If you love Superfoods, you'll be in love with Turmeric!
Turmeric is not commonly used in Western culture but its popularity is growing fast, and with good reason. In the East, its medicinal properties have been known for centuries and it's used in Indian and Chineese medicines.
So what is all of the fuss with Turmeric?
Is it really worthy of its place in our SuperFood hall of fame? Let's take a look and find out 7 incredible benefits of adding Turmeric to your diet…
1. Turmeric can decrease your cholesterol level
Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric that's responsible for its remarkable health benefits. Curcumin reduces cholesterol level in three very powerful ways. First, it helps to boost the efficiency of LDL cholesterol by increasing the receptors. Second, it stops the oxidation of LDL cholesterol due to its antioxidant properties and third, it cuts down the time that cholesterol spends in the blood stream. All of which leads to greatly improved cardiovascular health.
2. Reduce the pain from (and the spread of) arthritis
During laboratory tests, the curcumin that is found in turmeric was just as effective as a traditional anti-inflammatory treatment for joint stiffness. Adding turmeric to your food plan can have a substantial impact on the quality of your life. Furthermore, the antioxidant qualities in curcumin will help to wipe out free radicals from the body. Free radicals can be particularly troublesome for people with arthritis because they cause damage to cell membranes which is one of the main causes of joint pain.
3. Maintains healthy thyroid function
Thyroid complications are incredibly common in todays society and can lead to all kinds of issues, including weight gain, thinning hair, dry skin, brittle nails, numbness or tingling in the hands and even constipation. Manganese is a vital mineral which is essential for correct thyroid function. Turmeric is full of Manganese and can help you to make a great step towards a healthier thyroid. Given the huge list of symptoms (and we only touched on a few, there are many many more) that are associated with a poorly functioning thyroid, its a good idea for you health, general well-being and future medical expenses to include turmeric to your diet plan.
4. Reduces inflammation and pain
When compared to medical anti-inflammatories, curcumin wins hands down. The compounds that produce pain and inflammation are mediators, and they hunt in packs! Most medical anti-inflammatories or NSAIDs only target a couple of these mediators but curcumin targets dozens! The result… more efficient, natural and total pain alleviation, and non of the nasty side affects linked with standard treatments!
5. (Very probably) Increases your memory and helps make you wiser!
A food that might make you smart ? I don't think much else can make something more worthy of the esteemed title 'SuperFood' than its ability to enhance your intelligence.
Curcumin boosts brain performance and decreases the risk of brain disease by promoting the neurotrophic factor. As we grow, neurons build new connections and our ability to understand and remember more information increases. The growth hormone that facilitates this process is called the brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF). Decreased levels of this hormone have been linked to many widespread brain conditions, such as Alzheimers and depression.
Curcumin increases BDNF levels, which will help our brains do what they are meant to do… grow, understand more things and make us more intelligent, although more research is needed to verify that we really do get smarter. An increase of BDNF could also prevent, and maybe even reverse, the affects of many age-related brain functioning conditions.
6. Can help to prevent, and potential even treat, cancer
During clinical tests on animals, curcumin (found in turmeric) was shown to decrease metastasis (the spread of cancer) decrease angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels in tumors) and even kill cancerous cells. During a second study (this time on human beings) curcumin lowered colon lesions in 44 adult males by 40% over a period of 30 days. Although the study wasn't on men that were actually suffering with cancer, colon lesions can become cancerous, so it's a considerable indication that curcumin could quite possibly help protect against cancer.
7. A natural beauty treatment
So far we've reviewed some of the powerful health benefits of turmeric, but did you know it can make you more beautiful as well!
For centuries women in Asia have used turmeric as a natural beauty treatment. Its powerful beautifying qualities have been praised for their power to reduce acne, treat eczema, reduce dark circles from below the eyes, lessen the physical appearance of wrinkles, reduce scarring and even remove sun spots.