If you chow down on curry dishes regularly, give yourself a pat on the back (or tummy). You probably gobble the spicy stuff because it’s delicious, but here’s another good reason to load curry sauce on your veggies: turmeric, the main ingredient in curry, is proving to have numerous health benefits. Ounce for ounce, few spices can compete with the health-promoting effects of turmeric. Commonly used in curry sauces in South Asian cuisine, this golden yellow spice is showing up with increasing frequency in medical journals all over the world as researchers identify the many health attributes of turmeric.
A teaspoon of turmeric a day can keep cancers at bay. The good old grandmother’s practice of putting a pinch of turmeric to spice and spruce up curries has now proved to be also protecting the human body.
Turmeric has anti-cancer properties and is known to protect the body from developing cancers. Curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, has been able to work miracles in even reversing cancers. Lots of studies in the world have shown that curcumin is a powerful anti-oxidant and can prevent cell damage that leads to cancers. Painting turmeric in the inner cheeks has led to preventing mouth cancers in women who have the habit of reverse smoking.
Dr Merina Benny Anthony, PHD, specialization in Plant Biochemistry, Dept. of Biochemistry University Centre, Kariavattom, who has done a research study on Curcumin extract said “Curcumin has been shown to inhibit the estrogen mimicking pesticide recedues in the food, water, fruits, milk, vegetables etc. Today, there are capsules available in the market that’s 100 percent turmeric extract. One such capsule is available in Kerala market which is known as Biocurcumax.
The Curcumin present in Biocurcumax has 6 fold bio-availability compared to normal curcumin. Human body requires 400 mg of curcumin every day for its full benefits which is available from 10 gm turmeric in the diet or 2000 mg of curcumin capsule/tablet. The same 400 mg of curcumin is available from single capsule of Biocurcumax. The intake of just one capsule of biocurcumax is equivalent to 10 gms of raw turmeric the recommended dosage in Ayurveda.”
Dr Merina Benny Anthony also faulted the change in lifestyle to the growing incidence of cancer worldwide saying, “there has been a sharp increase in cancers all over the world, especially in developing countries like India. The burden of cancer is going to be enormous in the coming decades.”
The only way to protect the human body against cancers is the three “N” formula– nature, nurture and nutrition. Eating natural foods rich in riboflavin, selenium and vitamin a can reduce the incidence of cancers. Micronutrients present in fruits and vegetables too play a major role in checking the incidence.
Here’s the lowdown on some of the most promising research to date.
Cancer