7 health benefits of Turmeric/ haldi.

Turmeric

7 health benefits of turmeric / haldi. Turmeric is a deep, golden-orange spice known for adding color, flavor and nutrition to foods. A relative of ginger, turmeric comes from the rhizome (root) of a native Asian plant and has been used in cooking for hundreds of years. It has also been used in ayurvedic and other forms of traditional medicine in China and India.

Many high-quality studies show that turmeric has major benefits for your body and brain. Many of these benefits come from its main active ingredient, curcumin.

7 health benefits of turmeric

 1. Curcumin /turmeric may lower your risk of heart disease

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the world . Researchers have studied it for many decades and learned a lot about why it happens. Unsurprisingly, heart disease is incredibly complicated and various things contribute to it.

Curcumin may help reverse many steps in the heart disease process .

Perhaps the main benefit of curcumin when it comes to heart disease is improving the function of the endothelium, the lining of your blood vessels .

The endothelial dysfunction is a major driver of heart disease. This is when your endothelium is unable to regulate blood pressure, blood clotting, and various other factors .

2. Cancer

In lab and animal studies, turmeric has stopped the growth of tumor cells, helped detoxifying enzymes work better, and more. What these studies can’t tell us, though, is what will happen in the human body when a person eats turmeric. Plus, there’s a chance that turmeric might interfere with some chemotherapy drugs.

In a 30-day study in 44 men with lesions in the colon that sometimes turn cancerous, 4 grams of curcumin per day reduced the number of lesions by 40% .

Studies have shown that it can :

• contribute to the death of cancerous cells
• reduce angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels in tumors)
• reduce metastasis (spread of cancer)

3. Headaches

Since its relative ginger is a well-known natural headache remedy, it’s no surprise that turmeric gets recommended as a headache treatment, too — especially for migraines. Although people sing its praises online, there’s little scientific evidence showing that turmeric can treat or prevent headaches, although one study suggests it could be part of a new approach.

4. Depression

Several compounds in turmeric may support your health. The most well-known of these is curcumin. Scientists are excited about curcumin’s potential to ease depression and help antidepressants work better. But so far, research results have been mixed. Depression is also linked to reduced levels of BDNF and a shrinking hippocampus, a brain area with a role in learning and memory. Curcumin can help boost BDNF levels, potentially reversing some of these changes .

5. Type 2 diabetes

Because curcumin can help fight inflammation and keep blood sugar levels steady, it could be a useful tool to prevent or treat type 2 diabetes. One study followed 240 adults with prediabetes and found that taking a curcumin supplement over 9 months lowered their odds of developing diabetes. Research is ongoing, but a lot of the studies so far have been on animals, not people.

6.Turmeric can increase the antioxidant capacity of the body

Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the mechanisms behind aging and many diseases.

It involves free radicals, highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons. Free radicals tend to react with important organic substances, such as fatty acids, proteins, or DNA.

The main reason antioxidants are so beneficial is that they protect your body from free radicals.

Curcumin is a potent antioxidant that can neutralize free radicals due to its chemical structure .

In addition, animal and cellular studies suggest that curcumin may block the action of free radicals and may stimulate the action of other antioxidants. Further clinical studies are needed in humans to confirm these benefits .

7. Viral infection

The next time you’re under the weather, you may want to sip some turmeric tea. Curcumin might help you to fight off a variety of viruses, including herpes and the flu. (But most of the research on this was done in a lab, not on people.) Keep in mind that turmeric is only about 3% curcumin, and your body doesn’t absorb curcumin well, so the occasional cup of tea won’t be a cure-all.

Turmeric side effects:

The next time you’re under the weather, you may want to sip some turmeric tea. Curcumin might help you to fight off a variety of viruses, including herpes and the flu. (But most of the research on this was done in a lab, not on people.) Keep in mind that turmeric is only about 3% curcumin, and your body doesn’t absorb curcumin well, so the occasional cup of tea won’t be a cure-all.