Health Benefits of 

Turmeric

This bright yellow spice is well-known as a component of curry powder.

Traditional Therapeutic Uses[3]

As a healing herb, tumeric has its roots deep in the medicinal traditions of India, China and several South-east Asian cultures.

Native to India and Indonesia, turmeric has been used in Indian Ayurvedic and Unani traditional medicine for at least 2,500 years, primarily to treat digestive and liver disorders, skin infections and irritations, and arthritis.

In China, turmeric was prescribed by traditional medical practitioners for abdominal pain, jaundice, and menstrual conditions.

Today turmeric is recommended by herbalists for indigestion and diarrhea, as well as inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's and ulcerative colitis. Other uses include clearing up skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, preventing cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and reducing blood cholesterol levels.

Health Benefits

Turmeric contains a high concentration of curcumin, a natural compound with powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. There is more scientific evidence for the positive health effects of turmeric than for any other spice.

Note that turmeric eaten alone is very poorly absorbed. That's why some curcumin supplements also contain piperine, for the purpose of increasing the bioavailability of curcumin[9,17,18]. Piperine is the alkaloid responsible for the pungency of black pepper and long pepper. So, you should consume turmeric with black pepper. It's said that the absorption of turmeric can be enhanced over a hundred times.

New Research[5,6]

On 06/12/2012, a patent was issued to the University of Rochester and two other entities for the use of compounds related to curcumin. The patent focuses on the potential of applying these compounds to fight prostate, bladder, liver, and other forms of cancer related to male hormones, as well as conditions like acne, baldness, enlarged prostate, and excessive growth of body hair. 

The research behind this patent is led by Chawnshang Chang, Ph.D. Chang’s work at the University is also licensed to AndroScience Corp. of San Diego. Currently, several of their products are in different clinical stages. For example, their Androgen Receptor Degradation Enhancers (i.e. curcumin derivatives) display remarkable treatment potential in:

with preclinical stage proof of concept in Prostate Cancer, SBMA (Kennedy’s Disease), HBV induced HCC[7], Bladder Cancer, and Wound Healing.

Precautions[3]

Eating turmeric is safe. Scientists have shown that taking cucumin at doses of up to 12g per day was also very well tolerated, though there is little reason to take that much. Some people may get indigestion when taking high amounts of turmeric/curcumin. Also, turmeric is high in soluble oxalate, which can causes kidney stones at high concentration. So, for people prone to form kidney stones,[15] you should not consume more than one teaspoon of turmeric (i.e., not more than 40 to 50 mg) per day.[14]

Curcumin supplementation of 20-40 mg has been reported to increase gallbladder contractions in healthy people [10,11]. Although increasing gallbladder contractions could decrease the risk of gallstone formation by promoting gallbladder emptying, it could potentially increase the risk of symptoms in people who already have gallstones.

Finally, until the safety and efficacy of curcumin in individuals with cystic fibrosis has been evaluated in clinical trials, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation does not recommend the use of curcumin as a therapy for cystic fibrosis[9].

References