BENEFITS OF TURMERIC

1. Turmeric Contains Bioactive Compounds With Powerful Medicinal Properties

Turmeric is the spice that gives curru its yellow color.
t has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice and medicinal herb.
Recently, science has started to back up what the Indians have known for a long time… it really does contain compounds with medicinal properties
These compounds are called curcuminoids, the most important of which is curcumine

Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric. It has powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a very strong antioxidant.
However, the curcumin content of turmeric is not that high… it’s around 3%, by weight.

2. Curcumin is a Natural Anti-Inflammatory Compound

Inflammation is incredibly important.
It helps the body fight foreign invaders and also has a role in repairing damage.
Without inflammation, pathogens like bacteria could easily take over our bodies and kill us.
Although acute (short-term) inflammation is beneficial, it can become a major problem when it is chronic (long-term) and inappropriately deployed against the body’s own tissues.
It is now believed that chronic, low-level inflammation plays a major role in almost every chronic, Western disease. This includes heart disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, Alzheimer’s and various degenerative conditions.

3. Turmeric Dramatically Increases The Antioxidant Capacity of The Body

Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind aging and many diseases.
It involves free radicals, highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons.
Free radicals tend to react with important organic substances, such as fatty acids, proteins or DNA.
The main reason antioxidants are so beneficial, is that they protect our bodies from free radicals.
Curcumin happens to be a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals due to its chemical structure
But curcumin also boosts the activity of the body’s own antioxidant enzymes .
In that way, curcumin delivers a one-two punch against free radicals. It blocks them directly, then stimulates the body’s own antioxidant mechanisms.

4. Curcumin Boosts Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Linked to Improved Brain Function and a Lower Risk of Brain Diseases

Back in the day, it was believed that neurons weren’t able to divide and multiply after early childhood.
However, it is now known that this does happen.
The neurons are capable of forming new connections, but in certain areas of the brain, they can also multiply and increase in number.
One of the main drivers of this process is  (BDNF), which is a type of growth hormone that functions in the brain.
Many common brain disorders have been linked to decreased levels of this hormone. This includes depression and Alzheimer’s disease
Interestingly, curcumin can increase brain levels of BDNF
By doing this, it may be effective at delaying or even reversing many brain diseases and age-related decreases in brain function
There is also the possibility that it could help improve memory and make you smarter. Makes sense given its effects on BDNF levels, but this definitely needs to be tested in human controlled trial.

5. Curcumin Leads to Various Improvements That Should Lower Your Risk of Heart Disease

Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world
It has been studied for many decades and researchers have learned a lot about why it happens.
It turns out that heart disease is incredibly complicated and there are various things that contribute to it.
Curcumin may help reverse many steps in the heart disease process .
Perhaps the main benefit of curcumin when it comes to heart disease, is improving the function of the endothelium, which is the lining of the blood vessels.
It is well known that is a major driver of heart disease and involves an inability of the endothelium to regulate pressure, blood clotting and various other factors
Several studies suggest that curcumin leads to improvements in endothelial function. One study shows that is as effective as exercise, another shows that it works as well as the drug Atorvastatin
But curcumin also reduces inflammation and oxidation (as discussed above), which are also important in heart disease.
In one study, 121 patients who were undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery were randomized to either placebo or 4 grams of curcumin per day, a few days before and after the surgery.
The curcumin group had a 65% decreased risk of experiencing a heart attack in the hospital