Turmeric is a tuber in the ginger family with a vibrant golden hue and a mild, earthy taste. It’s a standard ingredient in Indian cuisine as a major component of curry, and is even used in American foods, like mustard, thanks to its bright coloring. The subtly warming flavor of turmeric lends itself nicely to many types of dishes and can add a vivacious glow to any plate.
Fortunately, this vivacity brings lots of health benefits when enjoying it with your daily meals. Here are 8 amazing health benefits of turmeric.
1. Soothes Inflammation
When the body is working to combat something, be it a virus, mild infection, or something more serious, inflammation occurs. Inflammation can be uncomfortable and can make you feel ill all over. There’s even research to suggest that there could be a link between inflammation and depression.
Turmeric can help to alleviate this and has even been given to surgery patients to bring down the inflammation that occurs as a result of the operation.
2. Fights Signs of Aging
The powerful antioxidant agents in turmeric can help curb the progression of UV and other environmental damage to the skin, which speeds up the appearance of the aging process. So essentially, adding a little gold powder to your menu is sort of like like sipping from the fountain of youth.
3. Helps Prevent Cancer
Anti-carcinogenic properties of turmeric makes it a cancer fighter. Curcumin, one of the active ingredients in turmeric, has been shown in studies to both prevent cancer cell growth and kill existing cancer cells. Particular cancers that seem to respond to curcumin are breast, bowel, stomach and skin cancers.
Of course, while enjoying turmeric as a preventative measure and eating it if you’re already battling cancer is probably a great idea, it’s not suggested that you ignore all other treatment methods. Talk to your doctor about adding turmeric to your anti-cancer regimen.
4. Protects Against Neurodegenerative Diseases
Curcumin again plays a role here through decreasing the degradation of neurons and fighting inflammation and free radicals, among other things.
What this means is diseases that affect the neurological systems such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s, can be curtailed and even combated through eating more of this wonderful herb!
5. Fights Bacterial Infections
Turmeric also contains antimicrobial components, which can mean it will help you combat a cold, or fight off a more serious bacterial infection. It also boosts the immune system, which gives your body even more of a fighting chance to take care of any foreign invaders.
6. Supports the Reproductive System
Turmeric alleviates inflammatory conditions including autoimmune fertility health conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, uterine fibroids and others.
Through its many healthy qualities including anti-oxidization of the body, it also protects and supports the liver. A healthy liver is essential for normal hormone regulation, which means reproductive stability.
7. Modulates the Immune System
Along similar lines, it also could help prevent and cure immune deficiencies and ease autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and MS.
Again, any time you’re battling serious illness, it’s always best to discuss the possibilities with your doctor, but look into the potential of this wonder-herb as part of your management routine.
8. Helps You Lose Weight
Curcumin actually blocks fat storage, so you can use it to help you slim down or maintain your weight! Of course there is no magic pill. You won’t be able to eat mounds of fatty, sugary foods and hope to offset it with a sprinkling of turmeric, but by eating sensibly and adding turmeric to your diet, you’ll have a leg up on weight loss and health over all.
There are lots of great benefits of turmeric, and lots of great ways to enjoy it. Add the dried powder to sauces, dips and spreads, or just sprinkle a little over stir fries. If you can get a hold of the raw form, it can be juiced with fruits and veggies for an extra health kick.
