What are the Benefits of Turmeric? – Top 10 benefits of turmeric

You must have heard your mother telling you to drink turmeric milk when you feel sick, have you ever asked your mother, why? Most of us must be aware of a lot of health benefits of turmeric, and most of us still be lagging. So, let’s discuss some of its health benefits.

Turmeric is a well-known spice especially in the Indian household, which has a lot of scientifically proven health benefits. It is obtained from the rhizomes, or other flowering plants, it is mainly found in India and South Asian countries. It resembles ginger in appearance.

Turmeric not only gives curry a yellow colour but also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It contains curcumin – which gives turmeric its vibrant yellow colour. Curcumin is responsible for most of the health benefits of turmeric.

Turmeric intake has potential properties for the treatment of diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and depression. It also has proven benefits in slowing down ageing.

Despite having so many health benefits, but still it does not dissolve well in the bloodstream. It is not enough to take it in curry, if you want turmeric and curcumin to show all their health benefits you must intake some supplements.

If you intake turmeric along with black pepper, which contains a compound called piperine, which helps to make turmeric more bioavailable (which means that it makes it more absorbable for the body).

Note: Bioavailability refers to the amount of compound which can be absorbed by the body.

How to consume turmeric?

1.    Consume it with milk

Adding a pinch of turmeric to milk makes it healthier and also brings bright yellow colour to it.

2.    Consume it with vegetables and curry

Adding turmeric to the vegetables/curry while cooking adds a bright colour to them and also adds a slight peppery flavour to them.

3.    Consume it with black pepper

Taking turmeric with black pepper which contains piperine makes turmeric more absorbable for your body.

Note: It is advisable to consume 5 spoons of turmeric daily

Top 10 Benefits of turmeric

1.    Turmeric is anti-inflammatory

Turmeric is well known and popular for its anti-inflammatory properties which are present because it contains curcumin. It is scientifically proven that if taken in the right amounts curcumin treats inflammation better than any known medicines do.

Chronic inflammation results in many diseases such as pancreatitis and arthritis. Curcumin is proved to help in treating these diseases.

2.    Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant

If your body suffers oxidative damage, then you tend to age faster, and also you might be prone to many diseases.

Oxidative damage happens because of the presence of free radicals, and other highly reactive molecules which tend to react with organic molecules like DNA.

The main reason why antioxidants are essential is that they prevent our body from free radicals. Curcumin is a naturally available antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals. However, the studies were taken on animals and more clinical studies are required to prove if this is true for humans or not.

3.    Turmeric may delays diabetes

Curcumin is effective in preventing diabetes with its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and improves some of the factors associated with diabetes such as insulin resistance, high blood sugar, etc. However, again it still needs more clinical studies to prove it for humans.

Let’s take an example, A study was taken out on rats where a rat was fed with tetrahydro curcumin for 45 days and a significant decrease in blood sugar level and increase in insulin were observed.

4.    Turmeric also helps to treat depression

Curcumin helps in treating depression; to prove this a trial on 60 people was carried out where those people were divided into three groups. Group 1 took Prozac, group 2 took 1 gram of curcumin and the third group took both.

After 2 months, curcumin showed the same results as Prozac and the people taking both showed the best results. After this study, it was believed that curcumin is an effective antidepressant.

5.    Turmeric helps improve skin health

The anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and antimicrobial properties of turmeric are helpful in healing wounds, lightening the skin tone, preventing acne, and reduce the scars.

6.    Turmeric may also slow down ageing

Turmeric has the ability to fight inflammation, protect our body from free radicals, and it also prevents cells from degeneration. Thus, it helps fighting ageing problems and slows ageing down. Consumption of turmeric reduces wrinkles and fine lines.

However, there are no solid pieces of evidence to prove these benefits. Not enough studies were carried to prove these.

7.    Turmeric may also prevent cancer

Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties, as inflammation is responsible for tumour growth, curcumin helps treat a variety of cancer.

Let’s take an example; a study was taken out on mice which showed that curcumin prevents the growth of tumour cells. However, researches are still needed to be carried out to know if it is true for humans or not.

8.    Turmeric helps in treating Alzheimer’s Disease

Thanks to the anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties of turmeric, however, there are no solid pieces of evidence, though it is believed that curcumin is effective while it comes to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

 Studies have shown that curcumin can help to clear up the amyloid plaques which get build up as a result of Alzheimer’s disease.

9.    Turmeric also helps in treating Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic disorder that mainly affects the joints. It causes swelling in the joints and also bones get degraded over time.

Let’s take an example, a study was performed in which people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis were divided into three groups where group 1 was given curcumin, group 2 was given an anti-inflammatory drug, and group 3 was given both. After 2.5 months, It was observed that significant results were there in the group which was treated with curcumin only.

10. Turmeric acts as an immunity booster

Turmeric has anti-microbial properties which help protect against various diseases, even doctors also advise taking a glass full of turmeric milk while the patient gets infected with the common cold or flu.