In some languages, the names of turmeric just mean “yellow root”.

Turmeric was used in Biblical times as a perfume as well as a spice. The earliest record of turmeric comes from an ancient Assyrian herbal in about 600 BC. Some say it came into use in the West  through the sunworshippers of Persia when their supply of saffron ran out. Turmeric held a place of honor in India’s traditional Ayurvedic medicine. A symbol of prosperity, it was considered a cleansing herb for the whole body.

Medically, it was used as a digestive aid and treatment for fever, infections, dysentery, arthritis, and jaundice and other liver problems. In Hindu ceremony it represents fertility. Turmeric boiled with milk and drunk last thing before going to bed is considered to be the best medicine for an irritating dry cough. Traditional Chinese physicians also used turmeric to treat liver and gallbladder problems, stop bleeding, and treat chest congestion and menstrual discomforts.

Turmeric is a choleretic, an agent that stimulates the liver to increase its production of bile. This yellow brown or green fluid helps emulsify fats in your duodenum and increases peristalsis, the rhythmic contractions that move food through your gastrointestinal tract. Turmeric is also a cholagogue, an agent that stimulates the gallbladder and biliary duct to discharge bile and increases your body’s excretion of cholesterol. Turmeric is useful for preventing and treating gallstones, according to Commission E. In one study, mice with experimentally induced gallstones were placed on special feed containing a modest amount of curcumin, and within five weeks their gallstone volume had dropped 45%. After ten weeks they had 80% fewer gallstones than untreated mice. Choleretics and cholagogues are ordinarily beneficial for healthy people but may pose some problems for people with gallbladder or liver disease.

Culinary uses:

Turmeric has a mild, slightly bitter, peppery flavor and aroma that comes from oil of turmeric, which contains pepperyscented, mint-flavored borneol; spicy eucalyptol, which smells like camphor; and the spicy sweet flavoring in ginger. Turmeric reaches the West partly in pure form, which becomes coloring for sauces and syrups, an ingredient of some liqueurs and cheeses; and formerly also of butter an margarine. But its role in ready-made curry powder is the primary one. Turmeric is very sensitive to sunlight and should, like curry powder, be stored in darkness.

Toxicity:

Turmeric’s potential anticlotting effect might cause problems for those with clotting disorders. If you have a blood-clotting problem, discuss this herb’s effect with your physician before using medicinal preparations. Unusually large amounts of turmeric may cause stomach upset.