Eating for Skin Health – Turmeric

Turmeric; used in India as a medicinal herb for thousands of years, recently has been hailed as a powerhouse food for health. It is known to have natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It has been used to treat (and some say prevent) cancer, Alzheimer’s and other age-related illnesses. It has been shown to help arthritis sufferers and to offer some relief to those with carpal tunnel syndrome and fibromyalgia.

The medical community has said that the maximum daily dosage should be 2000mg or 2 grams; half a teaspoon of powder is roughly 1 gram. Although few people suffer side effects from too much turmeric, some people experience upset stomach, dizziness or nausea.

Turmeric root can be peeled and eaten fresh or dried and ground into a powder. The most common use of turmeric on cooking is a curry or a soup, and outside of those recipes people may find it difficult to use turmeric daily. Many people add it to their morning smoothies and some make Golden Milk – which is coconut milk, turmeric and honey.

Daily turmeric will help with the body and with some medical ailments however what are the benefits for the skin. Turmeric has been shown to:
1) Speed up the healing process, which can hasten the time for cuts and scrapes to heal.
2) Help oily skin, it has been shown to reduce facial oils
3) Prevents sun damage, turmeric can inhibit an increase in metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)
4) Anti-aging treatment, due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties it has been suggested that turmeric can counteract the effects of aging
5) Calms conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, scleroderma, rosacea, and other skin diseases

For those who do not like the taste of turmeric or only like to eat the occasional curry, most health food stores and some pharmacists or chemists do sell turmeric supplements.