If you like curry, than it is most likely that you have heard of turmeric. It has long been touted as one of the healthiest ways to add flavour to a home cooked meal and it is the most common spice in Indian cuisine. But did you know that turmeric has a lot of other health benefits?
Curcumin is the active component of turmeric, it’s a polyphenol that’s got both strong antioxidant and anti – inflammatory abilities that can help with all kinds of illnesses.
Here are some of the benefits turmeric can have on your health:
It can even help fight and prevent the flu!
Curcumin, despite it’s anti – inflammatory, it also has strong antiviral properties that can seriously help with both, preventing and treating the flu. In 2009 a study called “Emerging Infectious Diseases” was published, in which curcumin was proved to reduce viral replication by over 90 percent in laboratory cells infected with different types of influenza strains. Just think about the implications this could have on humans!
The study found that curcumin protected other cells from becoming infected, as well as it decreased viral replication in infected cells. Curcumin doesn’t just treat the symptoms of your flu, unlike cough syrups and other medications, it actually helps reverse them. Unlike the many cold medicines that have more side effects and ingredients than they do benefits, curcumin is completely natural.
It can help with joint pain
Curcumin is a very strong anti – inflammatory agent. One study proved that “Turmerin extract samples worked just as well as ibuprofen” in patients with knee osteoarthritis. Turmeric is a natural spice, so you don’t have to worry about destroying your intestinal gut flora like many synthetic anti – inflammatory drugs do.
It may even fight cancer
Even though scientists have started studying the effects of curcumin on humans with cancer recently, they have found some exciting results with animals. According to the American Cancer Society it’s been found that curcumin in animals “interferes with several important molecular pathways involved in cancer spread, growth and development”. Sounds like some promising research is in the works!
