Try the Golden Paste recipe, by Dr. Doug English

This is the number one Golden Paste (GP) recipe, tried and tested by hundreds of thousands of members and their pets in the Original Turmeric User Group and spread around the world. Try it for yourself - it's quick, cheap and easy.

In most cases, we advise against the use of turmeric and/or curcumin capsules, pills, tonics, drinks, etc. 

GOLDEN PASTE INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup (125 mL / 60g) turmeric powder
• 1 cup water (250 mL) plus extra water in reserve, if needed
• 1/3 cup (70 mL) coconut oil (use raw, unrefined, cold-pressed)
           OR flaxseed oil
           OR olive oil (use virgin / extra virgin)
• 2 - 3 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

Note: the amount of pepper has been increased since May 2016, following Dr Doug English’s recommendations and review of greater success in a large number of cases using the extra pepper. Omit pepper if you cannot tolerate it. The absorption of turmeric will still be improved by cooking it and adding oil, but it will be less effective without the black pepper.

Cracked pepper and ground pepper are both referring to piper nigrum. The coarseness of the ground pepper is up to the discretion of the user. If you like to have crunchy chunks of pepper in your golden paste, then grind it less finely. If you don't (and that's probably most of us), grind it more finely.

Just starting out on Golden Paste? Start small, just 1/4 of a teaspoon twice a day and gradually build up to a larger amount 

GOLDEN PASTE RECIPE:

1. Bring the turmeric and water to a boil in a saucepan, then lower the heat and simmer until you have a thick paste. This should take about 7-10 minutes and you may need to add the extra water along the way to achieve the desired consistency.

1. Add the freshly cracked pepper and oil AFTER cooking, when it has been removed from heat and cooled down (still warm to touch but not burning), about 10 minutes later.

1. Stir in well to mix the oil in and allow to cool again.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING GOLDEN PASTE:

Do not use pre-made pepper meal (pre-ground pepper that you buy for pepper shakers). The active ingredient in black pepper (piperine) is oxidised when exposed to the air and also degraded by light, so not much is left in the pre-ground pepper purchased in the store.

Do not add honey or any sweeteners. Sugars are not necessary and they can induce inflammation.

Try 1/4 of a teaspoon, twice a day (with food and water), and build up to 3 - 4 times a day, for the first 4-5 days.

If you need more effect, increase to 1/2 - 3/4 of a teaspoon 3 - 4 times a day. You don't need much. Some move on to a full teaspoon for an even greater effect. Assess what your body needs and feed small amounts routinely to keep it in your system and improve the amount absorbed by the body. As Dr Doug says: "Little and often is best".

When adding turmeric to your diet for the first time, if there are any signs of loose stools or upset stomach then you may wish to reduce your serving to 1/8 tsp or so, and remain at a lower amount for a longer period of time. It will eventually pass and your gut microbiome will soon adjust and benefit.

STORING GOLDEN PASTE:

The Golden Paste will keep for 2-3 weeks in the fridge. Do not leave it out at room temperature.

Freeze a portion of your batch if you think you have made too much to use within 2 weeks. It has become popular to store the excess mixture in silicon moulds. It is then easy to pop out a single serve later on.

If you don't like the earthy taste of turmeric, you can find some ideas here on how to add it to your diet.

Or you may like to try Turmeric Life Power bars, made to work with nutraceuticals and Golden Paste.

The thing about cinnamon and the "cat pee" smell...

Some dogs may smell a little like cat pee after starting Golden Paste. We're not exactly sure why, but it will eventually go away. One way to eliminate or at least reduce the odour is to add Ceylon cinnamon to the golden paste.

• Add 1 tablespoon to the recipe above, at the end of cooking
  Use Ceylon cinnamon. Do not use cassia cinnamon
  

Want to find out more about turmeric?

How to feed a horse...
How to clean up turmeric stains...
Should you be aware of any drug interactions...

It's all here at Dr Doug's Turmeric Life...

ENJOY YOUR HEALTH!

Have you seen our Turmeric Performance Bars & Bites?

Turmeric Life Bars & Bites were developed by Dr Doug for his many followers who wanted the convenience and positive effects of Golden Paste but without the hassle and mess. 

Formulated using High Potency Turmeric Powder, extra curcumin, black pepper and many more organic whole super foods, these ingredients are blended to create a synergistic health food to naturally improve health, and is bio-activated so your body can absorb the nutrients faster and better for a stronger effect.

Turmeric Life Performance Bars & Bites have quickly become the basis of a healthy lifestyle for many! No need for pills and capsules, just healthy, healing, wholefoods nourishing our bodies.

Turmeric Performance Bars & Bites provide convenience to all, busy or not, these bars and bites are travel size, ready to eat and delicious! Turmeric Life’s Bars & Bites are a nutritious health food that will have you and your furry friends feeling amazing!

Turmeric for Health

By Dr Doug English www.turmericlife.com.au

Turmeric from Curcuma longa which is the best variety, is known as the orange ingredient used liberally in Indian curries. Turmeric has a long history of use in both Indian and Chinese traditional medicine and has also been used as a textile dye. Much of the effects are attributed to the component curcumin which is about 3 to 6% in the better varieties but there are many other synergistic compounds in the whole rhizome that work together in the metabolism and it is best consumed cooked with an oil like coconut, olive or butter and importantly black pepper.

Four years ago I started the Facebook group Turmeric User Group (TUG) www.facebook.com/groups/415313751866609/ to document the therapeutic use of turmeric in humans and all animals and this group has just passed 272,000 members as at Sept 2018.

The active ingredients are notoriously difficult to absorb and when that is achieved they are quickly eliminated. The addition of fresh cracked black pepper (Piper nigrum), apart from its own positive effects, is used to markedly slow the excretion of the active curcuminoids and prolong their effect in metabolic pathways, and pepper is a good food and not just a condiment. Pepper was correctly revered as a food additive a few hundred years ago.

Turmeric needs to be cooked in boiling water to make the starchy compounds much more soluble and better absorbed in monogastric digestion. Using it raw, like grating on salads, is not going to be digested at all. For humans and dogs, the famous Golden Paste is made by boiling a ¹/₂ cup of turmeric

powder to about a cup of water, simmer for 6 to 10 minutes and add 1 to three tea spoons of pepper then store in fridge. Add an oil like coconut oil into the mix or later when consumed.

Also, these components are not soluble in water but are in oils, short chain fatty acids and alcohol. Unless these are present when consuming turmeric absorption does not happen. And absorption is far better in monogastrics when consumed with a good whole food and healthy gut biota present, and less so when gut biota is poorly diversified and compromised as the result of a poor diet, high in processed foods and added sugars.

Even so 100% absorption will never be achieved and the best is more likely to be 10%. Luckily curcuminoids are very powerful and you do not need very much to have effect.

Regular daily intake is the rule, and humans and dogs probably need to consume two to 4 times daily but ruminants like llamas and horses with their efficient storage type digestive systems only once, and possibly ruminants every few days when on higher doses.

Ruminants like cattle, sheep, llamas and alpacas have a very effective fermentation vat: the rumen and the inhabitant organisms (gut biota) are able to take in and use the components of the turmeric plant pieces including curcumin, and then the animal benefits from this by digesting them in turn. Ruminants are very much more efficient at digesting plant materials. And equines too are better adapted at absorbing plant nutrients.

There is much scientific evidence (about 11,000 scientific citations if one cares to look in the scientific literature and search curcumin which is the active most researchers use) to back up the tens of thousands of anecdotal experiences put forward in the Turmeric User Group over the past four years. And there is a three-thousand-year history of these effects in eastern medicine. There is no real negative evidence. Just recently the sceptics TV show ‘Trust Me, I'm a Doctor’ produced real evidence that turmeric included in food had a significant effect on genes associated with inflammation, asthma and some forms of cancer - https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2017/01/27/d aily-disease-fighting-ritual-michael-mosley-puts-turmeric-test

A brief mention of all the positive effects able to be backed with scientific evidence and anecdotes are tabulated:

ANTICOAGULANT: allowing blood to flow correctly and inhibiting abnormal blood clot formation (thrombosis). If already on anticoagulants your clotting needs to be monitored and the dose of these reduced or stopped.

ARTHRITIS: Curcumin inhibits the breakdown of cartilage and has been shown in some studies to be as effective as hydrocortisone and phenylbutazone in relieving the symptoms of arthritis such as inflammation, swelling and joint stiffness. Even better, it does so without the significant side-effects of those drugs and has been shown to be safe at very large doses. A natural pain killer (cox-2 inhibitor like NSAID drugs).

BABY REFLUX  Numerous anecdotes on consumption of golden paste or TuGo bars by nursing mothers with improved lactation and reflux elimination in babies who then sleep contentedly all night. 

BLOOD PRESSURE: reduces and normalizes blood pressure. Those on blood pressure reducing tablets need to monitor that and reduce the dose of those.

CANCER: There are many promising studies being conducted with many forms of Cancer. Curcumin defends the body against cancer via a number of actions: it detoxifies carcinogens thereby preventing the initiation of cancer cells; suppresses the progression of cancerous cells by inhibiting their proliferation while simultaneously increasing their death and removal; and inhibits the spread of cancerous cells to other areas of the body. It can also reduce the side effects of chemotherapy treatment and enhance the action of many chemotherapy agents. Various studies have demonstrated either turmeric (as a whole food) or curcumin/curcuminoids (as isolates) to have beneficial results in preventing or treating a wide range of cancers. These include skin including melanoma, ovarian, breast, lung, oral, stomach, liver, colon and prostate cancers. Combined with consumption of cauliflower it is effective to prevent prostate cancer and also slows/stops growth of existing.

CARDIOVASCULAR EFFECTS: Curcumin improves the liver’s ability to clear the body of LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol) and increases the proportion of HDL (‘good’ cholesterol). In addition, it prevents the oxidation of both LDL and HDL (oxidised cholesterol leads to blood vessel damage and plaque build-up that can result in heart attack or stroke).

COGNITION and BRAIN health: Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. In addition to the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant protection turmeric/curcumin affords against neurodegenerative diseases, curcumin has been shown, after crossing the blood-brain barrier, to inhibit formation of the plaques between neurons (nerve cells) that disrupt brain function. Clearer thinking and greater work output has been reported in many anecdotes. Energy and happiness levels are raised.

DIABETES: along with cinnamon and ginger, turmeric is effective at reducing blood sugar and increases insulin sensitivity and levels serum glucose. Enhances glucose uptake in skeletal muscle and other tissue. Need to monitor blood sugar levels and probably adjust insulin doses downwards. Improves insulin resistance condition.

DEPRESSION: mood lifting, mentally energizing. Anecdotes are common in the TUG Facebook group and it is a useful antidepressant. If already on antidepressant drugs, one needs to run dose past your doctor because there will an additive effect and serotonin levels can become too high with risk of serotonin syndrome.

ENERGY: increases metabolic rate and normalizes blood glucose and alertness. Diabetic animals fed curcumin not only had a significant reduction of blood cholesterol levels (LDL fraction) but also of blood triglycerides and phospholipids (elevated levels of both are associated with the disturbed lipid metabolism characteristic of diabetes). Increased fat metabolism and weight loss.

FERTILITY: improves fertility in dogs, cattle, horses and humans. Chicken egg production improved by 30%. Numerous anecdotes of pregnancy success after infertility.

GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT: inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium associated with both gastric & duodenal ulcer formation and gastric & colon cancers. Other studies have indicated that turmeric (at appropriate doses) can enhance the healing of gastric ulcers via an increase in gastric wall mucus production. Further, turmeric has been shown to have an antispasmodic effect on the gastro-intestinal tract. In addition, turmeric and curcumin have been investigated and found to be protective against Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

IMMUNE SYSTEM SUPPORT – ANTIVIRAL

 Turmeric is a promising treatment for influenza virus and prevents injury to virus infected lung tissue. Would expect similar for Corona virus, also the immunomodulatory effect will stop excessive local reaction in lung tissue which is a corona danger.

LIVER HEALTH: Turmeric has a liver-protecting action. It both prevents and repairs liver damage. It protects the liver from inflammation and improves the clearing function of the system. Best hangover cure, but even better when in the system prior to a night out.

SKIN, nails and hair growth: significant reduction of itchiness in skin of humans, horses and dogs. Improves quality of fingernails and hair in humans and hooves of horses. Deepens coat colour in horses. Counteracts sunburn even after redness appears. Does this by antioxidant effect e.g. scavenges radiation induced, reactive, free, radicals.

WEIGHT LOSS: above effects contribute to significant weight loss.

WOUND HEALING: promotes rapid healthy healing of wounds. Is a natural antiseptic when used topically in wounds having topical anti-fungal and antibacterial effect.

As well as all the above, turmeric has demonstrated the ability to suppress cataract development.