If you like Superfoods, you're gonna fall in love with Turmeric!
Turmeric is not often used in Western culture but its popularity is growing fast, and with very good reason. In the East, its medicinal properties have been known for many years and it is used in Indian and Chineese medicine too.
So what is all of the fuss about Turmeric?
Is it 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 lower your cholesterol level
The active ingredient in turmeric that is responsible for all of its remarkable health benefits is curcumin. Curcumin helps to reduce your cholesterol levels in three very powerful ways. First, it boosts the efficiency of LDL cholesterol by increasing the receptors. Second, it prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol due to its antioxidant properties and third, it decreases the time that cholesterol spends in the blood stream. All of which add up to greatly improved cardiovascular health.
2. Lowers the pain from (and spread of) arthritis
In laboratory tests, the curcumin that is found in turmeric was found to be just as effective as a traditional anti-inflammatory medicine for joint stiffness. Incorporating turmeric to your food plan can have a considerable impact on the quality of your life. Likewise, the antioxidant qualities found in curcumin will help to get rid of free radicals from the body. Free radicals are extremely troublesome for sufferers of arthritis because they cause damage to cell membranes which is one of the main causes of joint pain.
3. Maintains healthy thyroid function
Thyroid problems are incredibly widespread in todays society and can contribute to all manor of issues, including weight gain, dry skin, constipation, numbness or tingling in the hands brittle nails, and even thinning hair. A vital mineral which is essential for proper thyroid function is Manganese. Turmeric is full of Manganese and helps you to make a substantial step towards a healthier thyroid. Given the list of symptoms that are caused by an incorrectly functioning thyroid, its a very good idea for you health, well-being and future medical fees to incorporate turmeric to your diet regime.
4. Reduces inflammation and pain
When compared to medical anti-inflammatories, curcumin (which is found in turmeric) wins hands down. The compounds that produce pain and inflammation are known as mediators, and they hunt in packs! Most traditional anti-inflammatories or NSAIDs target a couple of these mediators but curcumin targets dozens! The result… more efficient, organic and complete pain release, and non of the terrible side affects linked with conventional treatments!
5. (Very likely) Enhances your memory and makes you smarter!
A food that might make you intelligent ? I don't think anything can make a food more worthy of the prestigious title 'SuperFood' than its capacity to increase your intelligence.
The curcumin in turmeric strengthens brain performance and lowers the risk of brain disease by promoting the neurotrophic factor. As we grow, neurons build new connections and our potential to understand and remember more information increases. The 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 disorders, such as Alzheimers and depression.
Curcumin increases BDNF levels, which will help our brains do what they are intended to do… grow, understand more things and make us wiser, although additional research is needed to show that we actually do get smarter. An increase of BDNF could also postpone, and probably even reverse, the affects of several age-related brain functioning complications.
6. Can help to prevent, and potential even treat, cancer
During lab tests on animals, curcumin was shown to lessen metastasis (the spread of cancer) lessen angiogenesis (the growth of blood vessels in tumors) and even kill cancerous cells. During a further study (this time on humans) curcumin lowered colon lesions in 44 adult males by 40% over a period of 30 days. Although this study wasn't on men actually suffering with cancer, colon lesions can become cancerous, so it's a considerable indicator that curcumin could quite possibly help prevent cancer.
7. A natural beauty treatment
Up to now we've reviewed some of the incredible health benefits of turmeric, but did you know it can make you more beautiful too!
For thousands of years women in Asia have been using turmeric as a natural beauty treatment. Its powerful beautifying characteristics have been praised for their power to help reduce acne, treat eczema, remove dark circles from beneath the eyes, lessen the physical appearance of signs of aging, diminish scarring and even remove sun spots.