The Therapeutic Turmeric – It there is an answer to India’s tropical weather and bacteria it is turmeric.
Turmeric, more popularly known as haldi, is a colourant and an inseparable part of the Indian cuisine. Almost any Indian dish has a dash of turmeric, adding a therapeutic touch to it.
As parts of India are tropical or semi-tropical, the rate of bio-degradability is quite high. Turmeric imparts added protection as it has been found to inhibit bacterial growth.
Turmeric has many medicinal virtues. Apart from providing an anti-bacterial seal to food, it works as a powerful cleansing agent within the digestive system. A useful internal anti-septic, it cools the system and helps it combat cholesterol problems, more effectively so in combination with fenugreek, jeera, tulsi and pepper.
Prescribed in cases of diabetes and leprosy, it is also a carminative tonic, blood-purifier and vermicide. It is used in treating gall-stones, gall-complaints, jaundice, infections of the liver, flu, etc. Being rich in iron, it is useful in combating anaemia.
There are as many as sixteen varieties of turmeric known in India. Alleppey turmeric is a variety regarded as the King of Turmeric, because of its rich colouring matter (curcumin).
It may however be noted that the turmeric available in the market for culinary purposes is boiled, debarked rhizome and is not suitable for medicinal purposes. The dry rhizomes of the plant without any treatment are often used in medicine (primarily for respiratory diseases). These rhizomes may be fried in oil or boiled in water, powdered and taken with honey.
Turmeric: A Profile
Latin Name: Curcuma longa, Linn (Curcuma domestica Val)
Regional Names: Haldi, manjal, pasupu, halad, haldhar, haludhaldhar
Family: Zingiberaceae
Appearance: The spice ‘turmeric’ consists of the dried, boiled, cleaned and polished rhizomes (the underground swollen stems) of the plant. The plant has a large tuft of leaves. Spiked with pale green flowering bracts, covering yellow flowers.
Turmeric: How to use it
| Ailment | Prescription |
| Helps eliminate unwanted hair. Improves complexion | Fine paste of turmeric applied on skin. |
| Cholera, dysentery, skin infections, indigestion, cough, body heat, etc. | Soak 200 gm bits of turmeric in slaked lime for a couple of hours. Remove the bits. Dry under the sun. Powder. This rose coloured powder can be preserved in a vial. Ten pinches of this powder to be taken along with hot water or milk or honey twice daily for a month. |
| Heals wounds, boils, tropical skin diseases | Paste of turmeric applied on wounds. |
| Jaundice | A pinch of turmeric taken along with a glass of hot water 2 or 3 times daily for a few days. |
| Dry cough | A pinch of turmeric powder added to hot milk (cow’s) and taken early in the morning for a few days. |
| Common cold, sore throat, etc. | Turmeric powder added to boiled water and inhaled. |
| Skin affections (as anti-parasitic) | Juice of raw turmeric rhizome applied externally. |
| Small-pox | Paste of the rhizome mixed with gingelly oil and neem leaf paste and applied externally. |
| Dental problems, gum-diseases | Turmeric burnt, powdered fine and used as tooth powder. |
| Ophthalmia | Juice of turmeric rhizomes, used as eye-drops. |
| Ring-worm, obstinate itching, eczema and other parasitic skin diseases | A paste of turmeric in combination with neem leaf paste and applied externally. |
| Intestinal worms | 20 drops of raw turmeric juice, mixed with a pinch of salt taken first thing in the morning daily for 3- 4 days. |
| Anaemia | A teaspoon each of raw turmeric juice and honey mixed together and taken every morning for a month |
| Asthma | A teaspoon of turmeric powder added to a glass of milk, taken twice or thrice daily |