10 Amazing Benefits of Tumeric; The Most Powerful Herb on Earth
Turmeric, the main spice in curry, is undoubtedly the most powerful herb ever on the planet when it comes to fighting and potentially reversing disease. It has so a lot of healing properties. Currently, there have been about 6,235
peer-reviewed articles that have been published proving the healing benefits of turmeric and one of its renowned healing compounds found in it is curcumin.
This compound makes turmeric stands tall as one of the most frequently prescribed medicinal herbs the in all of science and also the next most popularly studied herbs including ginseng, ginger garlic, cinnamon, and milk thistle.
Out of the over 6000+ studies referencing curcumin, some of the most interesting discoveries is that when comparing turmeric to conventional medicine, it benefits equal that of most pharmaceutical drugs.
Many studies have also reported that using curcumin has more advantages than certain orthodox prescription drugs.
Health Benefits of Turmeric
The health benefits of turmeric go beyond that of these 10 drugs:- Chemotherapy
- Anti-coagulants (e.g. Aspirin)
- Pain killers
- Diabetes drugs (Metformin)
- Cholesterol drugs (Lipitor)
- Steroids
- Anti-inflammatory drugs
- Antidepressants (Prozac)
- Arthritis medications
- Inflammatory bowel disease drugs
Turmeric Benefits Trump Medications
Even though the list is much longer, we have only selected 10 drugs that pale in comparison to turmeric in the aspect of potentially reversing disease. Whiles, you read this report, bear in mind that one of the most powerful advantages that curcumin has over other traditional drugs is the lack of side effects.
1. Anticoagulants/Antiplatelets
Medical interventions generally consist of the following medications to slow and also prevent blood clotting:
- Naproxen
- Clopidogrel (Plavix)
- Diclofenac
- Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others)
- Enoxaparin (Lovenox)
- Aspirin
- Warfarin (Coumadin), and others.
In addition to that, some common negative side effects like excessive bleeding and hemorrhage, the risks accompanied with anticoagulants abound and include everything from a headache to back pain to difficulty breathing.
It also has relatively no known side effects till now unless when taken in extreme and excessive amounts.
2. Anti-depressants
Although very few studies have been done on humans, dozens of studies and trials have proven that turmeric is especially very effective in reversing symptoms of depression in laboratory animals.
In order to address this very issue, the journal Phytotherapy Research published the end results of an amazing and ingenious study this past year.
This research took a sample size of 60 volunteers diagnosed with some major depressive disorder, such as manic depression, and divided the group to know how patients treated with turmeric fared against fluoxetine(Prozac) and also how were their conditions when given the combination of the two.
It was not only discovered that all patients tolerated curcumin well, but they saw that curcumin was as effective as Prozac in the management of depression.
According to the Researchers, “This study gives us first clinical evidence to prove that curcumin may be used as an effective and a safe therapy for treatment of patients suffering from Mild Depression.”
3. Anti-inflammatories
Arguably, the very most powerful part of curcumin is its ability to manage inflammation.
The journal Oncogene revealed the results of a study that evaluated many anti-inflammatory compounds and found that aspirin and ibuprofen are least effective, whereas curcumin, is among the most effective anti-inflammatory compounds in this world.
This news ought to have reached each home in the world after the study was conducted because inflammation puts individuals in danger for almost every sickness method identified to man.
Diseases nowadays like cancer, ulcerative colitis, arthritis, high cholesterol and chronic pain are often the results of inflammation.
4. Arthritis management
Tumeric is well-known for its powerful healing properties especially anti-inflammatory and pain reducing characteristics, a study was conducted on forty-five {rheumatoid arthritis} patients to match the advantages of curcumin in turmeric to arthritis medicine (diclofenac sodium), that place people in danger of developing leaky gut and heart condition.
The study split these volunteers into 3 groups: curcumin treatment alone, diclofenac sodium alone, and a mixture of the two. The results of the trial were eye-opening:
The curcumin cluster showed the highest percentage of improvement in overall [Disease Activity Score] scores and these scores were considerably better than the patients within the diclofenac sodium cluster.
More significantly, curcumin treatment was found to be safe and didn't relate with any adverse events. Our study provides the primary proof for the security and superiority of curcumin treatment in patients with active RA, and highlights the necessity for future large-scale trials to validate these findings in patients with RA and different rheumatoid conditions.
Published by phytotherapy analysis in 2012, the results of this study has inspired a lot of human research to judge the wonderful effects curcumin-rich plants like turmeric has on individuals suffering from various differing kinds of inflammatory disease.
5. Cancer treatment
Of all the many topics scientists have tackled with regard to the curcumin and disease reversal, cancer (of various types) is one amongst the most completely researched topics. in the words of world authorities like Cancer research uk,
A number of laboratory studies on cancer cells have shown that curcumin do have anticancer effects. It appears to be ready to kill cancer cells and prevent many more from growing. it's the most effective effects on breast cancer, bowel cancer, abdomen cancer and skin cancer cells.
Curcumin has recently received an excellent deal of focus because of it’s ability to reduce tumour size and kill cancer cells.
Bottom line: Turmeric works implausibly well to assist naturally treat cancer and is very effective at treating breast cancer, colon cancer, and skin cancer.
6. Diabetes management
For lowering blood sugar and reversing insulin resistance there’s arguably no better natural treatment than adding turmeric into your diet.
In 2009, Biochemistry and Biophysical Research Communications published a study out of Auburn University that explored how supplementing with turmeric can help reverse diabetes.
The study discovered that curcumin in turmeric is literally 400 times more potent than Metformin (a common diabetes drug) in activating AMPK which improves insulin sensitivity which can help reverse Type 2 Diabetes.
In addition to correcting the causes of diabetes, curcumin has also been proven to help reverse many of the issues related to insulin resistance and hyperglycemia.
Take, for instance, diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy. One of the most common complications of diabetes is damaged blood vessels which cause blindness.
A study found that supplementing with curcumin can delay this horrible complication of diabetes because of its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
7. Gastrointestinal treatments
Oftentimes, people with digestive and stomach complaints become intolerant to medical interventions because the stomach flora is already compromised and drugs can literally tear up the mucosal lining.
An in-depth analysis of all the studies evaluating curcumin’s ability to manage inflammatory bowel disease (IBS, Crohn’s disease, and Ulcerative Colitis) found that many patients were able to stop taking their prescribed corticosteroids because their condition improved so dramatically by taking curcumin!
For many patients with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) corticosteroids reduce their pain symptoms, but damage the intestinal lining over time actually making the condition worse.
However, supplementing with curcumin did not have these side effects and, because of its anti-inflammatory properties, actually helped heal the gut and supported the growth of good bacteria (probiotics).
8. Cholesterol regulators
One of the reasons heart disease is such a problem in the U.S. is that people are developing pre-diabetes (excessive blood sugar) at an alarming rate.
In turn, diabetics and non-diabetics alike are suffering from a common complication called oxidative stress, which damages the inside of blood vessels. Because of this damage to the arteries, cholesterol begins to build up to patch up the damaged areas which leads to high levels of LDL cholesterol.
Traditionally, statin drugs (like Lipitor) are widely known to harm the kidneys and liver and cause a number of deadly side effects. They do bring cholesterol down but never address that actual cause which is oxidative stress that is caused by high blood sugar levels and inflammation.
Thankfully, medical doctors are becoming more and more aware of the dangerous side effects of statin-drugs and prescribing natural alternatives like curcumin and fish oil instead!
A study done by Drugs in R & D found that curcumin was equal or more effective than diabetes medications at reducing oxidative stress and inflammation in the treatment of high cholesterol.
Studies like these are causing pharmaceutical companies to try and design a synthetic form of curcumin that unfortunately, will not work as well as the real thing.
9. Painkillers
One of the more widely accepted properties of curcumin in scientific communities is its ability to manage pain.
Just this past year the European Journal of Pharmacology published research that discovered curcumin naturally activates the opioid system in diabetic rats. Typically manipulated by drugs, this natural process serves as the body’s inherent pain-relieving response.
Not being limited to diabetic pain conditions, an interesting study also published late last year gives us a clue as to the wide array of pain conditions that can be treated by curcumin.
Take, for instance, severe burns. Typically, burn victims are treated by dangerous opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories. However, because of its anti-inflammatory benefits, U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research suggests that, curcumin should be used to treat burns instead of these conventional medications.
The trend should becoming clear at this point. Therapeutic use of turmeric and other curcumin-rich plants are displacing conventional medical treatments and proving it’s a legitimate natural painkiller.
10. Steroids
Lastly, we’ll take a look at how turmeric benefits the many conditions normally treated by corticosteroids such as:
- Psoriasis
- Lupus
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Scleroderma
- Chronic pain
What cannot be overstated, however, is that although statistically “comparable” to steroids in managing and reversing chronic disease, “The lack of side effects with curcumin is its greatest advantage compared with corticosteroids,” as stated by the authors in the above study out of K.G. Medical College.
To give you a sense of the amount of suffering alleviated by curcumin, the following is a sample of steroid side effects listed by the UK’s National Health Services (NHS):
- Acne
- Asthma
- Cancer
- Cataracts
- Delayed wound healing
- Diabetes onset
- Glaucoma
- Hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Increased appetite (oftentimes leading to increased weight)
- Indigestion
- Insomnia
- Kidney and thyroid issues
- Mood disturbances (including aggression, irritability, and rapid mood swings mimicking bipolar disorder)
- Muscle weakness
- Nausea
- Risk of infection
- Stunted growth in children
- Tachycardia (rapid heartbeat)
- Thinning skin (leading to easy bruising)
If you have any of the diseases above, you will want to consider this natural approach first. For those of you who aren’t sick, taking turmeric will serve you well as a preventative measure.
Turmeric Side Effects
Some people have reported allergic reactions to turmeric, especially after skin exposure. Typically this is experienced as a mild, itchy rash.People taking certain medications should also be careful when using turmeric in their food or supplementing with it. Turmeric may interfere with anti-coagulants like aspirin, clopidogrel and warfarin.
It also can affect medications such as non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs. As with any herb or supplement, use as directed.
If you’re in the position where you must be on prescription medications, don’t discount the need to include ample amounts of fresh, organic turmeric into your diets because it will help reduce the adverse affects of the medicine.
A study that was published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology describes how combing curcumin with prednisolone (a steroid) effectively reduces the side effects of this dangerous medication.
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