More Good News on Turmeric!
We have talked about the importance of turmeric as an anti-inflammatory, but it has many other benefits as well!
Kitchen Medicine And Potent Anti-Inflammatory: Turmeric
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is a semi-tropical rhizhome which has been popular in East Asian curried dishes and other forms of cuisine for many centuries. The plants look like small ginger roots. Most folks will buy Turmeric in powdered form, but if you get the fresh roots, peel away the outer skin and chop finely. Beware! This deeply pigmented kitchen medicine will stain cutting boards and clothing. It is actually the deep yellow-orange pigment, a bioflavonoid, which confers the health-promoting attributes of this marvelous root. Turmeric first came on the US national scene as a medicinal substance a few years ago when the popular prescription anti-inflammatory Vioxx was pulled from the market because of an ominous trend towards causing increased heart attacks… in fact, there have been some Italian studies which compared Vioxx and Turmeric head-to-head for anti-inflammatory power, and Turmeric performed just as well, with no side-effects.”
The article goes on to say that turmeric can be beneficial for the control of blood sugar (along with cinnamon and chromium.) Plus, check this out!
“Oncologists, in particular, have taken an interest in Turmeric because they discovered, about a decade ago, that primary tumors (which can usually be cured, surgically) are much more likely to spread (metastasize) into compromised, or inflamed, tissues. In other words, when a primary tumor exists, it will secrete microscopic cancer cells into the general circulation. If these cancer cells “seed†new tissue, then we have secondary growth of the cancer and the disease is now considered systemic. Treatment becomes much more complicated, and the prognosis for survival worsens. Oncologists are very interested in preventing metastatic disease, and therefore have taken to using anti-inflammatories in their patients, to reduce the chance of micro-metastases becoming established. Healthy tissue is more likely to perform competently. The immune surveillance mechanism (white blood cell identification and destruction of pathogens – be they viruses, bacteria, indigestible food, or cancerous cells) remains viable in healthy tissue, by definition. Some speculate that the reason east India has relatively low cancer rates, despite terrible pollution problems, is that the general population eats a lot of turmeric, regularly.”
So, consider turmeric! A healthy and beneficial natural spice!
The FDA (no friend of the natural health community) has long fought the use of the natural herb stevia rebaudiana in foods and beverages. Most industry watchers believe that this is due to the fact that the sugar and artificial sweetener lobbyists hold sway in the halls of the government. After all, stevia is a natural herb that has been used for thousands of years with no ill effects by hundreds of thousands, in fact, probably millions of people, with no ill effects. In fact, stevia can strengthen teeth, supports the heart muscle, and has no glycemic, or caloric value… yet it is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar… it would seem to be an answer to prayer for many facing obesity! Yet, the FDA will not allow it to be used as a sweetener. It can only be used as a “supplement.” And, many companies have, in fact, re-labeled their products as “supplements” to get around this conspiracy to keep a safe herbal alternative from consumers. Hain Celestial Teas recently applied to the FDA to allow them to use stevia as a sweetener in their beverages, however, the FDA has responded by “firing a new volley” in the war to prevent the use of this alternative from being used! This, in spite of the fact that in other countries, such as Japan, stevia is a common sweetener in foods. In fact, stevia makes up 40% of the sweetener market in Japan!