Ground Turmeric

Food · Vegetable · Food, Typed Supps

The spice behind curry’s color, best known for a compound your body has a hard time absorbing on its own.

Stage by stage

Intake (Compounds released by heat & chewing): Cooking and chewing release curcumin and other curcuminoids from the root powder.
Stomach (Mixed into digestion): Turmeric moves through with the rest of the meal; little curcumin is absorbed at this stage.
Small intestine (Limited absorption): Curcumin is poorly absorbed on its own — piperine (black pepper) and dietary fat substantially improve uptake here.
Bloodstream & tissues (Antioxidant activity): Absorbed curcumin acts as an antioxidant in tissues before being cleared by the liver.

Timing

Cook it into a dish with black pepper and some fat — both meaningfully improve curcumin absorption.

Time to effect

Weeks to months: Research on curcumin’s effects generally uses daily, standardized doses sustained over weeks to months.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Environmental footprint

0.5 kg CO2e and 108 litres of freshwater per kg, matched to "Other vegetables" in Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science 360.

Cost band

Pricey — roughly £18 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Curcumin (polyphenol)
Iron (non-heme)
Potassium
Vitamin B6

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 291.3
Protein: 9.7g
Carbohydrate: 44.4g
of which sugars: 3.2g
Fat: 3.2g
of which saturated: 1.9g
Fibre: 22.7g
Sodium: 27mg

Food vs. supplement

Turmeric’s iron content looks high per 100g, but a real serving is a teaspoon or two, so it’s a minor iron source in practice. The bigger story is curcumin: concentrated supplements, especially those paired with piperine, deliver far more than a spoonful of the spice cooked into food.

Kitchen tip

Cook turmeric into the dish with black pepper and some oil rather than sprinkling it raw — both measurably help curcumin absorb.

Common myth

"Turmeric alone works just as well as a curcumin supplement." In reality: Curcumin is poorly absorbed on its own. Pairing turmeric with black pepper’s piperine measurably increases absorption — a pinch of turmeric without pepper or fat does far less than the same amount cooked properly.