Cedar Valley- Tahini Turmeric

Description

To many, turmeric is known as the almost too good to be true, antioxidant, superfood. To us, turmeric is a superhero and a kitchen pantry must-have.

With its anti-inflammatory health benefits, this is an ingredient that fits perfectly within our family of clean, healthy and delicious products. With this in mind, I knew I needed to use this super-spice in our next creation.

Turmeric adds a subtle flavour to a recipe while creating a brilliant pop of colour to other not-so-Instagram-worthy ingredients. When paired with the nutty, rich flavours of tahini, like in our Tahini Turmeric dressing, you’re left with a powerhouse of healthy ingredients that can dress up any salad, dip, or marinade.

So, what makes turmeric so powerful? Just like fruits and vegetables, turmeric has chemical compounds (the good kind of chemicals!) that contain a host of benefits! Enter in curcumin.

You might’ve heard the word curcumin tossed around before. Many doctors, nutritionists and other health care practitioners talk about it and recommend it to their clients quite often. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric, which is where most of the nutrition and health benefits come from. So, when someone tells you about some of turmeric’s magical abilities, it’s curcumin that is the real MVP.

The benefits of curcumin are quite lengthy (I told you, superhero!) but here are some super important ones:

• Anti-inflammatory – ranging from pain management to aiding in digestive issues like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, curcumin is the ultimate anti-inflammatory spice!
• Antioxidant – curcumin fights those free radicals, which can contribute to many chronic diseases like dementia, cancer, heart disease, etc.
• Heart health – curcumin improves the health of your blood vessels which improves blood pressure and blood clotting. The anti-inflammatory benefits of curcumin also fights against heart disease, the global leading cause of death!
• Bone + joint health – shown to fight against bone breakdown, curcumin can prevent bone conditions like osteoporosis.
• Brain health – curcumin is known to improve memory, and may even delay age-related declines in brain function!

So… you can see why there’s such a buzz for turmeric!

With a background in health and fitness, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention something about maximizing absorption of turmeric. Luckily, it’s a simple one: pair turmeric with black pepper!

You may have seen gorgeous golden milk latte recipes peppering your social media feed – well, pepper is a common ingredient in those recipes.

Just like turmeric has curcumin, pepper has piperine. Curcumin doesn’t absorb well in the body on its own, so pairing it with piperine can aid in the absorption and allow your body to use it more effectively. Like Vitamin D, curcumin is also fat soluble, so be sure to pair turmeric with fats like oil or butter to increase the availability of curcumin in your body to get those amazing health benefits!