Unless you’ve been living in a scientific research bubble at the bottom of the sea for the last several years, you know turmeric is important for your health. You also know that you should eat it with black pepper, which aids its absorption. But … should you?

New research is calling into question the long-accepted idea that black pepper is a necessary sidekick for the proper use of turmeric. Now the experts are posing queries such as: Is black pepper really necessary to get all that goodness from turmeric? What about when you want to drink a smoothie, or some tea or a few sweet wellness blasts … you know, flavors that would be pretty much destroyed with a spicy kick better reserved for curry?

Let’s examine these questions, and figure out what role, exactly, pepper should play in the grand turmeric plan.

Powdered Turmeric: A Disappointment on Its Own

Many people make the mistake of hearing turmeric is great for your health and can fight cancer, then tripping happily down to the grocery store and buying the powdered stuff. Unfortunately, you can add it to your smoothies and almond milk all you like, and it’s not going to help you much without something to aid in the absorption of the active compounds.

The main compound of note in turmeric is curcumin. Your body, however, can’t absorb curcumin on its own; it just passes through your system. That means no matter how much money you spend and how faithfully you incorporate powdered turmeric into your meals, it still does a whole lot of Not Much if taken by itself. (1)

That’s where black pepper comes in.

Beyond the Black

Human studies demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that black pepper boosts the benefits of turmeric quite a lot. According to some research, the spike may be as much as 2,000 percent. (2)

That’s impressive, but it leads to one inevitable conclusion: You have to consume the two spices together. Or at least, within 2-3 hours after consuming pepper, and only in that order: pepper first, turmeric second. (3) You must also use black pepper only; its active compound, piperine, is what encourages turmeric absorption. The compound in cayenne, capsaicin, does not have the same effects (although it is extremely good for you).

Beyond the obvious inconvenience of either eating turmeric with pepper or within a short timespan after, there’s another problem: The pepper has to be freshly ground, or it loses its effectiveness. So spice shakers of turmeric and black pepper do little to nothing. Sigh. If you really want to get the benefits of turmeric each and every time, what should you do?

The Raw Route

This is where we get down to the numbers. According to Turmeric for Health, raw turmeric contains roughly the same amount of curcumin as the equivalent weight powdered … even though powdered doesn’t include any of the water weight. Most likely this is because there is such a higher percentage of curcumin. Also, you don’t need any pepper in raw turmeric because oil is nearly as effective an absorption aid, and raw turmeric is 6-9 percent oil. The takeaway? Raw turmeric completely obviates the need to mess with piperine altogether. Neat, right?

That’s why we always use raw turmeric so that you can count on getting that boost of curcumin goodness in every wellness blast and on every juice cleanse. Unlike other turmeric providers, we neatly avoid the issues with black pepper and rely on the fresh, wholesome turmeric oil itself to boost your health. Plus, we put more turmeric by volume into every bottle than we’ve ever seen in competing products. It’s a win-win … win.

So today, do something good for your body and opt for the raw version of turmeric. Quit messing with powders and spice mixes, and just do what’s easy. Do what you know is good for you. And enjoy the benefits throughout your long life.

SOURCES

(1) Dempe J., et al. (2013, September). Metabolism and permeability of curcumin in cultured Caco-2 cells. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 57. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22930441

(2) Shoba G., et al. (1998, May). Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Medica, 64. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120

(3) Turmeric for Health. (2016). Best time to take black pepper for max turmeric absorption?Retrieved from https://www.turmericforhealth.com/turmeric-queries/best-time-to-take-black-pepper-for-max-turmeric-absorption

Introducing TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN, the juice you’ve been waiting for! 

… Assuming you were waiting for a sweet and spicy, health-boosting option that makes use of one of the finest products coming out of South Pacific right now: Manuka honey.

To be more specific, we get our Manuka honey exclusively from New Zealand. Every batch is registered and certified, much like Bordeaux wines, and is highly sought-after by enthusiasts around the world. For good reason: Not only does Manuka taste marvelous, it strikes a major blow in favor of your health. 

Let’s take a quick scientific detour into why Manuka honey is such a good idea. In a nutshell, it contains high concentrations of methylglyoxal, a compound naturally produced in the human body as a result of your everyday metabolism. This compound has strong antimicrobial properties, keeping the bad bacteria out of your system and paving the way for the good guys to flourish.
This is important, considering the fact that every human body is less one organism and more a giant collection of microorganisms. According to recently revised estimates published in the Journal of PLOS Biology, the ratio of human body cells to bacteria is about 1:1. (1) 

Another PLOS study is quick to clarify that the antibacterial properties aren’t merely a result of peroxide activity in the honey, although such compounds also inhibit bacterial growth. The problem with peroxide, though useful, is that it breaks down in oxygen and water quite quickly in the body, effectively neutralizing it.

But, the study’s authors point out, “Australian Leptospermum honeys have potential for therapeutic use as antibacterial agents as they possess a stable, non-peroxide antibacterial activity derived primarily from their phytochemical constituents.” (2) In other words, Manuka honey carries benefits that don’t dissipate as soon as you swallow it. And because it’s composed of compounds that already exist in your body, it acts in the same way, protecting your microbial friends and trouncing the interlopers.

Moreover, the higher the rating, the more of that awesome non-peroxide goodness you’ve got going on. That’s why, on a scale that ranges from 1 to 10+, we opt for the latter every time. We’re not just saying we care about giving you the best; we’re actually doing it.

Of course, there’s more to this crackalackin’ juice than the honey. We also use trusty standards turmeric, ginger and black pepper as well as alkalizing lemon juice, nutritious coconut water and sea salt. 

Bottom line? TAKE THE HONEY AND RUN is delicious … and quite literally in a class of its own.

1. Sender, R., et al. (2016, August). Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body. PLOS Biology, 14. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533. 
2. Cokcetin, N., et al. (2016, December). The antibacterial activity of Australian Leptospermum honey correlates with methylglyoxal levels. PLOS One. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167780