Used in both traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric has long been celebrated for its health-giving properties.

If you lead a stressful life and have unhealthy lifestyle habits, you need to be mindful of the risk of inflammation. Chronic inflammation, often triggered by lifestyle habits like smoking, lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet or having high stress levels, is linked to many diseases. These diseases, which include cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease as well as cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, are increasingly common in fast-paced societies like Singapore.

While managing stress levels and adopting healthier habits will help reduce chances of inflammation, you may want to try adding turmeric to your diet, too. One of the world’s oldest medicinal ingredients, turmeric contains active compounds called curcuminoids. Studies have shown that curcuminoids exhibit anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects and may be useful in alleviating the symptoms of osteoarthritis.

A LONG AND HEALTHFUL HISTORY

Turmeric, which belongs to the ginger family, has long been used in traditional medicine and nutrition in Asian cultures. Some popular folk remedies in India involve mixing turmeric into milk to soothe fevers or sore throats while in Chinese medicine, the orange root known as jiang huang has been prescribed for a wide variety of health issues ranging from skin diseases to digestive problems.

According to Google’s Food Trends 2016 (US report), searches for turmeric have increased 300 per cent in the last five years and turmeric was ranked top in the ‘food with a function’ category with the highest volume of searches from January 2015 to February 2016. While traditionally used as a spice in many Asian dishes, many today are imbibing its healthful properties in the form of turmeric lattes – also known as ‘golden milk’.

The orange root has been gaining popularity in recent years and more people are incoporating it into their diets.

Does eating turmeric in these ways give us all its goodness? Ms Beh Kheng Suan, VitaHealth’s country head (Malaysia and Singapore), said consumers have to consider the concentration of active compounds in what they are eating and their bioavailability. She explained: “Curcuminoids, the active compounds in turmeric, are unstable and degrade easily, meaning that their antioxidant capacity is significantly reduced when cooked at high temperatures.”

According to Ms Beh, curcuminoids are also poorly absorbed by the body as they are fat-soluble but not water-soluble. “They tend to clump together when coming into contact with water in the gut, leaving them unable to pass through the stomach’s lining to enter the bloodstream. As it is fat-soluble, consuming it with fat found in avocadoes, coconut milk and fatty fish may increase absorption,” she said.

To fully reap the benefits of curcuminoids and ensure their absorption, Ms Beh recommends consuming them in supplement form.

TURMERIC GOODNESS IN A PILL

Turmeric-based supplements like VitaHealth Turmercare are a convenient way of enjoying turmeric’s benefits. VitaHealth Turmercare contains turmeric powder and two patented ingredients – Curcumin C3 Complex and BioPerine, a black pepper extract that increases the bioavailability of curcuminoids by 2,000 per cent. Curcumin C3 Complex is a patented turmeric extract that comprises three naturally occurring curcuminoids - curcumin, demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC). It provides more benefits than curcumin alone.

The combination of Curcumin C3 Complex and BioPerine in VitaHealth Turmercare improves the bioavailability of curcuminoids, the active compounds in turmeric.

According to Ms Beh, while turmeric powder typically contains less than 5 per cent of curcuminoids, VitaHealth Turmercare contains Curcumin C3 Complex, which is standardised to contain 95 per cent of curcuminoids. It aims to support a healthy inflammatory response and cholesterol levels, boost immunity, relieve joint pain and improve liver function and digestion.

Ms Beh said: “Besides Vitamin C, turmeric is good for immunity as well. Evidence suggests that curcumin could inhibit various viral infections. On top of that, it has prebiotic-like properties, which enable it to positively impact our gut microbiota balance and support the gut-immune connection.”

Taking one tablet of VitaHealth Turmercare is the equivalent of eating 15 pieces of 6.8g fresh turmeric, said Ms Beh.  

Enjoy the benefits of 15 pieces of turmeric in one tablet of VitaHealth Turmercare.

QUALITY MATTERS

As more people become aware of the protective properties of turmeric, some may be tempted to turn to low-end turmeric-based supplements, which could contain less curcuminoids than advertised or even contain harmful additives like lead.

For those who are looking to reap maximum benefits from turmeric supplements, it is important to check for quality.

Said Ms Beh: “Every batch of VitaHealth Turmercare has to undergo stringent quality tests, including tests of the amount of active ingredients, a heavy metal test and a microbial test to avoid any possible exploitation.”

VitaHealth Turmercare is available online and in stores. Use the promo code VITA15OFF to enjoy S$15 off every two bottles of VitaHealth Turmercare 60s purchased at VitaHealth Shopee Mall. VitaHealth Turmercare can also be purchased at leading hospitals, Chinese medical halls and selected outlets of Watsons, Unity, Welcia-BHG, OG, Mustafa, Metro and BHG.