Turmeric: its benefits
Do you feel like digging into the soil of history with your bare hands? To take the risk of discovering a secret that could save your life? What interests us, growing in the East, is turmeric whose roots go back to 4,000 feet under the earth, that is to say 4,000 years before Christ. Those who feed on this spice with its particularly peppery and pungent taste have also developed health benefits.
Undisputed wealth for Indian Ayurvedic medicine and component of religious ceremonies in Asia, Buddhist monks color their robes with turmeric. Today, it is this same superfood that is studied by Western researchers to stop the first symptoms of Alzheimer's.
Medicinal benefits :
The rhizome (the root) of turmeric is consumed which is bright yellow or orange in curries, soups, tagines; it colors rice, potatoes, mustard and other dishes to make them more palatable. In contact with other more pungent foods, it corrects the acidity, but its benefits are only just beginning:
- Treats skin diseases (eczema, acne, psoriasis) by cataplasm;
- Helps digestion, stomach ache, nausea, irritable bowel syndrome;
- Regulates the intestinal flora, protects the liver against ulcers;
- Prevents the formation of gallstones by increasing the choleretic and cholagogue secretion of the bile;
- Anti-inflammatory (natural version of cortisone and aspirin), turmeric is a powerful antioxidant thanks to its curcumin which acts against chronic pain and ailments that, without it, would lead to the aging of cells and the appearance of cancerous tumors;
- Attacks free radicals before they trigger oxidative stress in human cells;
- Beneficial to diabetics, as it lowers bad cholesterol levels and simplifies the digestion of fats and sugar.
Cancer and Alzheimer's:
By establishing the following equation: turmeric contains curcumin, an antioxidant that acts as an anti-inflammatory, which prevents aging and the appearance of free radicals that often lead to cancer, everything seems obvious.
Since the end of the 1980s, comparisons have been made between people in the West and in the East who consume turmeric (about 2 grams per day) at the same age:
- Indians have 8 times less lung cancer than Westerners;
- 9 times less colon cancer;
- 5 times less breast cancer;
- 10 times less kidney cancer.
A not less negligible factor that must be taken into consideration is the environmental conditions and the exposure to other carcinogenic elements. For example, the pollution in the air and water in India is much greater than in the United States or in European cities, which reminds us how useful turmeric has been from generation to generation for these populations of the South.
The figures for Alzheimer's are also encouraging thanks to the daily consumption of turmeric among Indians, since the latter, aged 70-79 years, are 4.4 times less affected by this disease than Americans of the same age.
The consumption of curcumin seems to prevent the degeneration of intellectual acuity, by destroying the protein plaques responsible for scrambling the transmission of information in the brain, and even could stem the process once the disease has set in. There is still a lot of analysis to be done by scientists from both continents to come up with an effective solution for Alzheimer's.
Dosage:
• Powder One teaspoon of turmeric powder per day. Prefer to buy the whole rhizome, peel it and grate it at the last moment;
• Infusion One teaspoon in 150 ml of boiling water for 10 to 12 minutes. 2 cups per day;
• Tincture 10 ml per day;
• Cataplasm for skin diseases: mix a little powder in water, avoid the face because the color is unsightly.
* It is essential to consult a health professional before starting any treatment.
Special effect for people undergoing chemotherapy: 8 grams per day improves tolerance and increases positive performance when taken with the following drugs (gemcitabine, paclitaxel, docetaxel and oxaliplatin). However, avoid taking it two days before and after treatment with (camptothecin, doxorubicin, mechlorethamine, cyclophosphamide and vincristine), as it would partially inhibit the results.
Bioavailability and relationship to other drugs:
For better absorption of curcumin, you can add black pepper (piperine) or ginger, but however there is something to highlight in red the following: the effect of turmeric will be increased tenfold by 2,000 and will distort the dosages of other drugs. So be careful with the curcumin + pepper duo if you are taking medication. It does appear that taking curcumin supplements greatly facilitates healing without too many side effects. Take note, however, that it is not recommended for pregnant women, people taking blood thinners and those with gallstones.
In light of this information, we can conclude that turmeric, India's favorite spice, could become the fountain of youth by curing us of the earth's ills... since the deeper we dig, the more light we find, that of ancestral knowledge that can very well serve us to solve our modern health problems.
REFERENCES :
Murray, Michael T., ND Theracurmin, Mind publishing, Canada, 2014, 50 pages
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 20, Issues 3-4, May 2007, Pages 346-351, Effect of heat processing of spices on the concentrations of their bioactive principles: Turmeric (Curcuma longa), red pepper (Capsicum annuum) and black pepper (Piper nigrum) by D. Suresh, H. Manjunatha, Krishnapura Srinivasan
Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz vol.96 no.5, page 723-728, Rio de Janeiro July 2001, Biological Activities of Curcuma longa L. de Araújo, LL Leon. Laboratório de Biologia de Tripanosomatídeos *Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Planta Med 1991; 57(1), pages 1-7, Pharmacology of Curcuma longa, by Hermann P. T. Ammon, Martin A. Wahl, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 8, D-7400 Tübingen, Federal Republic of Germany