If you know me, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of adding three of my favourite spices – cinnamon, ginger and turmeric – to plenty of recipes and everyday things like porridge, smoothies, curries or even added to a hot drink to make golden milk. They are deliciously warming and can totally transform something to boost the flavour – plus, they are brimming with nutritional benefits!
Let’s focus on turmeric and more specifically, curcumin – the principal curcuminoid or active compound in turmeric root (a member of the ginger family). Favoured by herbal medicine practitioners for centuries, curcumin is commonly used for a myriad of health benefits including relief of whole body inflammation – in particular, joint inflammation and mobility, as well as brain and liver health. Also praised as a natural antioxidant, curcumin can also help fight free radical damage – pretty impressive stuff.
Boost your bone health
This coincides with the launch of Bioglan’s super-charged supplement, Active Curcumin. What makes this stand out above any product currently available in the UK is that Bioglan uses a 95% curcuminoid extract (whereas regular turmeric powder is most commonly between 2-6%) and contains the highest strength in the market. Plus, the supplement also contains copper to help maintain healthy connective tissues, vitamin D to support bone health and muscle function, plus vitamin C to boost collagen formation and cartilage health.
As part of Bioglan’s Eat Your Week Orange campaign, I’ve been challenged to create a couple of recipes featuring this powerful compound to show how easy it is to incorporate into your lifestyle to hit your daily dose. One of them is a colourful porridge bowl bursting with goodness, while the coconut dhal with golden cauliflower shows how adding some turmeric-coated cauliflower can finish off a veggie dish perfectly while adding in those nutrients.
While it’s great to cook with turmeric and add it into dishes, I’ve found it’s actually much easier to take a daily supplement to really reap the benefits – you’d need to add a LOT of turmeric and for some people, it can be an acquired taste and make a dish (especially if it’s sweet) quite overpowering. I am extremely active and thanks to a combination of weight training, cardio, walking and running around after a toddler and throwing him around, I sometimes find my joints (especially around my knee) can feel quite stiff. It’s reassuring to know that by taking these Bioglan Active Curcumin supplements that my body is being looked after inside as well as out!
You can find Bioglan Active Curcumin at any Holland and Barret or Boots store or online for £24.99 from the Bioglan website.