Turmeric has been used medicinally in South Asia for over 4,000 years, now its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties are being examined to develop treatments for a host of illnesses, from diabetes and cancer to Parkinson’s and heart disease.

In Turmeric Penelope Ody provides an encyclopaedic history of turmeric and its therapeutic role. From its cultivation to its traditional use in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine to its centrality to the Asian diet (along with a wide range of recipes, Ody is always aware that it is as a spice that most people will consume turmeric).

Turmeric has been a traditional herbal remedy for centuries and Penelope Ody investigates its suitability for twenty-first century stresses, separating the hysteria about its benefits from a realistic evaluation into how it can help to improve every reader’s health.