Turmeric may be the most effective nutritional supplement in existence. Turmeric benefits for your body and brain have been demonstrated through a number of high-quality studies conducted all over the world. Turmeric has taken the world by storm. It has wormed its way into all of your favourite dishes.

Lattes evolved into delicious turmeric lattes. Brunch now includes a delightful turmeric poached egg. Along with hight quality turmeric supplements and turmeric tablets, its part of your smoothies and chocolate bars too.

So we know that it’s delicious and beautiful, but

is turmeric healthy?

It’s been long used in Chinese and Indian systems of medicine. Turmeric has a long history in Ayurvedic medicine to treat health problems like pain and fatigue.

Given its superfood status of late, people have started using turmeric as a modern-day natural medicine for reducing inflammation and treating disease.

Turmeric has definitely grown in popularity and for good reason. In short, turmeric is a hot commodity and if it’s not for you yet, we’re going to tell you why it should be!

So what are people saying about the benefits of turmeric?

Turmeric Could Boost Immunity

The ability of an organism to resist a particular infection or toxin by the action of specific antibodies or sensitised white blood cells.Our body is protected from various infections and toxins by specific antibodies or white cells. White cells are the true knight in shining armour that come to our rescue time and again. They are the first line of defence against any foreign contaminants that might enter our system.

According to NDTV Food:

https://food.ndtv.com/health/fight-infections-and-boost-your-immunity-with-turmeric-696445

“Most curcumin in food or supplements stays in the gastrointestinal tract, and any portion that’s absorbed is metabolised quickly. Nicholas Young, a postdoctoral researcher in rheumatology and immunology at Ohio State and lead author of the study set out to investigate whether enabling widespread availability of curcumin’s biological effects to the entire body could make it useful both therapeutically and as a daily supplement to combat disease. NDTV Foods further states that according to Nicholas, “This study suggests that we have identified a better and more effective way to deliver curcumin and know what diseases to use it for so that we can take advantage of its anti-inflammatory power.” In the study, curcumin powder was mixed with castor oil and polyethylene glycol in a process called nano-emulsion, creating fluid teeming with microvesicles that contain curcumin. This process allows the compound to dissolve and be more easily absorbed by the gut to enter the bloodstream and tissues.Researchers tested their theory on mice and found that curcumin stops recruitment of specific immune cells that, when overactive, are linked to such problems as heart disease and obesity. The study also found that nano-emulsified curcumin halted the recruitment of immune cells called macrophages that “eat” invading pathogens but also contribute to inflammation by secreting pro-inflammatory chemicals.Researchers found that in cells isolated from human blood samples, macrophages were stopped in their tracks. According to Young, “This macrophage-specific effect of curcumin had not been described before. Because of that finding, we propose nano-emulsified curcumin has the best potential against macrophage-associated inflammation.”

Others seem to agree:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4603973/ 

“Studies continue to reveal new sides of its mode of action and its interaction with the immune system is emerging as an important contributor to its anti-cancer properties. The need for tumour cells to avoid the immune system during successful tumour progression in the body is now considered to be a new hallmark of cancer. Various studies in the past decade have gradually established curcumin as a potent immune-modulator. Although some reports have suggested a general immunosuppressive role of curcumin and its ability to reduce cell proliferation in immune cell in isolation; specific reports suggest that curcumin boosts anti-tumour immunity through various mechanisms, as discussed in this review. Thus modulation of the immune system seems to be another important strategy by which curcumin counteracts cancer development. This further asserts its effectiveness as an anti-cancer agent and points out the need to develop it as an adjuvant chemotherapeutic agent. This necessitates the development of nano-based strategies for proper delivery and increased bioavailability of curcumin, which may finally lead to its use as a proper chemotherapeutic agent.”

Turmeric and the immune system

Help prevent or treat cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease, characterized by uncontrolled cell growth.There are many different forms of cancer, which still have several things in common. Some of them appear to be affected by curcumin supplements (33).

Curcumin has been studied as a beneficial herb in cancer treatment and been found to affect cancer growth, development and spread at the molecular level (34).

Studies have shown that it can contribute to the death of cancerous cells and reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors) and metastasis (spread of cancer) (35).

Multiple studies indicate that curcumin can reduce the growth of cancerous cells in the laboratory and inhibit the growth of tumors in test animals (36, 37).

Whether high-dose curcumin (preferably with an absorption enhancer like piperine) can help treat cancer in humans has yet to be studied properly.However, there is evidence that it may prevent cancer from occurring in the first place, especially cancers of the digestive system like colorectal cancer.In a 30-day study in 44 men with lesions in the colon that sometimes turn cancerous, 4 grams of curcumin per day reduced the number of lesions by 40% (38).

Maybe curcumin will be used along with conventional cancer treatment one day. It’s too early to say for sure, but it looks promising and is being intensively studied. SUMMARY Curcumin leads to several changes on the molecular level that may help prevent and perhaps even treat cancer.

Preventing and treating depression

 

Curcumin has shown some promise in treating depression.In a controlled trial, 60 people with depression were randomized into three groups (45).

One group took Prozac, another group one gram of curcumin and the third group both Prozac and curcumin. After 6 weeks, curcumin had led to improvements that were similar to Prozac. The group that took both Prozac and curcumin fared best (45).According to this small study, curcumin is as effective as an antidepressant. Depression is also linked to reduced levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and a shrinking hippocampus, a brain area with a role in learning and memory.Curcumin boosts BDNF levels, potentially reversing some of these changes (46).

There is also some evidence that curcumin can boost the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine (47, 48).

SUMMARYA study in 60 people with depression showed that curcumin was as effective as Prozac in alleviating symptoms of the condition.datat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Arthritis patients respond very well to curcumin supplements

Arthritis is a common problem in Western countries.

There are several different types, most of which involve inflammation in the joints.Given that curcumin is a potent anti-inflammatory compound, it makes sense that it may help with arthritis. Several studies show this to be true. In a study in people with rheumatoid arthritis, curcumin was even more effective than an anti-inflammatory drug (42).Many other studies have looked at the effects of curcumin on arthritis and noted improvements in various symptoms (43, 44). SUMMARY Arthritis is a common disorder characterised by joint inflammation. Many studies show that curcumin can help treat symptoms of arthritis and is in some cases more effective than anti-inflammatory drugs.