# Why should you add pepper to Turmeric??



## Morgan123 (11 February 2015)

Just wondering about this, as all the word-of-mouth advice on turmeric includes very authoritative people saying 'you must feed pepper and oil with turmeric to enable the piperine to be absorbed'. 
However, has anyone seen any ACTUAL scientific studies that show this?! I couldn't find any - though I can find plenty of people who recommend it and insist it's necessary. Any thoughts?


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## alsxx (11 February 2015)

I don't add pepper, although they get linseed in their feed and one has added oil, and I see a difference for the better!

In fact, my oldie is so 'mobile' on his added turmeric that I simply dread to think what he'd be like if adding pepper were to further enhance the already good response I see! He'd be jumping the moon!


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## Morgan123 (11 February 2015)

Haha. I haven't added pepper either but have still noticed a difference in my ancient mare (though I was very sceptical). But just interested in why people do?!


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## Exploding Chestnuts (11 February 2015)

How much is added,  do people buy in bulk, how do we know it works?


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (11 February 2015)

Mmmm I've wondered about this one too........

If you go onto Facebook, there's a "Turmeric User Group" on there and they will give you the EXACT science behind it all; apparently its all to do with the way Turmeric is absorbed - it works best with Black Pepper and an oil, they recommend Coconut Oil, added. I think there's a vet on there who can give advice too. The group is based in Australia but a lot of people from the UK are on it.

I haven't tried it yet, either for myself or my horses. The "Golden Paste" as they describe it, is by many devotees' descriptions, disgusting, and I'm not sure I'm Wommaned Up enough to try it yet. 

A lot of people on the FB page swear by the stuff; which (unfortunately, its the way my brain works) makes me a tad cynical if I'm honest. 

However, if it works for the majority, I'm convinced that it does have some merit. Will try it one day when have plucked up the courage. 

Deffo worth a look at the FB page though if you're considering it. 

Here is the link, hope it works:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/415313751866609/


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## Exploding Chestnuts (11 February 2015)

ty, no just generally interested to be honest, it should work in humans I expect


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## joosie (11 February 2015)

I've been feeding turmeric for over a year - to a couple of arthritic veterans who live out, a showjumper with stiff knees, and another with shivers - and it's made a noticeable difference to all of them, plus I have given them a break from it several times and always when they go back on it their suppleness improves again. So to me it is working well! I do feed it with oil - but just bog-standard sunflower oil, to help stick the powder to the feed as it were, and have never added pepper. It works fine without, so personally I don't think it's necessary.


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## sonjafoers (12 February 2015)

My 16  year old mare was diagnosed with arthritis in the hocks and one pastern joint and was initially put onto 2 bute a day which I reduced to one and had her on that for about 18 months. Increasingly concerned about what harm it may be doing her I finally decided in January to try taking her off it at least for a break if not permanently and I put her onto an anti inflammatory supplement which is made of turmeric and boswelia. It is working wonders and she is no worse for being off the bute, and then on mooching about online I started reading about adding pepper to turmeric for it to work. I spoke to the manufacturers of my supplement and asked if I should add pepper to it but they said no it is not necessary and it may also be an irritant to the stomach lining.


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## serenityjane (12 February 2015)

As a natural cynic I too have giggled when hearing about the 'black pepper, and oil necessities- and it can't be just bog-standard crushed black pepper, you have to buy the peppercorns and grind it immediately before feeding'. I have fed turmeric and it appears to work well as a natural painkiller and the horses also really like it. I do think that the black pepper and coconut oil thing has been created by the many people who like to be martyrs to their animals, and cannot just shove something in a bucket on a cold frosty morning, but it has to be lovingly selected, hand polished, and creatively prepared.
I would be interested to see any scientific evidence of turmeric use, with and without black pepper- crushed or hand ground, as compared to not using turmeric at all or perhaps even other non prescription remedies.


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## Morgan123 (12 February 2015)

OK glad it's not just me!! 
It does worry me how many people do these things blindly. E.g. pepole saying 'well it's herbal so it can't do any harm'. Arsenic is also herbal....

Anyway - I have seen a few half decent looking studies showing Turmeric to be beneficial, including in horses, but none of them seemed to mention pepper so was just wondering if I was missing something.


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## Morgan123 (12 February 2015)

Bonkers2 said:



			How much is added,  do people buy in bulk, how do we know it works?
		
Click to expand...

 That's exactly my point, I don't think there are any studies that DO show it working with pepper and not without, I was just wondering if others knew of any. There are studies suggesting turmeric has an effect but they don't mention pepper.
Turmeric users always say 'feed 8-10 twists of freshly ground black pepper with your turmeric because the piperine in the pepper helps the absorption of the curcumin' but there's no evidence (that i can see) for this. Many feed companies such as global herbs sell turmeric with pepper in it too, but then this goes against the idea it's meant to be freshly ground anyway....

Anyway - I think I'm just going to continue without the pepper, was just interested in whether anyone else knew of other studies about this.


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## skint1 (12 February 2015)

I personally haven't seen any kind of strictly measured peer reviewed type study to prove or disprove the benefits of turmeric, or establish definitively how it should be administered but I do give it to 2 of my horses in a very unscientific manner. 

I just put a a scoop each in their feed with a twist of pepper and a bit of oil, sometimes veggie oil, sometimes linseed, sometimes even virgin olive.  I can't say it's done much for my gelding but who knows-he might be that much worse without it.  However, it does seem to have a positive effect on my mare, she's feeling rather well


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## lucylockett (12 February 2015)

Below may be of interest. Email from Dr David Marlin www.davidmarlin.co.uk
when we asked questions re Turmeric:
Published studies have shown that the bioavailability (essentially the amount of a substance taken up into the body from the gastro-intestinal tract) of curcumin from turmeric is very low in human subjects and is significantly enhanced by the addition of piperine, an alkaloid found in black pepper. In contrast, studies in animals have shown a significantly greater capacity for uptake of curcumin than in people and the enhancement in uptake in animals by piperine is only around 1/10th of that in human subjects. Other animal studies have indicated over 60% of curcumin administered is taken up. These studies were also undertaken without the use of oils or emulsions. Thus, on the basis of this research we do not consider that it is necessary to add black pepper or piperine or oils to enhance uptake of curcumin in horses. With respect to the curcumin content, In studies, pure turmeric has been shown to have an average curcumin content of 3.14% (Tayyem et al., Nutr. Cancer. 2006).


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## Morgan123 (12 February 2015)

Awesome, v interesting thank you.


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## Penny Less (14 February 2015)

just posted on another part of forum asking where you get your turmeric from ? Tried two supermarkets no luck, don't want to bulk buy until I see if horses will eat it .


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## Bertolie (14 February 2015)

Replied on your other thread but I get mine from Morrisons £1.39 for 400g


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## LittleGinger (15 February 2015)

I buy mine from Amazon - £12 for 5kg. Lasts a very long time!
Ginger has oil anyway in his feed and I did add pepper initially, but then I ran out (well... I knocked the jar over) and didn't use any for a few days - as I didn't notice any difference I didn't bother replacing it.


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## Maesfen (15 February 2015)

Interesting.  
I've been feeding turmeric (with the black pepper!) to Rowan as he came with some sweet itch, he also has micro linseed and brewers yeast.  His skin has improved a lot, his mane is growing back slowly but I can't say whether it's from the turmeric or the linseed and BY and I'm not inclined to stop feeding either until I run out (who on earth needs that much turmeric in the house as I don't use it much in cooking?!)  I bought both turmeric and BY from pro earth on ebay and am only halfway down the first bag of turmeric as I didn't realise how little you actually use, lol! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TURMERIC-...Detoxification-Digestive-Health-/281597881335


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