Turmeric, the orange-coloured spice which sometimes leaves a bright yellow stain on your clothes when you’ve had a curry, was first put under the microscope when curry-eating Asians were found to have remarkably low levels of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline. No wonder it is known in India as ‘the spice of life.’ It is also a staple in Okinawa, where it is glugged down on a daily basis as a tea.
The wonder-compound in turmeric is the powerful anti-inflammatory, curcumin. Curcumin has been shown in studies to bind to the plaques which characterize the brains of Alzheimer’s patients (1).
Curcumin has also been found in studies to be as effective as anti-inflammatory drugs, only with no side-effects, and to help treat autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease (2, 3, 4). And that’s not all. Curcumin may help prevent cancer, too, since it boosts the liver’s ability to detoxify potential cancer-causing substances and it also induces apoptosis (cell ‘suicide’) in cancer cells (5, 6).
Add a teaspoon to bean and lentil dishes, casseroles, stews, or marinades for chicken or fish; mix into cooked brown rice, or sprinkle on cauliflower. Adding black pepper improves absorption in the intestine. Turmeric is used to give mustard its color, so you can also get a dose that way. Turmeric tea makes an excellent anti-inflammatory drink – just add lemon, honey and hot water.
- Yang F, Lim GP, Begum AN, et al. Curcumin inhibits formation of amyloid beta oligomers and fibrils, binds plaques, and reduces amyloid in vivo. J Biol Chem. 2005;280(7):5892-5901.
- Deodhar SD, Sethi R, Srimal RC. Preliminary study on antirheumatic activity of curcumin (diferuloyl methane). Indian J Med Res, 1980;71:632-634.
- Hanai H, Sugimoto K. Curcumin has bright prospects for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. Curr Pharm Des. 2009;15(18):2087-94. (PubMed).
- Bright, JJ. Curcumin and autoimmune disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;595:425-51. (PubMed).
- Sharma RA, Gescher AJ, Steward WP. Curcumin: The story so far. Eur J Cancer. 2005;41(13):1955-1968. (PubMed).
- Huang MT, Lou YR, Ma W, Newmark HL, Reuhl KR, Conney AH. Inhibitory effects of dietary curcumin on forestomach, duodenal, and colon carcinogenesis in mice. Cancer Research. 1994;54(22):5841-5847. (PubMed).