Benefits of Turmeric
At Lushington Chiropractic in Eastbourne, we help many of our guests with lots of different neuromusculoskeletal (nerves, muscles and joints) problems and often provide lifestyle and health advice too. You may have heard of Turmeric as a supplement or seen it on our product shelf. What is Turmeric and what are the benefits of taking it?
To fully understand what the benefits of Turmeric are, we first need to talk about where the spice comes from and what is contained within the tablets in the supplement form.
What is Turmeric?
Turmeric is the spice that gives curries their strong yellow colour. It was first discovered thousands of years ago as having health benefits in India. It was used as a herbal medicine. More recently, scientists have discovered its medicinal benefits and how important the spice can be for our health and wellbeing.
Turmeric is part of the ginger family and it is the root of the plant that is used to create the powder or supplement. Turmeric contains compounds called curcuminoids and it is the active ingredient of curcumin which provides Turmeric with it’s health benefits.
Curcumin is a strong antioxidant and contains powerful anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric as a spice only contains around 3% curcumins which is why Turmeric supplements in the form of tablets with higher concentrations of curcumins can be found on the shelves of many health food shops.
In order to gain the biggest benefit from Turmeric supplements, we recommend Lamberts Turmeric tablets which contain up to 95% Curcumins.
What are the Health Benefits of Turmeric?
The anti-inflammatory effects of curcumins are probably the most well known and most potent health benefits from taking Turmeric tablets.
Inflammation is the body’s natural immune response. It helps us to fight off nasty bacteria or viruses when we have an infection or when we have an injury. This type of immune response usually only lasts for a few days or weeks and is known as short-term inflammation. Short-term inflammation is beneficial to humans. It helps stop viruses and bacteria from taking over the body and to aid the healing process when we are injured.
Inflammation which lasts much longer than a few weeks (long-term inflammation) is the cause of many autoimmune illnesses and can be detrimental to our health in many ways. Conditions such as arthritis, heart disease and psoriasis involve long-term inflammation.
Research suggests that Turmeric as an anti-inflammatory supplement can help reduce these levels of long-term inflammation and can actually reduce the levels of pain felt with certain conditions involving inflammation.
Curcumins also have a powerful antioxidant component. Antioxidants are substances that prevent cell damage (oxidative stress) by free radicals, which are produced by the body under stress or inflammation (e.g. smoking, stress, excessive exercise, radiation, pollution, etc.).
Oxidative stress has been linked to heart disease, cancer, arthritis and many other conditions due to the negative effects it has on the cells in the body.
Antioxidant substances are said to neutralise or ‘bond’ with free radicals to limit their cell damage capabilities. There is some research which suggests a reduced risk of certain diseases with consumption of antioxidant substances.
You should always read the full product label before taking any supplements.
Please feel free to ask any questions or to book a consultation with myself. Please call us at the clinic in Eastbourne, con 01323 722499.
Yours in Health,
References
Aggarwal, B.B., Yuan, W., Li, S. and Gupta, S.C., 2013. Curcumin‐free turmeric exhibits anti‐inflammatory and anticancer activities: Identification of novel components of turmeric. Molecular nutrition & food research, 57(9), pp.1529-1542.
Maroon, J.C., Bost, J.W. and Maroon, A., 2010. Natural anti-inflammatory agents for pain relief. Surgical neurology international, 1.
Jayaprakasha, G.K., Rao, L.J. and Sakariah, K.K., 2006. Antioxidant activities of curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Food chemistry, 98(4), pp.720-724.
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