Nutrition Videos

Hi! I'm Stelios Pantazis. I'm a doctor and I specialize in medical nutrition and metabolic disorders. Today, you're watching the second part about miraculous turmeric. Én the last video, we saw the cases where turmeric can help reduce some symptoms and improve health, and the cases where it should be avoided or administered carefully. If you've decided to introduce turmeric in your life, today, I'll tell you how you can do this. You can introduce turmeric in your life in three ways. Each one has its advantages and its restrictions. Depending on your taste, money and willingness, you can choose the way that suits you most. The first way is to go to the market where they sell spices by the kilo, on Evripidou St., in Athens, and buy 1 kg of turmeric. The last time I bought, I paid 7 euro for 1 kg. Also buy 100 gr of ground black pepper, for which you'll pay 1 euro, because it costs 10 euro/kg. After you buy them, put them in jars, so that you can store them for months. The reason I told you to buy pepper is because pepper contains a substance, piperine, which increases the absorption of curcumin by 20 times. Therefore, they should always be together in your stomach, unless you don't want the curcumin to be absorbed, but you want it to stay in your digestive system, to treat some gastrointestinal disease, such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease or gastritis, and indigestion problems. In any other case, turmeric should be administered with pepper. It has been estimated that 1 teaspoon of turmeric contains 200 mg of curcumin. This is the average concentration and it may vary significantly depending on the spice. But this is the expected content. The minimum effective dose that has been administered in studies is 400-500 mg of curcumin a day in 2 doses. Therefore, 1 teaspoon, twice a day, with your meal, which provides 400 mg of curcumin in total. In some studies, the dose is double this, namely 2 teaspoons, twice a day, especially in studies on seasonal allergies, depression, stress and osteoarthritis. We usually start with 1 teaspoon of turmeric with a little pepper and if we're not satisfied with the results, we double the dose. You can consume turmeric in two ways. You can either add it to your food, when it won't significantly affect its taste, or eat 1 teaspoon of turmeric with water after your meal. Be careful, turmeric is not easy to swallow. But some brave people can do it. I add turmeric to my legumes, vegetables cooked with oil, and salads. But I can't add it to all my meals. Neither can I eat it from the teaspoon. The most important advantage of this method is the cost, because it costs 2-3 euro/month. Another important advantage is that it is an easy method. On the other hand, as I told you, it doesn't go with every meal, and turmeric can't be easily swallowed on its own. Finally, turmeric makes whatever it touches yellow and it tends to make our clothes and kitchen yellow. You should be careful. The second way of taking turmeric is in dietary supplements. This is a noticeably more expensive solution and the cost is very high, but it's easier. You don't have to fill your mouth or meal with turmeric and pepper. If you decide to apply this method, you should estimate that you'll spend approximately 30 euro/month for the supplements, for as long as you take them. You may spend even more. You should also be very careful to select the appropriate dietary supplement, so that you take a sufficient amount of curcumin and it contains piperine too, namely the active ingredient of pepper that increases the absorption of curcumin by 20 times. Many supplements containing curcumin are sold in the market, on its own or combined with other herbs. You should choose a supplement that contains sufficient curcumin, so that you can consume 500-1,000 mg/day in 2 doses. You should also make sure that it contains piperine too, namely the active ingredient of pepper that increases the absorption of curcumin. These should be clearly indicated. This may confuse you, because companies often write a lot of things on the label that may mislead you. You should be sure that the supplement clearly mentions the amount of curcumin. If you're not sure, ask your pharmacist to help you. The third way combines the low cost of the first way with the avoidance of the particular taste of turmeric, which is the main advantage of the second way. But you need a little willingness. You have to buy turmeric and pepper, as in the first case, as well as empty capsules size 00, which cost about 15-20 euro/1,000 capsules, and a machine that will help you put turmeric and pepper inside the capsules. This machine costs 20-25 euro and it helps you make 24 capsules each time. If you learn the process, you can make 100 capsules in 10-15 minutes. Each capsule weighs 0.5-0.6 grams, therefore the dose is 5-10 capsules, twice a day. Five capsules correspond to 1 teaspoon. The final cost, without including the cost of the machine, which you'll buy only once, is 7-12 euro/month, namely 1/3 of the cost of supplements from the pharmacy. To make the capsules, separate them one by one, place them in the machine and add a very thin layer of pepper inside them. Then add the turmeric in the machine and press it inside the capsules. Repeat this process 3-4 times, until the capsules are filled, and then close the capsules with the help of the machine. You can find many videos on YouTube on the use of this machine. Just search for "capsule machine tutorial" and you'll watch as many videos as you like. This is how you can introduce turmeric in your life. I combine the first and third way. I've bought the machine, I have many empty capsules in my kitchen and I make a lot of them every once in a while. But I often add turmeric to my meals too. If I eat lentils, I add 1 teaspoon of turmeric to my meal and I don't take capsules after my meal. I also add turmeric to my salad dressing, with mustard, lemon or vinegar and a little pepper. Therefore, I usually take my evening dose of turmeric in my meal. But in the morning I eat cereals and turmeric doesn't go with them. So I take it in capsules with water. You can combine two or three ways, to make sure you take a sufficient amount of curcumin, depending on the time and money you can spend. If you thought this was interesting, please give us a thumbs up. Share it with people who you think might find it interesting and subscribe to our channel in order to get notified when we upload a video. You can also suggest subjects in the comment section. Thank you very much!