Turmeric and wellness, let's discover the benefits of the famous spice

Herbs and spices, such as turmeric, are particularly used to flavor foods and drinks.

Beyond their ability as food flavorings and preservatives, spices have been used for thousands of years, especially in traditional oriental medicine, for the treatment of various diseases.

Among the beneficial properties we can list:

• antioxidants,
• anti-inflammatory,
• analgesics,
• hypoglycemic drugs,
• hypolipemic.

Other benefits of spices are represented by the protection against cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Most of the health benefits of spices are mediated by their ability to prevent the formation of free radicals , repair oxidative damage , eliminate damaged molecules, that is, to sum up, by their antioxidant capacity.

This property is related to the presence of a large variety of chemical compounds. Those responsible are synthesized by plants in order to attract beneficial organisms, repel harmful ones, resist pathogens, act as photoprotectors and respond to environmental changes.

These compounds are products of secondary metabolism in plants, mainly belong to classes such as terpenes and derivatives, phenylpropanoids, isothiocyanates, sulfur compounds and are often present as glycosides.

Turmeric

Among the traditional spices, turmeric and ginger are gaining a great deal of attention around the world recently, both for their sensory characteristics and for the benefits on human health. Turmeric can be purchased in herbal medicine as a tablet, powder, or root.

Turmeric ( Curcuma longa L. ), one of the spices used in cooking, is a plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family, grown mainly in India, Bangladesh, China, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The main bioactive compounds of turmeric are three curcuminoids, whose biological activities include antioxidant, antiprotozoal, antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory actions.

Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects, and is a very strong antioxidant. However, the curcumin content in turmeric is not that high .

Most studies on this spice use turmeric extracts that mainly contain curcumin with dosages generally higher than 1 gram per day .

It would be very difficult to reach these levels using only the spice added to foods.

Curcumin, in fact, is poorly absorbed and its medicinal properties obtained from the use of turmeric cannot be exploited due to the poor bioavailability due to rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall.

Help can be given by consuming together black pepper which contains piperine , a natural substance that increases the absorption of curcumin . Precisely for this reason there are turmeric and piperine supplements on the market.

Curcumin is also fat-soluble, so it might be a good idea to take it along with a high-fat meal.

The properties of turmeric

The beneficial actions that turmeric exerts for our body are numerous. We have already anticipated them, in general, but now let's analyze them better:

• Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties.
  Although short-term acute inflammation is beneficial because it helps our body react to the action of pathogens, it can become a major problem when it becomes chronic. It could, in fact, play an important role in almost all chronic diseases .
• Turmeric has an antioxidant action.
  Antioxidants are useful in protecting the body from free radicals that cause oxidative damage, which is one of the underlying causes of aging and many diseases. Curcumin has powerful antioxidant effects by neutralizing not only free radicals, but also by stimulating the body's antioxidant enzymes.
• Turmeric helps brain function by preventing degenerative processes.
• Turmeric has a preventive action against cancer, especially those affecting the gastrointestinal system, such as colorectal cancer .
• Turmeric has antidepressant effects . A study of 60 people with depression showed that curcumin is effective in relieving their symptoms.

Turmeric and irritable bowel

Participants in a scientific study, conducted in 2004, took one turmeric extract tablet every day for eight weeks. Following treatment, they reported less abdominal pain and decreased discomfort , as well as an increase in quality of life. However, the researchers said placebo-controlled research is needed to further establish these findings.

But does turmeric really work?

We can say that it certainly has beneficial effects demonstrated by numerous scientific studies, but using turmeric for weight loss is not adequate, and it diminishes its real and important properties.

Where to use turmeric?

It can be added to meals, such as in risotto, to vegetables but also to drinks such as milk. Also very pleasant is its addition in an herbal tea, prepared with water and lemon, perhaps with a teaspoon of honey.

Contraindications

Its use is contraindicated in case of gallstones or in any case in obstructive pathologies of the biliary tract. Attention, before taking a turmeric-based food supplement, which can be purchased in herbal medicine, it is good to contact a nutritionist for information about the dosage.

Bibliography

• Baiano. (2018) "Antioxidant Properties of Traditional Spices". Acta Scientific Nutritional Health
• Shoba. (1998) "Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers." Planta Med
• Carroll et al. (2011) "Phase IIa clinical trial of curcumin for the prevention of colorectal neoplasia." Cancer Prev Res
• Ying Xu et al. (2006) “Curcumin reverses the effects of chronic stress on behavior, the HPA axis, BDNF expression and phosphorylation of CREB”. Brain Research
• Shrinivas K. Kulkarni et al. (2008) “Antidepressant activity of curcumin: involvement of serotonin and dopamine system”. Psychopharmacology
• Rafe Bundy et al. (2005) "Turmeric Extract May Improve Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptomology in Otherwise Healthy Adults: A Pilot Study". The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
• Betül Kocaadam et al. (2017) "Curcumin, an active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), and its effects on health". Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition