Bernard O'Shea: Turmeric is a handy way to beat the urge to binge-eat

Don't be tempted to use it to whiten your teeth, though!

Bernard O'Shea. Photograph Moya Nolan

Full disclosure: I wasn’t sure what turmeric was. I didn’t know it was one of the main components of curry powder and I most definitely didn’t know it was a root plant resembling ginger. But never in a thousand years did I think it would change the way I tasted food and, bizarrely, made me “mindfully eat” for the first time in my life.

Turmeric has long been a central part of Ayurveda traditional medicine, which originates from the Indian sub-continent. It was and still is prescribed for its anti-inflammatory properties and aiding digestive issues. Under the microscope of modern-day medicine, it is found to have abundant amounts of “curcumin”.