Americans need to spice up their lives with a gift from the east—turmeric. This spice is slightly bitter if you use more than a pinch, but it is well worth adding to your meals.

My daughter left her asthma spacer at a friend's house, then she lost the asthma inhaler and then, during the holiday excitement, I did not have any time to look for it. As a result, she started to go into the asthmatic tailspin, which always ends with a prescription for antibiotics. We kept her home for a day hoping to save her, but it did not look good.

As an experiment, I added turmeric to her diet. I sprinkled her sandwich with turmeric and added it to our goat and chick pea soup for dinner. Surprise! Despite the fact that she had only had four breathing treatments over four days, she improved. She is now out of danger. No wheezing and what is even better, no antibiotics, which kills all the good bacteria each time, which weakens the immune system. Thank God!

In my case, over the holidays, I stepped on a piece of glass. This may not be a problem for most people, but since I am pre-diabetic, it turns into a skin infection that lasts for 2 weeks. Because the guests were about to arrive, I took a Band-Aid and sprinkled turmeric on it.

After three days, I noticed glass in my heel during my treadmill workout. To my surprise, the wound had healed completely (no pun intended) and the glass fell out of my foot! This speed healing is like no other.

If you have high blood pressure, turmeric will not bring down your blood pressure, but it will help keep your arteries clean and prevent them from hardening.

Save yourself some money. Walmart is not the place to shop for turmeric. McCormick's 400-gram brand costs $7 to $10. Find a Pakistani, Indian or Asian store, where you can buy it in bulk for $4.

You can sprinkle it in rice, soups or stews, but if your family protests, you can always drink it with a cup of milk, but add a little pepper because it allows your body to absorb it.

In fact, there are so many good qualities about this spice that it is difficult to mention them all here. It can help expectorate phlegm and reduce swelling from sinus congestion, so it is also helpful to anyone suffering from allergies.

Try a turmeric bath if you have inflammation or skin problems. It will heal your skin and may reduce swelling in the case of arthritis. Even Dr. Oz recommends it.

So if you have allergies, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure or arthritis, give this super spice a try. Americans should adopt it and make it their own. It could save everyone on unnecessary healthcare expenses.