Many people ask me how to use turmeric powder and if there are ways to absorb turmeric, or if there are specific recipes or particular attention to be considered in its preparation.

Personally, I always recommend making turmeric paste both to make the golden milk ( here the original recipe) and to use turmeric to flavor dishes: in this way we avoid using the powder directly to season the dishes, since the heat increases the degree of bioavailability of curcumin and therefore adding it to the last is a waste. Furthermore, the turmeric paste, which is obtained by cooking 1 part of turmeric in 3 parts of water (therefore 50 grams of turmeric in about 150 ml of water) for about fifteen / twenty minutes, can be stored for 40 days in the refrigerator .
It can then be added five minutes before in dishes, both raw and hot, both in sweet and savory dishes because turmeric paste is not bitter, unlike turmeric powder.

But let’s say we have neither the time nor the desire to make turmeric paste.
Here are my tips for using turmeric powder and the three things you need to know to absorb curcumin, a powerful antioxidant substance contained in turmeric:
– you must cook turmeric: turmeric must be cooked, so if you use it in powder, remember to always use it at the beginning of the recipe and not to sprinkle it at the end (same thing for the curry). Its bioavailability increases with cooking and heat: added lastly it is only bitter.

– you must associate it with a source of fat:when we consume turmeric, always remember to add some fats, vegetable or animal, it doesn’t matter. So if we cook a plate of pasta with a sauce of vegetables and turmeric, let’s remember a nice drizzle of oil.
– and a sprinkle of pepper: peperine increases the bioavailability of turmeric. Very little pepper is enough, very little, so paradoxically we can use this trick even in sweet dishes, for example in muffins or in a cake, so much will not be felt. Clearly in savory dishes it is much better!

In which cases is it better not to use turmeric? If you have blood sugar and gastrointestinal problems but also stomach acid and gallbladder problems. Its use is also not recommended during pregnancy. If we use turmeric daily, it is better to have periods of rest, of a few weeks, in which maybe we do without it.