Spotlight on Turmeric

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“It’s also a stupendous liver herb,” Khalsa says. “It has a general benefit across the board for the liver.” It detoxifies the liver and protects it from damage. It increases secretion of bile, and is used for gallstones and gallbladder stasis.

In Asia, turmeric is used topically as well as internally. It often is found in acne creams or poultices for inflammatory injuries. It also is used to reduce inflammation in the mouth and to heal gums. Asians traditionally have used turmeric as a beauty treatment that tightens skin and reduces inflammation. To try it, apply it like a lotion, massage into the skin, then rinse off in a bath. Because of its astringency, turmeric also can be applied as a poultice (or taken internally) to reduce hemorrhoids, Khalsa says.

In using herbs to treat various disorders, an Ayurvedic practitioner considers the constitution of the individual. Ayurvedic practitioners believe all people are some combination of three basic types of metabolic forces, or doshas. “Turmeric is almost tridoshic,” Khalsa says, meaning it is useful for people of all constitutional types as defined in Ayurveda. Believed to govern all bodily processes, the doshas are called vata, pitta and kapha. (Ayurvedic practitioners and books can help you determine your dosha. Many internet resources, such as www.WhatsYourDosha.com, also are available.) Vata is related to the element of air or space; pitta is the fire element; and kapha is related to water and earth. Most people have one or two dominant doshas, which can get out of balance. Spices with warming properties, for example, could cause irritability or other issues for particular individuals. Although turmeric acts as an anti-inflammatory in the short term, which is a cooling action, in the long term it is warming and drying.

“Turmeric usually is considered to be slightly increasing for pitta and slightly reducing for kapha and vata,” Khalsa says. Because turmeric acts as a warming remedy in the long term, it only should be used short term (three or four days) for pitta conditions (warm conditions, such as inflammation). “It’s just not a good herb to use in excess over long periods of time, like years, for a pitta person,” Khalsa says. And turmeric can be drying for someone with a vata constitution. On the other hand, a person with kapha constitution can take turmeric as a supplement long term.

“Where it really stands out is for joint conditions,” Khalsa says, “either in modest doses over time for joint rebuilding and rejuvenation, or as a short-term anti-inflammatory for acute injuries. People who have joint difficulties often have a vata constitution, and turmeric can be used as long as the dryness and astringent issue is offset by using almond oil, ghee or marshmallow root for lubrication.”

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