Natural Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Relief - Adding Turmeric To Your Diet

If you have a chronic pain condition and a degenerative disease like rheumatoid arthritis, then you may have a fairly strict treatment regimen that you need to follow. If your antirheumatic drugs and your antinflammatory medications do not seem to reduce pain as well as they should, then you should start adding some natural pain relievers to your regimen to help control pain. Keep reading to learn about turmeric and how it can help you. 

What Is Turmeric And How Can It Help?

Turmeric is a popular Asian spice that has been used for centuries to add heat, flavor, and color to curry. The spice is often used in a wide range of other foods to add flavor as well, and it can be found in your local supermarket or Asian food store. Turmeric has a bright and unique yellow tone, which is created by an ingredient called curcumin. Curcumin has been shown to reduce inflammation in clinical trials, and it reduces the pain of certain conditions like ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, diabetic neuropathy, and rheumatoid arthritis. It reduces swelling by stopping the body from releasing enzymes that trigger inflammation.

Curcumin may also block the neuron pathways throughout the body that tell the body to release inflammatory chemicals and proteins. This helps to reduce the unnecessary and harmful swelling that occurs around the joints when you have rheumatoid arthritis. Not only can this reduce your pain, but it can also cut down on the amount of cartilage that is damaged around the joints. 

How Can You Add Turmeric To Your Diet?

To add turmeric as a pain reliever and inflammation-reducing supplement, use the spice when cooking. Curcumin will add heat to dishes. The spice does not have a lot of taste, so you can add a tablespoon or more to soups, sauces, marinades, and dressings without noticing a huge difference in taste. You can use the spice as part of a rub for meat as well. Turmeric is also one of the ingredients in mustard, so adding mustard to your hamburgers and hot dogs is a good way to include the spice to your diet. 

You can also create or purchase some South Asian, East Asian, and Indian foods that traditionally contain the spice. Any food dish that contains curry will have turmeric and so will a number of meat dishes. Turmeric is sometimes used to create sweet biscuits and cakes. Look for the telltale yellow color if you want to purchase sweets with the spice.

Are There Other Ways To Add Turmeric To Your Treatment Regimen?

If you do not want to add turmeric to your foods, then you can purchase curcumin and turmeric supplements from your local health food store. You can also create a type of hot drink or tea with the spice. To create the tea, gather some fresh ginger root, honey, turmeric powder, cinnamon, green or black tea bags, and water. Place about four cups of water into a pan and heat it on your stove until it boils. Use a knife to slice up some fresh ginger, and add about one-eighth of a cup of the water. Add in two teaspoons of cinnamon and three teaspooons of turmeric. Allow the mixture to boil for 10 minutes. 

Turn the stove to low heat and add your tea bags. Let the bags sit for about five minutes before removing them. Pour some of the tea in a cup and add about one tablespoon of honey to sweeten the tea. Stir and add a lemon or orange slice to the cup before drinking. You can save the rest of the tea in your refrigerator to enjoy later. You can drink the tea cold or heat it in the microwave to warm it. 

For more information, talk to a pain management specialist.