couldn't resist sharing a found a piece of music I found entitled

" Healing with Turmeric " by Dub Foundation

http://church-mouse.com/:o)/Dub%20Foundation%20-%20Healing%20With%20Turmeric.mp3

 

Dharam

Millis, MA

www.gongsongs.com

 

 

Sat Nam,

Please do not add uncooked turmeric to any food. It is too taxing on the

liver. Ayurvedically turmeric is cooked lightly 7-8 minutes to make it

more digestible. Even some firey Pitta types may have trouble with it

raw and then adding it to a cold Kapha food such as yogurt...Yikes!

Please cook it either making your yogurt fresh or cook it in some butter

as you make ghee, or the old standard Golden Milk. Even when mixing up a

spice mixture the turmeric should be lightly sauteed in a pan and

allowed to cool before bottling. I saute turmeric and allow it to coolly

before making supplements for my clients. Many of my clients have had

unpleasant reactions from taking other company's supplements of turmeric.

All Blessings in Health,

Guru Ravi

 

Sat Nam,

Tumeric is boiled before making Golden Milk to remove the bitter flavor

and release its healing properties. The milk is heated but not brought

to a boil and does not serve this purpose.

 

Blessings,

Guru Prem Kaur

www.yogagems.com

 

 

Here's a piece of recent research that helps answer that question:

 

 

 

*_Turmeric on the Brain_*

 

Amanda Mccorquodale . www.gourmet.com/food

<http://www.gourmet.com/food> . 11.03.08

 

Unlike many supposed superfoods, *turmeric* can fight disease (in this

case, Alzheimer's) simply as part of an everyday diet---no supplements

or extracts required.

 

Turmeric, the spice that gives yellow curry its color, is widely used in

Asia not only for its earthy flavor but also for its therapeutic power.

In ancient Hindu medicine, it was used to treat sprains and swelling.

Modern medicine uncovered its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant

properties, which have been used to treat everything from liver

disorders and diabetic wounds to runny noses. Some bandage brands in

India even contain turmeric as a disinfectant. Recently, scientists

added another potential benefit to the list: preventing Alzheimer's

disease. Intrigued by the fact that the elderly population of India has

one of the lowest rates of Alzheimer's cases in the world, researchers

at UCLA began looking at differences between the American and Indian

diets and landed on turmeric. Turmeric, a staple in Indian cooking, is

featured in curries, soups, and meat dishes. It's as common in Indian

cuisine as salt and pepper are in American cuisine. Bharat B. Aggarwal,

a senior cancer researcher at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/M.D.+Anderson+Cancer+Center?tid\

=informline>

in Houston, says the average Indian eats turmeric at every meal---about

a gram a day. The UCLA group hypothesized that curcumin, a chemical in

turmeric, might clean up or block the buildup of amyloid plaques, which

scientists believe may contribute to Alzheimer's.

 

The researchers began clinical trials of turmeric's effect on the

disease in 2004, and the results were astounding. In the first studies

with mice, the amyloid plaques decreased by roughly 50 percent in those

fed low doses of curcumin-rich food. UCLA recently completed a similar

study with humans, as did the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The Hong

Kong trial demonstrated that curcumin has no adverse side effects

(unlike many Alzheimer's drugs, which can cause gastrointestinal

problems). They tested a range of doses and found that a high dose was

not any more effective than doses as low as 1 gram. Because they weren't

able to look directly at the Alzheimer's patients' brains, the

researchers had difficulty measuring curcumin's effectiveness on amyloid

plaques; however, they did find more amyloid proteins in the patients'

blood, suggesting that curcumin may have broken down some of the plaques.

 

Most interestingly, in UCLA's human trial, Alzheimer's patients were

given high doses of curcumin in a supplement, and yet none of the

chemical was absorbed. *The researchers now believe that curcumin must

first be dissolved through cooking in fat in order to be effective on

the Alzheimer's brain. This likely explains India's low rate of

Alzheimer's, and it also accounts for curcumin's success in mice that

ate it in their food. According to UCLA researcher Sally Frautschy, this

is why people should cook with turmeric rather than take supplements.*

However, researchers all over the country are having trouble getting

funding for future trials, says Frautschy, even though this data

strongly suggests that Alzheimer's may be mostly preventable.

 

Future studies are needed to pinpoint the exact amount of turmeric

that's effective in fighting Alzheimer's, but if you want to increase

your curcumin intake in the meantime, it can't hurt to try some new

turmeric-rich recipes

<http://www.gourmet.com/search/query?query=turmeric & queryType=nonparsed & sort=sco\

re+desc & section=recipes & sisterSite=gourmet.com & search-recipes-submit.x=0 & search-\

recipes-submit.y=0 & search-recipes-submit=submit>.

Turmeric, whether used as fresh root or as dry powder, contains 5

percent curcumin. Studies have shown that turmeric from Curcuma Longa

plants in Southeast Asia contain more curcumin than turmeric found in

the plants of East Asia. (And be careful not to substitute curry powder

for turmeric---some curry powders contain hardly any curcumin at all.)

 

 

 

 

Kundalini-Yoga , " ramneetfl " <ramneetfl wrote:

>

> One thing I've been curious about is the explicit instruction that

tumeric must be cooked (boiled for 7 minutes or so) before using in

golden milk. Sounds like a wasteful bother- does anyone know why this is

recommended?

>

 

 

 

Harbhajan Kaur Khalsa wrote:

> Yogi Bhajan often said that herbs will give up their essence when

> cooked in water, but spices give up their essence when cooked in oils

> (which is why the spices in a masala are begun in a small amount of

> ghee or oil). I have seen some recipes

> where turmeric is cooked in oil, some where it is cooked in water,

> and remedies that involve taking raw turmeric powder in capsules. So

> I'm assuming this is a pretty versatile plant - with a low heat

> threshold for releasing its essence. I'm sure Dr. Karta Purkh Singh

> could shed more light on what puts turmeric in a rather unique class

> by itself.

>

>

>