Turmeric from India is a member of the ginger family and its many health benefits are mainly due to the curcumin content.

Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant but it is mainly known for its anti-inflammatory properties, so can be helpful where there is any inflammation e.g. arthritis, bursitis. It also has a beneficial effect on liver function and has been shown to lower cholesterol.

Turmeric is thought to help heart function by stopping abnormal blood clotting and preventing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries caused by deposits of plaque). There are many studies showing that turmeric has cancer-preventing effects and that it can stimulate apoptosis – cell suicide.

Healthy cells are normally programmed to die when they have fulfilled their function. If apoptosis is not happening then uncontrolled cell division can take place (just as it does in cancer and in the growth of cancerous tumours).

Health Benefits of Turmeric:

• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-Cancer
• Maintains normal cholesterol levels
• Beneficial for liver function
• Prevents hardening of arteries
• Acts as an anti-oxidant
• Anti-bacterial

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 8th, 2007 at 11:41 am and is filed under Cancer, Ingredient Spotlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.