Health benefits of Turmeric

Sarah Burgess

Turmeric is dubbed as a superfood for its numerous benefits, but these benefits are not just hype or false claims. According to this study, turmeric is a good alternative to conventional drugs. More importantly, the study states that turmeric has a number of notable therapeutic properties and it elicits favorable effects in various body systems.

In fact, here are some turmeric evidence-based benefits:

· Turmeric helps control inflammation. A large number of health conditions including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are triggered by inflammation. Based on this study, curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, helps control inflammation at the molecular level and inhibits molecules that go to the core of cells that significantly influence inflammation.

· Curcumin helps alleviate symptoms of arthritis. An alleviation of the symptoms of arthritis, especially joint swelling, walking stiffness, and joint pain, with the intake of curcumin is attributed to its anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, curcumin also has pain-reducing effects.

· Turmeric is effective against stomach problems. From a simple indigestion to occasional stomach pain to irritable bowel syndrome to inflammatory bowel disease, turmeric’s anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants combined with its numerous vitamins and minerals relieve stomach problems as seen in this review of human studies.

· It is a good painkiller. As an alternative to prescription painkillers, turmeric’s anti-nociceptive effect is a valuable property for treating different kinds of pains. Turmeric interacts with the endogenous opioid system, the body’s natural pain reliever, thereby eliciting relief from pain. In a published study in the European Journal of Pharmacology, the opioid system in diabetic rats were naturally activated by curcumin.

· Curcumin lowers risks of heart diseases, helps in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative conditions, and helps to prevent cancer. Numerous studies have shown promising results as to turmeric’s effectiveness in lowering risks of various health conditions and preventing its onset mainly due to its antioxidant properties. Besides inhibiting free radicals, curcumin was also seen to accelerate the body’s production of antioxidants.

There are other more uses of turmeric that warrants further research and clinical trials. This natural food ingredient has shown promise in the treatment of depression, age-related chronic conditions, prevents blood clots, diabetes, regulates cholesterol levels, etc.