Turmeric and Your Health

Turmeric

Research is consistently reporting the health benefits turmeric.  You remember turmeric, right?  It is the herb that gives curry its distinctive flavor and color.  It’s the herb that I sprinkle of zucchini every morning will I sauté it for breakfast and then mix it with homemade humus.  What a yummy, vegetarian breakfast!

Anyway, some of the latest research  highlights the how turmeric fights cancer. A recent study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, found that a dose-dependent administration of curcumin (the primary active component in turmeric) effectively activated apoptosis of liver cancer cells.  This means that it prompted these harmful cells to die. In their conclusion, the researchers involved with this study declared curcumin to be a "promising phytomedicine in cancer therapy."

Researchers from the Department of Gastroenterology at the Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel published their findings of a 2007 study in the journal, Liver International.  They tested the effects of curcumin in mice with chemical-induced liver damage. Compared to hepatic damaged mice not given curcumin, those given the spice effectively averted developing liver cirrhosis, an outcome that researchers attributed to turmeric's anti-inflammatory properties.  In their conclusion they wrote that, "As curcumin ingestion is safe in humans, it may be reasonable to assess in clinical studies the beneficial effect of curcumin in slowing the development of liver cirrhosis. . . .”

Researchers from Taiwan published a study  in 2008 that demonstrated that curcumin can also benefit in the treatment of lung cancer.  Not only did curcumin demonstrate a unique ability to prevent cancer cells from invading and spreading, but it also activated key proteins responsible for naturally blocking and suppressing tumors from forming. The team from the National Yang-Ming University in Taipei ultimately declared that their findings support the application of curcumin in anti-cancer metastasis therapy.

A study published  in the Journal of Ovarian Research in 2010 found that patients with ovarian cancer, which is difficult to treat conventionally due to chemotherapy and radiation resistance, can be effectively "pre-treated" with curcumin to improve the efficacy of conventional cancer treatment.  They reported that, "Curcumin pre-treatment enhances chemo/radio-sensitization in ... ovarian cancer cells through multiple molecular mechanisms. . . [C]urcumin pre-treatment may effectively improve ovarian cancer therapeutics."

The Life Extension Foundation (LEF)    has conducted extensive research into the anti-cancer properties of turmeric and found that the spice targets ten causative factors involved in cancer development, including DNA damage, chronic inflammation, and disruption of cell signaling pathways. Countless hundreds of published studies, it turns out, have also shown that curcumin is a potent anti-cancer food that blocks cancer development in a number of unique ways.

A precise cancer-prevention dosage of turmeric has not been established, studies involving human patients with diagnosed cancer found that curcumin doses of about 3,600 mg (3.6 grams) induced paraptosis; targeted destruction of cancer cell mitochondria; disruption of the cancer cell cycle; cancer cell down-regulation; and arrested stem cell development.

Turmeric, is available at most well-stocked natural health store and online through places like SwansonVitamins (I don’t work for Swanson and receive no compensation from them . . . that’s just the source that I use. You can find them at  )  Where every you purchase your Turmeric, make sure that it is high quality.

Check back in a day or two and read more about the heart-healthy benefits of turmeric.