6 New Clinical Findings on the Benefits of Turmeric

Turmeric's active compound curcumin has long been used in traditional Asian medicine for treating wounds and gastrointestinal disorders. Curcumin is an antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties. If you regularly consume turmeric, either for making delicious curry or as an herbal supplement, then these exciting new findings about the benefits of turmeric might be of interest to you.

Helps Enhance Capacity for Exercise Impeded by Heart Failure

In an animal study, curcumin in turmeric has been shown to improve exercise tolerance and muscle function, both of which deteriorate in the presence of heart failure, according to a study published in a 2018 issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

There are over six million people in the United States who suffer from heart failure, or the left ventricle's reduced capacity to pump out blood to the different parts of the body.

Boosts Mood and Memory

A small-scale clinical study involving 40 subjects has demonstrated improved mood and memory after a regular intake of turmeric curcumin supplements. The subjects are people with mild cases of age-related memory decline. In a span of over 18 months, supplements taken twice daily have been shown to boost by 28 percent the cognitive performance of the participants in the study, according to University of California - Los Angeles researchers.

Mechanism of Attack against Cancer Cells

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, Peking University, and Zhejiang University figured out the complex mechanism behind curcumin's ability to impair cancer cells. In their report published in a 2018 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a word of caution was included. Because the body tends to rapidly expel curcumin, it does not stay in the body long enough to thoroughly damage cancer cells. Thus, curcumin needs to be altered before it can serve as an effective cancer treatment.

Discovery of a Curcumin Delivery Method to Cancer Cells

There's a separate study that could address the difficulties alluded to in the previous section. Curcumin does not naturally dissolve in water; thus it does not remain in the bloodstream long enough to attack cancer cells. To solve curcumin's solubility issue, scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Utah devised a chemical complexing method based on platinum.

Topically Applying Turmeric For Burns and Scalded Skin

A David Geffen School of Medicine researcher has looked into the topical application of turmeric's curcumin as a burn treatment. Interestingly, the study has demonstrated that for burns and scalds, the oral intake of turmeric curcumin tablets is not as effective as applying curcumin gel directly onto the skin.

Turmeric Benefits For Glaucoma

Eye drops derived from curcumin may be used to reverse early-stage glaucoma, according to research at the University College London and Imperial College London. To counteract the poor solubility of curcumin, the researchers developed a method to introduce the turmeric extract in eye-drop form directly to the back of the eyeball.

Conclusion

If you have developed a taste for spicy Indian curry lately and liberal turmeric doses have become a mainstay in your cuisine choices, then don't feel guilty. You are not only satisfying your palate, but you may also be doing wonders to your health.

References:

Ahmed M. Wafi, Juan Hong, Tara L. Rudebush, Li Yu, Bryan T. Hackfort, Han-Jun Wang, Harold D. Schultz, Irving H. Zucker, Lie Gao. Curcumin Improves Exercise Performance of Mice with Coronary Artery Ligation Induced HFrEF: Nrf2 and Antioxidant Mechanisms in Skeletal Muscle. Journal of Applied Physiology, 2018.

Gary W. Small, Prabha Siddarth, Zhaoping Li, Karen J. Miller, Linda Ercoli, Natacha D. Emerson, Jacqueline Martinez, Koon-Pong Wong, Jie Liu, David A. Merrill, Stephen T. Chen, Susanne M. Henning, Nagichettiar Satyamurthy, Sung-Cheng Huang, David Heber, Jorge R. Barrio. Memory and Brain Amyloid and Tau Effects of a Bioavailable Form of Curcumin in Non-Demented Adults: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled 18-Month Trial. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2017.

Sourav Banerjee, Chenggong Ji, Joshua E. Mayfield, Apollina Goel, Junyu Xiao, Jack E. Dixon, Xing Guo. Ancient drug curcumin impedes 26S proteasome activity by direct inhibition of dual-specificity tyrosine-regulated kinase 2. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, 2018.

Sougata Datta, Santosh K. Misra, Manik Lal Saha, Nabajit Lahiri, Janis Louie, Dipanjan Pan, Peter J. Stang. Orthogonal self-assembly of an organoplatinum(II) metallacycle and cucurbit[8]uril that delivers curcumin to cancer cells. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, 2018.

Madalene Heng. Phosphorylase Kinase Inhibition Therapy in Burns and Scalds. BioDiscovery, 2017.

Benjamin M. Davis, Milena Pahlitzsch, Li Guo, Shiama Balendra, Parth Shah, Nivedita Ravindran, Giulia Malaguarnera, Claudia Sisa, Ehtesham Shamsher, Hisham Hamze, Abdinasir Noor, Acom Sornsute, Satyanarayana Somavarapu, M. Francesca Cordeiro. Topical Curcumin Nanocarriers are Neuroprotective in Eye Disease. Scientific Reports, 2018.

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