Golden Paste Starter Kit with Ceylon Cinnamon
Your Golden Paste Starter kit contains a generous amount of cold-pressed coconut or olive oil, turmeric powder, freshly ground black pepper and Ceylon cinnamon, enough to make one batch of the Golden Paste. You provide a glass jar in which to store the paste. If you're happy with the results of using the paste (and we're sure you will be), you can order one of the six-batch kits, or purchase the ingredients (turmeric, pepper, cinnamon and coconut oil) separately. You can also find coconut oil in most grocery stores, though we think the organic unrefined coconut oil in our kits is of superior quality. Good quality olive oil is also widely available if you prefer to use that.
All kits come with a fully illustrated color instruction sheet with the golden paste recipe and directions for use.
Add your golden paste to any savory foods, such as pasta and rice dishes, scrambled eggs, potato and egg salads and others. You may also like it in fruit or vegetable smoothies, coffee, tea, cocoa or masala chai.
Most dogs and cats will accept golden paste readily as long as you start off with very small amounts. Mix into their kibble and/or wet food, add to yogurt, tuna fish or other treats, or try this recipe from the Facebook Turmeric User Group (this is great for people too!)
1 1/4 cup uncooked flaked oats
1/2 cup peanut butter (no xylitol or sugar)
1/8 cup water
70 quarter teaspoons (6 tablespoons) of golden paste
Mix together thoroughly, measure into 70 portions, roll into balls and freeze. Each piece will contain about 1/4 teaspoon of GP.
If you have trouble getting 70 identical pieces, you can try spreading the mixture out in a shallow baking pan and score it in a 7x10 grid. Or if you're really OCD, lol, you could weigh your total mixture, divide that weight by 70, and then weigh the individual balls as you roll them out.
Remove each portion from freezer as needed, and allow to sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.
Diane Krall, an admin in the Facebook Turmeric User Group, suggests adding shredded coconut, hemp hearts, apple cider vinegar, or any other ingredients that your pet (or you) would like.
We're often asked by turmeric needs to be cooked, or why it should be combined with black pepper and an oil. So here is some information from the golden paste recipe page about both of those topics.
Why add oil and pepper to turmeric?
The active compounds in turmeric will not dissolve in water, or water-based fluids like stomach acids. If they are not consumed with some source of fat, most will simply pass on through the intestinal system and be eliminated. So we add an oil or fat when making golden paste. Golden paste can be made with any species-appropriate fat. Ghee is a traditional fat in northern India, whereas an oil is more widely used in the south. Combining turmeric with an oil or fat allows its active components to be absorbed from the small intestine into the bloodstream where it can be transported to all the organs of the body. Many recipes online state that you must use coconut oil. This is not the case, and Dr. English (who developed the golden paste recipe) never made that claim. We do recommend not using inflammatory fat sources such as generic 'vegetable oil,' canola or soybean oils. The reason is twofold: first, they have a poor balance of omega 3 to omega 6 fatty acids (heavily weighted toward omega 6), and second, they are nearly always grown with a heavy use of pesticides. There are sources of organic soybean and canola oil, but they still are less healthy than coconut, olive or flax oils.The reason we add pepper is that curcumin (the primary active ingredient in turmeric) is converted rapidly into a form that is not as beneficial. This begins in the small intestine before the curcumin ever gets into the bloodstream. Piperine (the main active ingredient in black pepper) slows down that conversion so more curcumin is available to enter the bloodstream. It also slows curcumin's metabolism in the liver, allowing it to stay active in the body longer. In addition, piperine helps to expand the so-called 'brush border' of the intestinal lining. This is an extremely tiny layer of cells, so small that they can be visualized only under an electron microscope. When they expand, the small intestine's surface area is significantly increased so that more of turmeric's active compounds can be absorbed.
Why does the Golden Paste have to be cooked?
Like other foods with soluble starches, turmeric is not particularly digestible before it's cooked (think rice or tapioca or grits). The starches in turmeric dissolve in water at the boiling point (which is why the recipe says to bring the turmeric/water mixture to a boil). When 'gelatinized' by this process, they break down very quickly in the stomach and small intestine, to release the curcumin and other active compounds. While it's possible to have some benefit from plain turmeric powder, many people have tried both methods, and find that when using the cooked golden paste, much less turmeric is needed for the same results.Another important point about cooked vs uncooked turmeric powder is that some companies have begun marketing 'raw' turmeric powder, claiming that raw is always best. This simply isn't true in regard to turmeric, however. Completely raw turmeric (or powder that's made from it) is very poorly broken down in the intestinal tract. Without that step, the active compounds aren't available before the digestive system moves the turmeric on out of the small intestine. Fat-soluble compounds are not absorbed from the large intestine. So the user gets minimal benefit, if any at all. Traditionally processed turmeric is simmered for around 45 minutes before it's dehydrated and milled into powder. This step breaks down the starches and allows them to absorb water and form a gel. During dehydration, the rigid matrix of those starches partially re-forms. But it can then be broken down (digested) again with only a short period of cooking (thus the 7-10 minute cooking time in the golden paste recipe). If the turmeric powder you are using is labeled as 'raw,' or the website or Amazon listing states that it's raw, it needs to be cooked for at least 30 minutes, rather than the usual 7-10 minutes. You may need to add more water to maintain the desired consistency.
The turmeric powder from New Naturals is traditionally processed, and does not need any additional cooking time.
Can you put Golden Paste in capsules?
Yes and no. The moisture in the Golden Paste will dissolve both gelatin and vegetable capsules. So it isn't feasible to make capsules with a water-based mixture unless you do one of two things. You can fill a capsule and swallow it immediately before it begins to dissolve. Or you can fill a few capsules and pop them straight into the freezer. But you can also put capsule-sized blobs of the paste on a cookie sheet or plate, and freeze them without filling capsules. Some people freeze Golden Paste in the little trays that other pills come in, and some purchase silicone candy molds and fill those with pill-sized portions of Golden Paste. Feel free to come up with your own variation!How long does Golden Paste keep?
Golden Paste must be refrigerated, and will keep for approximately two to three weeks in the fridge. If you think you won't use it up by then, you can freeze it in small containers that will hold enough for a week or two. Or follow the suggestions above and freeze in portion size drops or in a mold.Great value! $14.95