The right question is not how much turmeric can I take a day. The correct proposition is how much of the turmeric amount I am taking in is actually effective. If you are taking just the powdered or grounded form of turmeric and not getting any results then it is because you are not maximizing the miraculous benefits of turmeric the right way.
The answer to the above question requires you to understand the composition of turmeric powder. Once you understand that you will get the gist of why you need to lower your turmeric quantity and increase the quality consumption. For inflammation check this focused post for dosage.
YOU ARE TAKING TURMERIC ALL WRONG
Usually, turmeric is safe to take in large amounts for shorter periods of time. However, if turmeric is taken in large amount for an extended period of time, it can cause stomach problems. Especially, if you have the problem of GERD i.e. Gastro-Oesophageal Reflex Disease then it may get worse over a period of time.
But do you really want to take in Turmeric every day blindly in 3-5 tablespoon and wait for wonders to happen? Unfortunately, not only you will get very delayed results but also you may damage your body over long periods of turmeric usage.
Excess of everything is bad. Yes, turmeric is a natural medicine for inflammation, joint paint, arthritis, Crohn’s disease, diarrhea, injuries etc but in order to make it effective you need to make sure that the turmeric you are swallowing reaches the affected part of the body.
WHY TURMERIC ALONE IS NOT EFFECTIVE?
Turmeric root that is freshly grounded has a bunch of nutrients in it. These include Sodium, Potassium, Carbohydrate, Protein, Vitamins, Fats but the most important nutrient for which the turmeric is known for its “Medicinal Properties” is the mighty Curcumin.
Curcumin in technical terms is called alkaloid. This compound is responsible to block the genes who are causing the trouble in the body and gets in to help the enzymes who want to speed up the recovery process.
But there are two major problems when it comes to Turmeric in decreased efficiency. I will discuss both of them briefly and then suggest the most appropriate solution.
1st PROBLEM: LOW CURCUMIN THE WONDER NUTRIENT
The problem number one is 100 grams of turmeric powder has on average has less than 12-15 grams of Curcumin in it. That is a very low percentage of the amount of dose. 1tbsp has a very low quantity of turmeric powder and the amount of curcumin present it would go into milligrams.
Imagine it for yourself, all the hard work you have been doing of grounding the turmeric or swallowing the powdered form of turmeric has very low medicinal constituent in it. Even if you get the finest species of turmeric still the powder will not have enough Curcumin to show effective results quickly.
But it does not end here, there is still another problem which is more severe.
2nd PROBLEM: LOW ABSORPTION OF ALREADY LOW CURCUMIN
So all the tablespoons of Turmeric you are thinking are getting inside of your body is actually wrongly perceived. More than 90% of the turmeric is excreted out of your body simply because it can not be absorbed by the body in its natural form.
It means that things are getting worse. Not only the magic ingredient Curcumin was in less amount in the powder but also the absorption of this low dose of curcumin is very low. This is the reason why you are not getting results from turmeric and you have reached the point of thinking how much turmeric can I take a day.
You might have concluded that it is useless to eat turmeric because the efficiency is far lower than it’s been shown in Indian cuisine. Do note that Indians take a pinch of turmeric powder every day from their childhood. So their daily low intake of turmeric’s curcumin gets balanced over a long period of time.
SOLUTION
You must have now understood the two problems, one being low curcumin which is the medicinal compound and second is the low absorption of the curcumin.
HOW THESE INCREASE TURMERIC QUALITY
Why I recommend them is because not only they have 90%-95% of curcumin in them but also because they come with a handy solution for absorption. The remaining percentage of turmeric supplements dose is made up of the molecular compound which helps in assisting the absorption.
So not only you are taking in a good dose of most important medicinal Nutrient called Curcumin but you are also increasing the absorbability of this assisting compound inside your body.
Curcumin when inside of the body needs a specific environment to be absorbed by the gut. This environment or condition is scientific terms is referred to as Bioavailability.
So curcumin has to be in a packaging where it is readily available for the gut in the best condition for absorption. This packaging is provided by a compound called Piperine or Bioperine. This wonder molecule is found in the black pepper.
Bioperine packages the curcumin in a way that it helps the absorption in a maximum way. It increases the absorption of the Curcumin in the body by 2000%.
SO HOW MUCH TURMERIC CAN I TAKE A DAY WITH BIOPERINE?
By including Bioperine in your turmeric dose you can reduce the amount of turmeric taken by 3-5 tablespoons to just a few pills a day. That is a massive difference not just in terms of quantity but also in terms of pinpointed quality.
Start off with just one pill a day in the beginning. As few weeks pass add another pill into your diet so that you have an intake of 2 pills a day. If you were not seeing the miraculous benefits of turmeric earlier then it will begin to have them now.
CONCLUSION
So answer the question under discussion “how much turmeric can I take a day” depends on the quality of turmeric. A higher quantity of Curcumin and Bioperine means you need to take the low quantity of turmeric in one day. For supplements with pills having 300-500 milligrams you can take 3 pills a day for supplements over 1200 milligrams you can take 1 pill initially and another after few weeks. Alternatively, you can follow the label or direction of your physician.
