Turmeric

Healing essence of turmeric

Anti-Alzheimer's super spice
Anti-cancer super spice
Anti-inflammatory super spice
Anti-oxidant
Curcuma longa

It is cultivated and produced in several countries in south-eastern Asia and is used widely in Asian and Indian dishes: as a colourant for rice, a standard constituent of curry and as an inexpensive substitute for saffron.

It's most important phytonutrient, curcumin, is often added to food products as a colouring and to prevent their spoilage by oxidation. Herbalists prescribe it to prevent heart disease and cancer, and to treat HIV infection and arthritis.

An increasing body of scientific research is showing turmeric to be one of the most valuable medicinal spices with potent preventive and, in some cases, therapeutic effects against a variety of serious chronic diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

Medicinal Properties

Cancer

In addition to its other medicinal properties, curcumin is an extremely valuable chemoprotective agent. Much of the research and interest in curcumin has centred on breast cancer, but it has also been found to have protective effects against cancers of the bladder, stomach, uterus and cervix.

When measured against other phytonutrients that protect against cancer, curcumin exhibits at least a ten times greater chemoprotective potency than its closest rival. In vitro studies have shown that a single dose of curcumin inhibits cancer cell proliferation for over six days following its administration.

Curcumin is known to protect against cancer through the following mechanisms.

Tumour suppression:
Curcumin assists the body’s natural tumour-suppressing mechanisms in a number of different ways.

Cancer cell death:
Curcumin destroys cancer cells both directly, by stimulating apoptosis, and indirectly, by inhibiting telomerase activity thereby terminating the immortality so typical of cancer cell lines.

Inhibition of tumour proliferation:
Curcumin halts tumour proliferation by inhibiting DNA synthesis in the cancer cells and disrupting their mitotic replication.

Inhibition of angiogenesis:
By inhibiting the transcription capabilities of at least two major angiogenesis-inducing factors, curcumin halts the formation of the new blood vessels that are essential for tumour growth.

Anti-oestrogenic effects:
One of turmeric’s most promising uses is in the prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Most breast cancers are hormone dependent, requiring oestrogen as a growth stimulant.

Tamoxifen, which is one of the most used drugs in the treatment of breast cancer, works against this hormone-mediated process, interfering with oestrogen’s tumour stimulating effects.

Curcumin exhibits its anti-oestrongenic effects by blocking the oestrogen-dependent receptors on tumour cells, thereby interrupting the stimulatory effects of oestrogen and slowing tumour growth. Some studies have shown that curcumin may be at least as effective as tamoxifen as an oestrogen antagonist, with none of the attendant side effects of this drug.

Some of the other compounds found in turmeric are also known to have chemoprotective effects. Therefore, when it comes to prevention, it is better to take the parent spice, turmeric, rather than the pure curcumin extract.

However, the treatment of existing breast cancer may call for more specific dosages of curcumin, the administration of which would need to be supervised by a qualified health practitioner.

Click here to read this article on the use of turmeric and other spices for skin cancer: Spices and skin cancer

Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases

Thus, although turmeric is probably most effective as a preventive agent against these illnesses, it may be also help by improving cognitive problems and preventing further deterioration of existing disease.

Curcumin works against these neurodegenerative diseases via the following mechanisms.

Inhibition of inflammation and oxidation:
The accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain is an important factor associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Its deposition is associated with oxidative damage and inflammation in the brain tissues, and there is evidence that the risk of developing AD can be reduced by increased consumption of phytonutrients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Curcumin is both a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent and has been shown to suppress oxidative damage, inflammation and the deposition of damaging amyloid protein in the brain.

Exciting new in vitro research has also shown that curcumin can actually disaggregate existing amyloid plaques and, in so doing, may reverse the course of the disease.

Removal of toxic metals:
Another cause of amyloid deposition in the brain is thought to be due to certain metals, as higher concentrations of harmful metals have been found in the brains of AD sufferers that in non-AD individuals.

Metal molecules that find their way into the brain can both induce amyloid aggregation and have direct toxic effects on brain cells. Certain chelating agents have shown promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and curcumin’s chelating properties enable it to assist the body in the removal of potentially toxic metals from the brain and other tissues.

Prevention of abnormal brain cell proliferation:
The abnormal proliferation of the brain’s non-neuronal cells, microglia, neuroglia and astrocytes, is another pathological process that is associated with the development of both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Curcumin has been shown to prevent the proliferation of these cells which, if allowed to continue growing, cause damage to the brain’s neuronal tissue.

Interestingly, the action of curcumin in this context is not dose dependent; the sustained intake of small quantities is more effective than larger doses taken over a short time span.

Inflammatory Disorders

It has been used for millennia in Ayurveda and other traditional medical systems and is considered a stalwart in the treatment of these diseases.

Much of its anti-inflammatory potency can be attributed to curcumin which is both an effective COX-2 inhibitor as well as a strong antioxidant. However, other compounds found in turmeric, in particular the salicylates, also make a valuable contribution to its anti-inflammatory activities and thereby its preventive properties against arthritis and autoimmune disorders.

Chelation of Toxic Metals

Curcumin is a powerful chelating agent for both metals, binding to the metal ions and allowing them to be safely excreted in the urine.

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Important Phytonutrients In Turmeric

Others: Curcumol, curdione, turmerone, zingiberene