The Super-Benefits of Turmeric Spice

India is the home of Ayurveda, recognized as an authoritative source ofknowledge and truth in natural health promotion -- with herbs and spices lyingat the very heart of Ayurvedic practice. So it would make perfect sense toconsider using herbs that were grown in India if you are considering Ayurvedicherbs

How this Ancient Spice Originated Thousands of Years Ago (Tumeric)

That is one of the reasons I traveled over 15,000 miles to India last year --to find a high quality source of these herbs. During this trip to India, Iwitnessed firsthand how this Ayurvedic holistic approach and organic processeswork in unison.And of the many herbs and spices I studied, one in particular caught myimmediate attention. The herb is called turmeric, and it can provide you wholeperson health benefits:

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Supports your healthy joint function*

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Promotes your radiant skin*

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Helps improve your digestion*

And much more...Now, there is some debate about the timing of turmeric's first use as a healthyspice.But one thing is certain. Thousands of years ago, people in India and Chinaused the spice. In fact, some stories suggest usage dates back 10,000 years inIndia when they say Lord Rama walked the earth.And the ancient Polynesians carried turmeric with them on their incrediblevoyage across the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii. Today, Hawaiians still use thisspice -- known to them as Olena.While in China, Marco Polo in 1280 AD recorded information on turmeric in hisdiary:

There is also a vegetable which has all the properties of truesaffron, as well the smell as the color, and yet it is not really saffron

."So, turmeric has been used as a substitute for saffron (an old world spice) inEurope for over 700 years.One of the

main healthful ingredients in turmeric is curcumin

(a curcuminoid),which gives turmeric its yellow color.Western scientists first isolated the curcumin molecule in 1815, obtained itscrystalline form in 1870, and determined its overall structure in 1910.Curcumin can potentially benefit you by:Promoting your immune system against stress*

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Helping maintain your healthy digestive system*

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Supporting your healthy bones, joints, and overall skeletal system*

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Helping you maintain cholesterol levels that are already within thenormal range*

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Promoting your healthy blood and liver functions*

Wikipedia authorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcuminstates:

Potential medical uses

Turmeric has been used historically as a component ofIndian Ayurvedic medicinesince 1,900 BCE to treat a wide variety of ailments.[8]Research in the latter half of the 20th century has identified curcumin asresponsible for most of the biological activity of turmeric.[8]

In vitro

and animal studies have suggested a wide range of potential therapeutic orpreventive effects associated with curcumin. At present, these effectshave not been confirmed in humans. However, as of 2008, numerousclinical trialsin humans were underway, studying the effect of curcumin onnumerous diseases includingmultiple myeloma,pancreatic cancer, myelodysplastic syndromes,colon cancer,psoriasisandAlzheimer's disease.[9]

In vitro

and animal studies have suggested the curcumin may haveantitumor,[10] [11] antioxidant,antiarthritic,anti-amyloid, anti- ischemic[12]andanti-inflammatoryproperties.[13]Anti-inflammatory properties may be due to inhibition ofeicosanoidbiosynthesis.[14]In

addition it may be effective in treatingmalaria, prevention ofcervical cancer, and may interfere with the replication of theHIVvirus.[15]In HIV, it appears to act by interfering withP300/CREB-binding protein (CBP).It is alsohepatoprotective.[16]A 2008 study atMichigan State Universityshowed that low concentrations of curcumin interfere withHerpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1)replication.[17]The same study showed that curcumin inhibited the recruitment ofRNA polymerase IIto viral DNA, thusinhibiting thetranscriptionof the viral DNA.[17]This effect was shown to be independent of effect on histone acetyltransferase activities ofp300/CBP.[17]A previous (1999) study performed atUniversity of Cincinnatiindicated that curcumin is significantly associated withprotection from infection by HSV-2 in animal models of intravaginalinfections.[18]

Curcumin acts as a free radical scavenger and antioxidant, inhibiting glutathione S-transferase [19] and oxidative DNA damage.

Curcuminoidsinduce and are potent inhibitors ofcytochrome P450.

Its potential anticancer effects stem from its ability to induceapoptosis in cancer cells without cytotoxic effects on healthy cells.

Curcumin caninterfere with the activity of the transcription factorNF-κB, which hasbeen linked to a number of inflammatory diseases such ascancer.[20] Indeed, when 0.2% curcumin is added to diet given to rats or micepreviously given a carcinogen, it significantly reduces coloncarcinogenesis (Data from sixteen scientific articles reported in theChemoprevention Database). A 2009 study suggests that curcumin may inhibitmTORcomplex I via a novel mechanism.[21]. A 2004 UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered micesuggests that curcumin might inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta-amyloid in the brains ofAlzheimer's diseasepatients and also break upexisting plaques associated with the disease.[22]There is also circumstantial evidence that curcumin improves mentalfunctions; a survey of 1010 Asian people who ateyellow curryand werebetween the ages of 60 and 93 showed that those who ate the sauce "onceevery six months" or more had higherMMSEresults than those who did not.[23]From a scientific standpoint, though, this does not show whether thecurry caused it, or people who had healthy habits also tended to eat thecurry, or some completely different relationship.Numerous studies have demonstrated that curcumin, amongst only a few otherthings such as high impact exercise, learning, bright light, andantidepressant usage, has a positive effect on neurogenesis in thehippocampusand concentrations ofbrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), reductions in both of which are associated with stress,