Turmeric has tremendous medicinal value; it can be used to combat different medical conditions. It is carminative, i.e. it works as a digestive aid. It has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

An antioxidant works against cellular decay and degeneration caused by oxidation, and helps delay the ageing process. Turmeric therefore is used greatly in lotions and other medical preparations designed to fight ageing.

Turmeric can help with serious diseases

Turmeric has also been found to be effective against serious diseases. Research statistics show that there is a low incidence of prostrate cancer and also Alzheimer's disease among populations that have high intake of turmeric.

This has resulted in serious research to determine the cause for this so that it can be isolated and used to combat these debilitating and lethal illnesses.

A research finding published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology describes how turmeric helps in the maintenance of collagen fibers.

Collagen fibers are the elementary units of the connective tissue that bind the different tissues in the body, just like cement. A tissue is an assemblage of cells, which are the basic units of the body of a living being; several tissues combine to form an organ.

Free radicals

This is how it works. Stress, mental or physical, is known to affect connective tissue adversely through the formation of free radicals. In a soluble state any element, such as iron or aluminum, when consumed as part of a diet breaks up into two radicals, positive and negative.

While negative radicals are used up as building blocks during the repair and growth of cells, positive radicals work to dismantle or cause oxidation (burning out) at the cellular level, and are hence called oxidants.

A state of comfort leads to the build up of negative radicals, while discomfort, as in pain and stress, leads to the formation of positive free radicals or oxidants. Turmeric is known to bring comfort and promote the formation of negative radicals, thus working as an anti-oxidant.

Turmeric is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease

What is turmeric's role in battling Alzheimer's disease, a disease that has no known cure so far?

Research was conducted on ageing mice to determine this. Ageing mice were fed on cucurmin, and scientists found that in these mice, the cucurmin reduces the deposits of beta-amyloid proteins in the brain of ageing mice which were fed on cucurmin.

Cucurmin has also been found to prevent the accumulation of human beta-amyloid proteins which form the amyloid fibers leading to Alzheimer's plaques. Turmeric being a source of cucurmin, its importance in developing a cure for Alzheimer's is apparent. These observations have been published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

While modern medical science is only now waking up to the tremendous potential of the medicinal properties, of turmeric, ayurveda realized this potential long, long back, and has been using turmeric in its medicinal preparations for thousands of years.

Turmeric and Ayurveda >>