Surprising Benefits of Combining Turmeric and Black Pepper

November 11, 2015

When combined together, turmeric and black pepper could help relieve gastric mucosal damage caused by peptic ulcers. This is due to the capacity of curcumin to prevent growth of Helicobacter pylori bacteria which causes peptic ulcers and the protective capability of piperine.

While both black pepper and turmeric offer many health benefits on their own, it is the combination of the two that can be extremely beneficial. One of the main problems with turmeric is that it has a low level of bioavailability. This means that the majority of curcumin from the turmeric that is ingested will be metabolized before it is absorbed. One of the chemicals that are found in black pepper is piperine.

One of the most powerful antioxidants out there is turmeric. Turmeric is similar to ginger as it is a root and spice. It has long been used in most Asian food and is found in abundance in India. The health benefits of turmeric are numerous.

What many people do not realize is that black pepper is another spice that also has many health benefits. Peppercorns come from piper nigrum which is an evergreen vine that produces white, green, and black peppercorns.

There have been studies done that show that the piperine in black pepper actually makes the curcumin of the turmeric more bioavailable.One of the reasons for this may be because the piperine inhibits some digestive enzymes found in the intestine. This can help increase the quantity of any type of supplement or drug that is absorbed through the body.

What this means is that when turmeric is used alone it is often unutilized by the body because all of the nutrients are metabolized before they are used. Mixing turmeric with black pepper can help improve the utilization of both spices in the body.

Health Benefits of Turmeric and Black Pepper

Some of the health benefits of turmeric and black pepper include:

Pain reduction

The piperine found in black pepper can activate production of TRPV1, which can reduce pain.

Controlling Obesity

Turmeric and black pepper could be combined to fight high cholesterol levels, obesity and diabetes. Diet induced bodily changes to blood glucose, body weight, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol and triglyceride could be affected by CPQ. CPQ is an acronym for the combination of curcumin, piperine and quercetin (got from onion skin).

Presence of flavonoids in CPQ is possibly responsible for many of the reactions like decrease in glucose transport. These studies were conducted on laboratory rats.

Anti-inflammatory

The curcumin in turmeric has been studied as an anti-inflammatory and has been used in treating ulcerative colitis, arthritis, as well as other inflammatory conditions.

Preventing Cancer

Both black pepper and turmeric have been studied for prevention of breast cancer. The studies have shown these spices help inhibit the growth of mammosphere formations, which cause breast cancer.Overall, adding black pepper and turmeric to your regular diet can greatly improve your health in many ways.

Dosage

The dosage of turmeric varies depending on the medical condition. As with most herbal supplements turmeric has no specific dosage guidelines.The usually dosage dried turmeric powder is 1-3 gms per day. For supplements – 400 – 600 mg, thrice daily.

Black pepper too can be easily added in your diet in curries, salads and dressing. A great way to have turmeric and black pepper together is Golden paste.