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Debbity's avatar

Why not just eat whole turmeric instead of a commercial product?

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Fermented whole turmeric rhizome pieces offer neuroregenerative effects that are several times as potent as raw. It is easy to ferment store bought turmeric rhizome in a salt brine, takes about a week. You just need a mason jar, turmeric, salt and water. The process increases the bioavailability of all of the medicinal compounds present in whole turmeric significantly.

For the more motivated food fermenting enthusiasts, it is worth noting that incorporating both lactic acid bacteria (which is already present on turmeric skin and spontaneously proliferates in a salt brine) as well as "Koji" (Aspergillus oryzae) can nearly double the total Ar-Turmerone content in the whole turmeric. This can be accomplished via either incorporating grinded up whole raw turmeric rhizome into a homemade miso or via fermenting pieces of the turmeric rhizome by itself in Shoyu koji brine.

That said, it is worth re-iterating that even just a basic spontaneous (non-cultured aka "wild") salt brine fermentation without the Koji increases the bioavailability of all medicinal compounds in the turmeric (including Ar-Turmerone).

For more info on the specific health benefits that are unlocked and enhanced via fermenting whole turmeric and how to ferment it at home, read:

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-health-benefits-of-fermented

Also, turmeric is not the only whole food with neuroregenerative properties.

I list several whole foods that contain compounds which initiate increased rates of neurogenesis (and synaptogenesis) in the article linked below:

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/neuroprotective-and-neuroregenerative-foods

Debbity's avatar

Thanks for the link! Excellent well-researched article, and pretty much exactly the way I eat based on my own research. I laughed when I read "wash the dishes like your bathing the baby buddha", as I read that years ago in one of my Thich Nhat Hanh books, and think of it whenever I wash the dishes 😊

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Thanks for reading and for the kind words. Glad you appreciate all the work I put into researching for that article.

And I should note that I did not use generative A.I. for research or writing (the technology is prone to making up totally false information and presenting it in a confident authoritative tone aka “digital hallucinations”).

Glad you noticed the part of my article on mindfulness, it’s important as eating super foods will only get one so far if they are allowing psychological toxins into the heart and mind.

Alamo Dude's avatar

Indians routinely make fermented Turmeric “pickles” to eat with curries. Easy recipes on line. Add nice organic black pepper corns to increase curmunin uptake.

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Yes indeed, I have several Indian friends and we grow our own turmeric in pots here in Canada so I work with those recipes often.

I include black pepper corns in my recipe linked above for that reason :) and I typically eat with a spoonful of cannabis (aka “hemp”) seeds or coconut oil as the medicinal compounds have more bioavailability when taken with good fats.

I also include fresh whole turmeric rhizome in other fermented recipes inspired by different cultures in my book (such as my “Golden Dragon Chi” and “7 Fold Flame Sriracha”).

Golden Dragon Chi (a bright orange kimchi recipe):

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/golden-dragon-chi

7 Fold Flame Sriracha (a potent medicinal grade raw fermented hot sauce) :

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/7-fold-flame-sriracha

Alamo Dude's avatar

The whole roots are easy to grow yes. Even make a nice addition of annual bulb green to flower gardens. I get mine to plant at various groceries, smaller Indian, or Kroger, Whole Foods or a Fiesta.

Enjoy.

ModelYManiac's avatar

He mentions that also after the product is described, adding turmeric to things you eat daily, etc. Presumably the purpose of the product is to bundle a few different brain enhancements together for potentially a more comprehensive brain benefit, but often sensitive people will need to try things one at a time.

Holistic Chef Barry Anderson's avatar

If you can buy a whole organic turmeric root with black pepper and ginger root .Can make Golden milk in your glass blender using coconut yogart a bit of raw honey, or a date and tamarind together.

Kav's avatar

Indian families grow up eating turmeric everyday because of all its good properties

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Nice combo!

I find that fresh turmeric rhizome also works beautifully in Laotian recipes.

Here is one example:

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/vegetarian-khao-poon-a-recipe-from

Alamo Dude's avatar

Black Pepper increases the uptake of Curcumin in Turmeric,

nickels's avatar

This is exciting news!

Gas Axe's avatar

I have been growing organic turmeric, ginger and pepper corns for over 15 years. My wife son and I have taken a refrigerated tea 15 years now.

Start slow as it also acts as a cleansing.

I recommend most take on once shooter glass and over a period of months work their way up maybe too a maximum of 2 ounces. Always after food. We take it after fired egg breakfast.

Im not sure as I was reading fast tonight but turmeric has bioluminescence properties.

Combined with sunlight it gives off energy. It glows under UV light. I discovered this well cleaning it and for some reason that night started playing with a UV flash light I had on the counter. According to some people that hold PhD status on SS the UV activated properties are very strong and positive.

Don't hesitate to incorporate this into your diet. I once had a recipe posted here but decided to delete it. I am not a doctor or medical professional.

Try to get organic. IMO most of it is organic. It has no natural pest other than the odd bug that nibbles on the roots. It is a very easy crop to grow.

My wife and I still hand out 1 liter rum bottles of this every week. Probably 30 liters a month.

We don't charge as it is medicine.

Final note: Many of our mRNA injectioned neighbors have found it helped them.

I dropped more off tonight to be handed out and picked up.

nickels's avatar

Is it true that one should not take ashwagandha for long periods and if so then one should take a break from this too correct? Am I wrong in this thinking? Perhaps it’s safe in small doses as you referenced in your article it’s the quantity that matters whether harmful or not.

Former UK resident's avatar

I know an unjabbed person who would take Turmeric regularly (plus organic food, plant based diet so on so forth) but she had a stroke and affected her speech and mobility. Ended up getting stem cell therapy so on so forth.

I don't know how much of the stuff she was taking daily tho.

nickels's avatar

I believe that it is doing something good and you just might not feel it. We don’t always notice. My question is that I think you should take it for a bit, two months on, stop for a while then go back. Not sure the time frames but I do think it’s important to know. Sayer said it was a synergistic blend so that might make all the difference. Better together than alone. And the dose is also key.

Brigunath's avatar

I took organic ashwagandha together with other Ayurvedic herbs for six months as a hypothyroid remedy, but couldn’t sense any noticeable benefit

Big Foxy's avatar

Dr, Abravanel's Body Type Diet and Lifetime Nutrition Plan book prescribes a specific diet for T-Type people with weak adrenals and the thyroid being the stronger gland. He also recommends strengthening the adrenals and thyroid function will recover. Foods with cholesterol, especially eggs, are used by the adrenals to make hormones. The thyroid gland heats the body (metabolism) and the adrenals secrete 50+ hormones including aldosterone to cool the body by maintaining sodium/potassium balance and sweating. The body has its own wisdom and they work in tandem. If one doesn't work well the other won't either as the body won't heat itself if it can't cool itself well.

I had Addison's disease and very low thyroid function and went to Traditional Chinese Medicine classes and used rehmannia formulas from Dragon Herbs to get better. Rehmannia 6 is a standard kidney formula for people as they age. Adrenals (on top of kidneys) produce sex hormones and are supposed to take over producing estrogen for ovaries. The "Dr. Otter diagnosis", my cat licking the salt off my legs after playing tennis, told me I had something wrong with my adrenals producing aldosterone that makes the body retain sodium. Migraines were the other symptom because blood pressure and sodium/potassium balance affect cardiovascular and blood vessel functioning to which the brain is very sensitive. Adrenals are also part of the body's defense system to mobilize the body's defenses when it's threatened in any way (foods, perfumes, gas, stress, people, etc.) and secrete cortisol for food processing (pancreas produces insulin in conjunction). A high glycemic diet and all these stresses affect the production of aldosterone resulting in migraines. AMA doctors refer to them as neurovascular events and just prescribe pain killlers.

An AI search for strengthening adrenals recommended ashwagandha or rehmannia, which surprised me so it wasn't programmed with AMA remedies only, but I've had success also using ayurvedic formulas from Banyan and Ayush for adrenals and Pitta conditions. Yes, I took them all at the same time as the TCM formulas because I was really sick and the formulas are balanced to mitigate ill effects.

LongeviMed's avatar

This is a really intriguing piece, especially the emphasis on whole turmeric as an “ecosystem input” rather than curcumin as a single magic molecule.

What resonates (and feels biologically plausible) is the idea that turmeric’s effects may be mediated less by “high blood levels of curcumin” and more by local gut interactions, including microbial metabolism, bile acid signaling, barrier integrity, and immune tone in the intestinal lining. That helps explain why some people report meaningful GI/systemic changes from culinary amounts even though isolated curcumin has famously poor bioavailability.

I also appreciate that your framing pushes readers away from supplement absolutism. “Regeneration” is a big word, and the most defensible version is probably: turmeric can support a pro-repair milieu (anti-inflammatory signaling, antioxidant pathways, microbiome shifts) that may help the gut do what it’s already designed to do, especially when paired with the bigger levers (fiber diversity, sleep, stress downshifting, and reducing ultra-processed intake).

One practical nuance I’d add for readers: turmeric is generally safe in food amounts, but concentrated supplements are a different category; GI upset is common, and there are real considerations for people on anticoagulants/antiplatelets, those with gallbladder issues, or anyone stacking multiple “anti-inflammatory” botanicals.

Overall, I like the direction of this: less “one compound cures,” more “a plant changes the terrain.” That’s the kind of integrative framing that stays inspiring without outrunning evidence.

Djenefer's avatar

I put this in my sourdough bread as it rises, just a tiny bit every time.

With a tiny bit of finely crushed pepper (or not).

Earnest Funship's avatar

Thanks! I gotta eat more turmeric!

Elle's avatar

Yes! Curry for dinner tonight! Yum

Holistic Chef Barry Anderson's avatar

Barry Anderson

3:41 PM (0 minutes ago)

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Barry Anderson

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Please watch the video here for you to see and learn what horrific treatments Western mainstream medicine is dishing out.

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3 months ago

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3 months ago

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Greg Hill's avatar

I've found a lot of ways to add whole organic powdered turmeric into my diet on a regular basis. I always combine it with whole organic powered ginger. (For example, whenever I have a serving of cottage cheese I always add a generous sprinkling of both, along with some fresh-ground organic black pepper and fresh-pressed organic garlic.) I've long been wondering (1) whether there is any kind of synergistic effect between the nutrients in turmeric and ginger when combined, just as there is with turmeric and black pepper; and (2) if there are any special nutrients in the whole fresh turmeric and ginger roots that get diminished or lost entirely by the powdering process.

Eric Whitney's avatar

I had been tracking the curcumin bioavailability literature for years and assumed the whole-rhizome argument was mostly a philosophical preference rather than a mechanistically distinct claim. The ar-turmerone data reorganized that for me — a fat-soluble sesquiterpenoid driving neural stem cell proliferation with preferential neuronal differentiation is a fundamentally different pathway than curcumin's anti-inflammatory signaling. What I appreciate here is that you're not just arguing for whole-plant complexity in the abstract, you're naming the specific compound that the reductionist lens missed and showing its dual action. The in vivo data used intracerebroventricular injection, which bypasses the blood-brain barrier entirely. Do you know of any work exploring whether oral consumption of whole turmeric achieves sufficient ar-turmerone concentrations in the SVZ or hippocampus to replicate what Rueger's team saw with direct CNS delivery?

A Man of Kent's avatar

We are launching Postbiotic fermented Bhutanese turmeric that will change the perception of turmeric yet again. This might be of interest to you. www.thepostbioticcompany.co.uk

Michael LeVesque's avatar

Thanks Sayer for the excellent article. It was always curious to me that science would ever come up with the idea that brain cells could never regenerate. It appears there are many mistaken conclusions.

It is curious that biologists saw there was a particular area of the brain where songs are produced in the brains of birds. Once mating season ended the cells died. The next season new cells developed and a new song was sung. Perhaps demonstrating no one wanted to hear the same old tune.

Sol Hijau's avatar

What about authism? Any links there?

Laura T 💉 RN BSN's avatar

What if turmeric has lead? I’m all for turmeric if it’s free of toxins

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Grow your own at home in soil you made your self via composting and then you can know for sure it is not adulterated with lead containing coloring agents.

I live in Canada and I grow our own in pots so almost anyone can do it.

For into on cultivating your own at home:

https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/the-health-benefits-of-fermented?r=q2yay&selection=e0280759-b606-4e66-b1e1-0d4de09980e6&utm_campaign=post-share-selection&utm_medium=web&aspectRatio=instagram&textColor=%23ffffff&bgImage=true

Laura T 💉 RN BSN's avatar

Your still not answering my concern. We accept its safe but did you test it?

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

Being concerned that turmeric you grew at home in soil you created yourself is contaminated with lead is irrational.

The lead that has been found in turmeric in unsafe levels is due to intentional adulteration with colouring agents that contain lead.

If you are not dying your own turmeric with lead based colouring agents it would be silly to be concerned that it magically has lead in it.

Be careful not to get manipulated by psyops put out by either corporations profiting from needless lab testing or big pharma psyops attempting to make you afraid of natural medicines with fear mongering posts.

Laura T 💉 RN BSN's avatar

No its not coloring agents its in the soil. I am just saying we cannot “claim” things are safe if there is no testing. I love turmeric and agree with you, but we cannot claim its “safe” if there is no testing

Gavin Mounsey's avatar

You have been misinformed. Turmeric does not hyperaccumulate lead from normal soils, it would only be contaminated if the soil was contaminated with unusually high levels of lead.

I work in regenerative soil science Laura, I am certified in soil microscopy and have access to Mass Spec gear, so I know what is in soil.

Most natural soil has a background lead content of approx 16 ppm. So even if someone did not make their own compost and just used store bought organic potting soil or even soil from their yard, Turmeric is not going to gather enough lead to pose any kind of health risk.

Can you provide any evidence to support your claims, or are you just here spreading vague fears and doubt?

Laura T 💉 RN BSN's avatar

No— vague fears but I am so sick of someone telling us its safe and it’s not. I work in Regulatory we know what substances something is made from or grown in. I am an avid gardener all I am saying is our soils are contaminated. I know people who test everyday products and its full of lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. Cinnamin is full of lead. I love healthy foods and love turmeric and all spices, but I am sorry these plants absorb toxic metals. Sad to say that is the state we are in.