Organic Haldi (Turmeric): Why, how, and what?
Our social media is abuzz with chatter in haldi and most of you would have read a lot already so we will keep this brief. Organic turmeric just enhances the good values while cutting out unwanted artificial chemicals.
Why: Haldi has curcumin, a very healthy ingredient. It is not the only source for curcumin but usually, it has richer proportions of curcumin.
Curcumin is NOT an anti-pathogen or something like that.
How: Curcumin helps us by helping our own Liver detoxify our blood, better. Purer blood helps our immune system to identify and attack pathogens. Curcumin needs to be absorbed by our body.
Kali Mirch has piperine that helps the absorption of Curcumin. 3-5 kali mirch per 100g suffices.
So it is better to use Haldi powder mixed with some kali mirch in milk or water as per your preference.
What: Haldi is a root from the same family as ginger.
Curcumin increases with the duration of the crop. So if we let Haldi stay on the farm for 1 year instead of 5 months, it is better (that's something we do for our standard Haldi). If you let it stay for 3 years, it does even better.
Few places are better and the curcumin content of haldi from those regions is higher. Wayanad from Kerala and Lakadong from Manipur are two such places.
Dos and Donts of Organic Haldi
- Haldi is more than just curcumin. So good quality is important.
- Curcumin content of haldi can be adjusted by adjusting the quantity. So if you use Wayanad haldi, reduce the quantity.
- It is from ginger family so you need to be careful about all the issues that you care about while taking ginger. Excess consumption can cause trouble.
- Like most natural remedies, it will work gradually only. Take small doses but consistently.
- Kachchi Haldi is usually available in the market is a short-duration crop. Almost all the health benefits of haldi can be obtained from dried powder too.
Note: We have Haldi from our farm. This grows for full year round before it is harvested. We also have part of field which will now be third year of that crop. We also have Wayanad haldi and wide range of single spices as well as freshly ground Garam masala