Ayurveda people, hold onto your hats. Science is backing up what Ayurveda has to say about turmeric!
A pretty extensive amount of studies (about 5,600 peer reviewed studies, actually) have all concluded that turmeric is great for you, and can even be compared to ten conventional medicines.
Besides being an anti-inflammatory, turmeric is being found to have way more medicinal benefits. Curcumins, an active ingredient in turmeric, are what makes it particularly effective in medicine.
Some of the drugs that turmeric could be equated with are Lipitor (for cholesterol), Prozac (an anti-depressant), Metformin (diabetes), Oxaliplatin (chemotherapy), and aspirin. All of these relate in one way or another to turmeric's anti-inflammatory properties, which are due to the amount of curcumins present.
Turmeric's medicinal properties are still under study, despite the amount of studies that have already been done. But just think of all the possibilities! For example, turmeric is being heavily researched in cancer studies, as curcumin has shown to induce cell death in cells that are resistant to other treatments.
This means that cancer research, especially in relation to patients who are resistant to certain drugs, could advance with the help of this wonderful yellow spice.
However, please don't automatically replace your normal medication with turmeric. Always talk to a doctor first before making a decision to get rid of medication that you need. But this doesn't mean you can't incorporate turmeric into your regular diet!
Instead of self-medicating with teaspoons of turmeric, look for a recipe that has turmeric in it, or create one yourself! Using spices that have awesome health benefits in your everyday cooking for prevention purposes is usually better than trying to self-medicate when you develop a real problem.
Here's to a bright (yellow) future with turmeric!
Do you have a favorite way to incorporate turmeric into your diet? Share with us below!