The Tea on Wellness

Unlocking Turmeric: The Right Way to Use It

• Vidya • Season 1 • Episode 5

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Discover how therapeutic turmeric supports wellness, inflammation relief, and gut health in Laguna Beach and Orange County.

Why This Episode Matters
Turmeric is everywhere in Southern California, but most people are not using it in a way that unlocks its real healing potential. Many grocery store turmeric powders are low quality, poorly absorbed, or missing the properties that make this spice so powerful for inflammation, digestion, and daily wellness.

In this episode of The Tea on Wellness, I explain the difference between turmeric that tastes good and turmeric that supports the body in a meaningful way. We talk about how heat, healthy fats, and even a pinch of black pepper can dramatically boost absorption, and why our therapeutic blends became community favorites here in Laguna Beach and Orange County.

If you want turmeric to work for your joints, your gut, or your nervous system, this episode gives you the simple tweaks that actually make a difference.

How Turmeric Works in Real Life
Not all turmeric is the same. The color might look bright, but if the curcumin levels are low or the spice has been sitting on a shelf for years, the benefits will fall flat. That is why so many people try turmeric and feel nothing.

At Tea and Turmeric, we use high quality therapeutic turmeric and pair it with ingredients that help your body absorb it. In this episode, I share family rituals from South India, the kitchen techniques I learned in Kerala, and the blends people in Laguna Beach reach for when they need real support, not just flavor.

What You Will Learn

  • why most grocery store turmeric lacks real healing potential
  • how to boost turmeric absorption using heat, black pepper, and healthy fats
  • the difference between therapeutic turmeric and capsule supplements
  • rituals and recipes loved by Laguna Beach locals
  • why blends like Inflammation Fighter and Golden Milk became community favorites in Orange County

Featured Local Story
Meet Paul, a visitor who stopped into our Laguna Beach shop during a hard season. He tried our therapeutic turmeric blends, felt a shift within weeks, and brought the ritual home to Minnesota. His friends and family began ordering from our Orange County shop after seeing his results, and today his hometown has its own small turmeric community that all began right here in Laguna Beach.

Takeaway
Turmeric becomes truly powerful when you use it with intention and support its absorption. A warm cup made with therapeutic quality turmeric can offer more relief than any supplement when you turn it into a daily ritual your body can rely on.

🔬 Learn more about turmeric research:
•NCCIH: Turmeric
•PubMed: Curcumin and Inflammation
•Examine.com: Turmeric Summary

Call to Action

Ready to bring turmeric’s healing magic into your daily ritual? Visit Tea & Turmeric in Laguna Beach or shop therapeutic blends online, shipped from Orange County to your door.

Stay Connected

Come visit us in Laguna Beach or explore our teas and spices anytime at teaandturmeric.com.

We share recipes, brewing tips, and behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram at @teanturmeric.

Got a question or a story about how tea is helping you? Email me and the team at hello@teaandturmeric.com

If this episode brought you a little calm or clarity, tapping follow and leaving a quick review helps more people in Orange County and beyond find the show. Thank you for supporting our little wellness community.

Introduction

Hello, this is Vidya and this is Episode 5 of The Tea on Wellness, Turmeric’s Healing Power: Wellness Rituals from Laguna Beach.

Why Tea & Turmeric: A Family Tradition

When my sister Kavita and I opened our shop in Laguna Beach, we didn’t have to think about the name. We called it Tea & Turmeric because turmeric has been at the center of our lives for as long as I can remember.

Growing up in a small Eastern Canadian town, our kitchen was its own little world. Outside, snow fell quietly. Inside, my amma amma, my grandmother, hummed as she cooked, the smell of spices warming in ghee, and the golden glow of turmeric on her fingers.

She kept her masala dabba, her spice box, on the counter. The middle compartment was always full of turmeric. That was the heart of everything she made.

If I scraped my knee, she pressed a paste of turmeric and ghee onto it. If my sisters had a stomachache, she warmed milk with turmeric, ginger, and a touch of black pepper. Every dish began with a pinch of that gold.

That’s what turmeric is for me: memory, healing, and connection. That’s why we built our shop around it.

Questions from Visitors

When people walk into Tea & Turmeric now, whether they’re locals or visitors wandering up from the beach, I see that same curiosity.

They’ve heard turmeric is good for inflammation or gut health but aren’t sure where to start. Some say, “I bought turmeric at the grocery store and didn’t feel anything,” or, “Why not just take capsules?”

Not All Turmeric is Equal

The truth is not all turmeric is the same. Most store turmeric has little curcumin, the medicinal compound that gives it power. Much of it is also processed so quickly that it loses what makes it therapeutic.

Our Partnership in India

That’s why we work with a regenerative family farm in northeast India. The Hambakla family has been growing turmeric for generations. They hand-pull each root, wash it gently, dry it under the Himalayan sun, and grind it by hand.

The result is rich, pure, and alive. The turmeric we carry has 8 percent curcumin — almost four times what you find in most stores. You can see it in the deep color, smell it when you open the bag, and feel it when you use it.

Why Capsules May Not Work

Capsules don’t always deliver because turmeric needs help to be absorbed. For it to work, your body has to be able to access the good stuff, not let it pass through.

How to Make Turmeric Bioavailable

There are three keys:

  1.  Black pepper — it boosts absorption by up to 2000%.
  2.  Heat — warming turmeric unlocks its compounds.
  3.  Fat — curcumin binds to fat, which helps carry it deeper.

That’s why we recommend adding black pepper, enjoying turmeric hot, and pairing it with fat. Ghee is our favorite, often called the “elixir of the gods.” Our Sacred Golden Milk already has the perfect balance of these elements in every cup.

Paul’s Healing Journey

One of my favorite stories comes from a visitor named Paul. He came in from Minnesota with a cane, looking tired. He left with our Inflammation Fighter tea and a bag of turmeric.

A month later, we saw online orders pouring in from his town. Someone from his church told us Paul had stood up at Sunday service to share how he was using his cane less and how much turmeric had helped him.

That’s what this work is about. Not just transactions, but ripples of healing.

How to Use Turmeric Daily

You don’t need much — half a teaspoon a day is enough. Stir it into tea, add it to coffee, or enjoy it as golden milk. The key is consistency, making it a ritual.


Our Favorite Blends

We created turmeric teas so you can enjoy them easily:

  •  Inflammation Fighter: warm, grounding, healing
  •  Golden Citrus Ginger: bright and zesty
  •  Turmeric Cider: tastes like autumn in a cup
  •  Turmeric Chai: cozy, spiced, golden glow
  •  Sacred Golden Milk: a recipe passed to me by my guruji, more than just ingredients, it’s ritual and care in every sip

Closing Invitation

I wanted this episode to feel like you were here in Laguna Beach, door open to the ocean breeze, the smell of chai in the air.

Tea & Turmeric is a small, family-run shop in Orange County. We share therapeutic turmeric, sacred golden milk, and turmeric teas with our community. Whether you’re local or just passing through, we’d love for you to stop by or visit us online.

Visit us at teaandturmeric.com

So whether you say toomeric, tamerik, haldi, or turmeric — sip it in tea, stir it into coffee, or enjoy it as golden milk. Just use it. Just half a teaspoon a day.

Here’s to your golden glow, one cup, one ritual, and one spoonful at a time.