Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Turmeric and healing

Sometimes called “the Indian solid gold”, with properties that help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and common types of cancer, turmeric is fast becoming a superstar spice.
Turmeric gets its bright yellow pigment from an ingredient called curcumin, which is the essential part that gives turmeric its Alzheimer’s and cancer fighting power.
This spice originates from tropical South Asia, and is extremely popular in India. Studies have shown that the cancer and Alzheimer’s rates in India is 10-20 times less than that of Americans.
 So why is this spice so “super?”  The orange root of the turmeric plant contains polyphenol compounds called circuminoids.
Ciruminoids have extremely strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which are the properties that fight Alzheimer’s and common cancer.
 They have been shown to decrease brain tumor size in animals by 81 percent in more than 9 studies.
Researchers at UCLA have even found that curcumin is able to block cancer growth.
 The spice has also been shown to help prevent breast cancer. Curcumin has been found to possess properties that reduce the expression of deadly molecules within cancer cells, and can potentially slow the spread of breast cancer.
 Turmeric powder has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties comparable to steroidal and non-steroidal drugs (e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen). This also makes it an ideal antiseptic used in home remedies for wounds.
 It reduces the inflammation, oxidation, and amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
 It acts as a powerful antioxidant whose free-radical-scavenging activity exceeds that of vitamin C and most polyphenols, including vitamin E and the catechins in tea and the and flavanols in cocoa and dark chocolate.
 It protects the cardiovascular system by lowering triglyceride and cholesterol levels, reversing cell-membrane damage, and inhibiting inflammation and platelet aggregation.