Saturday, December 14, 2013

Curcumin: Mechanism, Medicinal Uses and Health Benefits

Two sections in here that are of interest for us. You'll have to ask your doctor if this is needed to be in foods rather than supplements.
http://www.medical-reference.net/2013/12/curcumin-medicinal-and-health-benefits.html
Others are; Pain, Treat Cancer, Diabetes, Skin Care and Wound Healing
1.  Curcumin for Heart Disease
Because of curcumin’s potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, many early researchers predicted it as a promising ingredient in several heart diseases. Moreover, as Curcumin halts platelets from clumping together, it is thought to inhibit blood clots from building up in arteries. Surprisingly, in recent years, the prediction came true.

A study published in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research is now suggesting that long-term curcumin administration can effectively help prevent atherosclerosis by lowering plasma and hepatic cholesterol. The study compared the cholesterol lowering effect of curcumin with the synthetic drug lovastatin (an antihypertensive drug used to reduce risk of cardiovascular disease). According to the study findings, it was shown to lower the cholesterol level nearly as effective as lovastatin. (4) 


2.  Curcumin for Alzheimer’s disease 
According to several recent researches, curcumin is also proved as a promising ingredient in Alzheimer’s disease. As curcumin can act on the blood-brain barrier to exert its therapeutic effect, it is also speculated that it might inhibit the formation of amyloid plaque. Based on the results of a study, scientists have already suggested that the occurrence of Alzheimer`s disease among the senior residents of India, where turmeric powder is regularly used in most foods, is considerably lesser than their western relatives. (8)

Another experimental study done to evaluate the effectiveness of curcumin in Alzheimer’s disease found that curcumin was successful in reducing the levels of beta amyloid proteins. More interestingly, according to the study result, it was able to shrink the accumulated plaque sizes up to 30%. (9) 

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