Turmeric is also known as turmeric. Chinese medicine believes that turmeric is pungent, bitter, warm in nature and has analgesic effect. The curcumin in it can accelerate skin wound healing, inhibit the growth of tumor cells, and have antioxidant properties.
Turmeric powder can soothe arthritis, diabetes, heal wounds, prevent degenerative diseases, improve digestion, natural liver detoxification, boost immune system, maintain ideal body weight, lower cholesterol.
"Red turmeric", which has become very popular in Japan in recent years, has also become a trend in Taiwan. When it comes to turmeric, the common impression is turmeric in curry. So why are there different names for red turmeric and yellow turmeric? Just looking at the name, it seems that there is only a difference in color. What is the difference between these two types of turmeric?
【Red turmeric vs. yellow turmeric】
There are three main varieties of turmeric: spring turmeric, autumn turmeric, and purple turmeric. How could there be no red turmeric that is often heard? It turns out that red turmeric is a variety produced by autumn turmeric. The color of autumn turmeric's rhizome is more orange-red, so it has the name red turmeric.
In terms of curcumin content, autumn turmeric > spring turmeric. Spring turmeric blooms in spring, and the color of the cut surface and powder is light yellow. Red turmeric, also known as autumn tulip, will bloom beautiful flowers in autumn. The cross-section is orange-red, and the color of the powder is relatively dark. Taiwan's climatic conditions are also very suitable for planting autumn turmeric. Under Taiwan's excellent agricultural technology and management, the curcumin produced is also very high, which is not lost to Japan at all!
Spring Turmeric
It is often sold in fruit and vegetable markets, and the price is quite cheap. It is mainly used to add spices to curry to make curry produce color and smell. The content of curcumin in spring turmeric is extremely low, and the professional "quantitative analysis detection limit 0.005" measured the content of curcumin as "not detected" or "negative". This type of turmeric powder is light yellow in color, coarse in size and low in nutritional value.
Autumn Turmeric
At present, the turmeric powder sold in Taiwan with a relatively high price is of this grade. The professional "quantitative analysis detection limit 0.005" measures the content of curcumin to be about 0.6-1.5%, which contains a small amount of turmeric essential oil. Deeper, generally used for health care, cooking and baking.
red turmeric
Red turmeric belongs to the genus Curcuma longa of the family Zingiberaceae. It is a variant of autumn turmeric. It contains the most abundant curcumin, which is 4 times that of autumn turmeric and 12 times that of spring turmeric. Therefore, it is called "the king of curcumin". Turmeric is rare, and the professional "quantitative analysis detection limit 0.005" measures curcumin content generally between 2% and 4%. Because the content of curcumin is the highest among all turmeric species, the color is "dark orange" and it exudes a strong spicy fragrance.
Since many human and animal studies have shown that the oral absorption rate of curcumin is extremely poor, about 40%-85% of the dose will be directly excreted from the intestines, so how to increase the absorption rate has become a topic of concern. Here are 3 ways to increase turmeric absorption:
1.) Add black pepper: Piperine (Piperine) is an ingredient in pepper. Studies have shown that adding piperine to curcumin can increase the bioavailability of the body by 2,000% (compared to natural curcumin).
2.) Add fat: curcumin is fat-soluble, you can add fat to increase the absorption rate, common good oils such as olive oil, linseed oil, and coconut oil are good choices
3.) Heating: Brewing with hot water can increase the solubility of curcumin in water by nearly 12 times, which can help improve bioavailability.
Cooking suggestions:
- Oil-soluble turmeric powder is most suitable for cooking, making healthy turmeric rice, turmeric chicken soup, turmeric cauliflower and other dishes.
- Turmeric drinks, turmeric powder has a natural bright color, it is also very suitable to add to hot drinks such as brown sugar turmeric tea or soy milk with fat, milk, coffee, etc.
1. Chopped fried rice
2. Slice and add sugar to boil turmeric tea,
3. Whole curry
4. Fried rice/porridge with oil and chili
5. Soak feet in boiling water to dispel wind and reduce inflammation
