I’m sure, if you have Facebook, you are subjected to all sorts of links that Facebook algorithms insert into your feed. I just whizz past all the wrinkle resolvers ( too late I think), most of the Foodie porn things ( I really can’t afford weight wise to drizzle chocolate, cheese and fat, I’m trying to lose that fat).

Anything related to work is wasted on me as I’m not working now. Gadgets just wash over my head, but just on occasions, I do read the health sites.

I started to see multiple posts about turmeric and inflammation.

Fresh turmeric in an Indian market.

Now, I was unlucky enough to end up having a hip replacement operation when i was in my low 50’s. A bone disease, caused by an accident many years earlier, finally surfaced and I spent a few unpleasant years being operated on, grafted into and eventually replaced by titanium in one hip joint.

The new hip is top of the range, no issues once I had built up the slashed musculature but then I started to find that I had all sorts of aches and pains on the other side. Compensatory damage, the docs had warned me warned post-op(s) of the possibility.

Knee pain, shin pain, a bit of hip pain, it all started to happen. I did physio, walked many hundreds of miles down Oman’s beaches, slept on an electric blanket when it’s cold at home in Cyprus, but nagging pains persisted. I wield a stick on occasions, usually in airports, where booking a wheelchair leads you to spend much time worrying whether anyone will turn up to get you to the gate.

So reading one of these wonder root homilies one day, I thought it may be worth a try. I hate taking medication. Anti-inflammatories make me feel unwell, I don’t really like to take pain-killers so I thought well, why not, having read about the downsides (there don’t seem to be too many, but do research it for yourself). In India, hitting the local market I had my guide help to pick out a couple of kilo’s of the fresh root for me

On my recent trip to India, Daya,my guide, picking me an Indian housewife’s selection…

 I also came across this lovely lady, with a yellow tint all over her body. We stopped her to ask her why she was yellow, what did it mean? It turned out she was body dusted with turmeric powder to celebrate her daughter’s forthcoming marriage, you have to just love these traditions.

Since India, the daily morning fruit and greens smoothie now has a little inch of raw turmeric, ginger and cinnamon. And, by god, has it worked for me so far.

Those rheumatic, arthritic aches have disappeared at present. I can do plies, lift my leg really quite high and even have a spring in my step instead of a shuffle. Ok, I can’t wear vertiginous heels anymore ( I really must throw them into the charity bag, but feel like I’m losing my hold on my old hip-swinging walk, need to move on Victoria, hip swinging is really not needed now!)

So just a little share, in case this may help anyone who gets those niggling joint pains.  I’ve really lived with daily pain over the last few years, but right now, thanks to this little root, I’m seeing a brighter side of life, that’s worth putting out I think. A natural helper, I hope it continues, but I will be terribly honest about whether it is working long-term and will keep updating the post as time goes on…

Salient facts about Turmeric (thanks to Wiki)

Turmeric has been used in Asia for thousands of years and is a major part of Siddha medicine. It was first used as a dye, and then later for its medicinal properties.

Turmeric is mostly used in savory dishes but is used in some sweet dishes, such as the cake sfouf. In India, turmeric plant leaf is used to prepare special sweet dishes, patoleo, by layering rice flour and coconut-jaggery mixture on the leaf, then closing and steaming it in a special copper steamer (goa).

Turmeric makes a poor fabric dye, as it is not very light fast, but is commonly used in Indian and Bangladeshi clothing, such as saris and Buddhist monks’s robes.

Claims that curcumin in turmeric may help to reduce inflammation have not been supported by strong studies.

Turmeric or its principal constituent, curcumin, has been studied in small clinical trials in various human diseases and conditions, but the quality of research has not been adequate to allow definitive conclusions.

I’m off travelling again soon and will have to adapt per country. I expect lugging around fresh root could subject me to awkward moments at customs, so possibly a little jar of powdered turmeric may be the best thing to cart around. A link to some ideas here…http://blog.paleohacks.com/37-ways-drink-turmeric/#