In the current world of health and wellness trends, turmeric is rapidly making its way to the top as a sought-after superfood. But it's not a new trend. This vibrant yellow spice has been used in recipes for thousands of years — and not just because of its flavor. Turmeric packs numerous health benefits, like regulating the metabolism, fighting inflammation, and improving cognitive function.
However, to reap all of the health benefits from turmeric, it’s important to consume it with another ingredient that is so common, it’s probably sitting in a shaker on your dining table right now: black pepper.
All of our GoldynGlow Turmeric Superfood Blends contain a delicious combination of turmeric and black pepper, along with other expertly-selected natural ingredients. We make it easy for you to reap the full benefits of turmeric in order to lead a fuller, healthier life.
So why do these two spices make for a winning combination? In order to understand how black pepper makes turmeric more effective, you first need to know what makes turmeric so beneficial in the first place.
A Key Ingredient in the Golden Spice
Turmeric is comprised of different compounds called curcuminoids. The most important and active curcuminiod in turmeric is a flavonoid known as curcumin (1). Curcumin gives turmeric its vibrant yellow hue and, most importantly, provides the beneficial anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that make turmeric a leading superfood.
Curcumin is Great...But There’s a Catch
While curcumin provides all these great health benefits, our bodies have a difficult time absorbing it. One study demonstrated that rats given various doses of curcumin retained it at extremely low levels (2). This is due to the low bioavailability of curcumin, which means our body is unable to access much of the compound’s nutrients.
Our bodies are only able to absorb curcumin in very small amounts because the intestinal tract and liver metabolizes it too rapidly. Because the nutrients in curcumin are ushered out of our bodies so quickly, they don’t get absorbed very well. Additionally, curcumin only comprises about 5% of raw turmeric (1) — so there’s not a lot of the compound available to begin with. Therefore, it’s important to activate as much curcumin as possible.
These two major factors limit the potential health benefits of turmeric. This is where black pepper comes in When you consume black pepper with turmeric on a consistent basis, you’ll see just how powerful this combination is.
Why Turmeric and Black Pepper are a Power Team
Aside from black pepper, other methods and ingredients can increase the bioavailability of curcumin, like the addition of ginger, certain fats, and heat. But black pepper takes the lead by a landslide. So why does it work so well?
Past studies on black pepper have shown that it acts as an effective bioenhancer for various drugs (3). This is due to its most active ingredient, piperine. Piperine blocks metabolism pathways by preventing liver and intestinal metabolism, which inhibits drug metabolism (4). The same is true with curcumin.
Piperine inhibits some of the enzymes and processes needed to metabolize certain nutrients and drugs (in this case, curcumin), which allows curcumin to remain in the intestine for a longer period of time, giving the body a better opportunity to absorb it.
Another experiment showed that human subjects who received a 2 g dose of curcumin were found to have undetectable or very low blood serum levels (5). But when they consumed the compound with 20 mg of piperine, the bioavailability increased by 2000% with no adverse effects!
To truly reap the health benefits of a functional ingredient like turmeric, it’s important to incorporate it into your lifestyle by consuming it on a regular basis. After all, when it comes to sustained health, there’s no quick fix! That’s why we created versatile turmeric blends that you can easily enjoy with your favorite daily food and beverages. Because each of our superfood blends include black pepper, it boasts enhanced bioavailability and provides an efficient and delicious way to get your daily dose of turmeric.
You can blend our products with warm milk to create a soothing and healing drink, or add them to your favorite recipes as a healthy and enjoyable boost to your day. Check out all of our delicious products here.
