Q. I have been adding sliced turmeric roots to my soup in order to potentially help reduce symptoms of my osteoarthritis and reduce the risk for cancer, but I hearing about curcumin and its benefits. Is it better to just take curcumin pills or are there additional benefits to taking turmeric as a whole root. I understand that curcumin is part of the turmeric plant but now confused which one is more important to take.
A. This is a good question. Although curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric, there may be other substances in the turmeric plant that are of benefit in preventing or treating health conditions. Therefore it may be a good idea to take both. See http://www.raysahelian.