Turmeric has a historical usage in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicines for improving liver function and gastrointestinal problems. The primary active constituents are polyphenol compounds called curcuminoids, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may discourage the development of inflammatory bowel and joint conditions, inflammation-related metabolic disorders and liver problems. However, the health and physiological benefits of turmeric are somewhat limited by the poor water-solubility and low absorption efficiency of curcuminoids.
Turmeric is a rhizome, or underground stem, of Curcuma longa, a ginger family-related shrub grown predominantly in India, Asia and Africa. The dried rhizomes can be ground into a yellow-orange powder and used as a cooking spice. Turmeric is also used in teas and liquid extracts, capsules, foods such as mustard, spices such as curry powder and even as a topical paste to aid wound healing. Curcumin is one type of curcuminoid in turmeric. Curcumin is used traditionally to treat illnesses such as rheumatism, intestinal worms, liver disease and amenorrhea.
The curcumin in turmeric generally tends to suppress the processes of inflammation. A study published in “Alternative Medicine Review” describes improvement of osteoarthritis in the knees of human subjects receiving 200 milligrams per day of curcumin. In this study, curcumin was combined in tablets with phosphatidylcholine to improve intestinal absorption and the efficacy of curcumin's physiological benefits. A separate study published in the “Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine” reports a reduction in the pain and discomfort due to inflammation in human subjects with irritable bowel syndrome given a turmeric extract daily for eight weeks.
Inflammation-Related Metabolic Diseases
Obesity, Type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease are all inflammation-related disorders. If you are overweight, white blood cells may infiltrate your fatty tissues and produce inflammatory compounds that in turn circulate in your blood. A review published in the “Annual Review of Nutrition” suggests that curcumin could reduce the level of inflammatory compound production in fatty tissues. Curcumin may also reduce fat by stimulating fatty acid burning for energy. The anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in your tissues may consequently improve glucose metabolism and help to prevent artery disease.
Specialized liver cells called stellate cells play an important role in the way your liver responds to damage or injury. Stellate cells can be chronically activated by fat accumulation in your liver, and activated stellate cells produce dangerous fibrous proteins that can eventually cause damage leading to cirrhosis. The activity of an anti-inflammatory protein called PPAR gamma is greatly reduced in activated stellate cells, which increases liver inflammation. Curcumin may decrease liver inflammation by stimulating PPAR gamma activity, which causes stellate cells to regress to a non-active, quiescent state, according to a study published in “Endocrinology.”
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Turmeric
- MedlinePlus: Turmeric
- Archives of Physiology and Biochemistry: Role of Curcumin in Health and Disease
- Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology: Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Curcumin
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Curcumin – Getting Back to the Roots
- Alternative Medicine Review: Efficacy and Safety of Meriva, a Curcumin-Phosphatidylcholine Complex, During Extended Administration in Osteoarthritis Patients
- Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine: Turmeric Extract May Improve Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptomology in Otherwise Healthy Adults – A Pilot Study
- Annual Review of Nutrition: Targeting Inflammation-Induced Obesity and Metabolic Diseases by Curcumin and Other Nutraceuticals
- American Journal of Physiology – Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology: Regulation of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Gamma in Liver Fibrosis
- Endocrinology: Curcumin Eliminates Leptin’s Effects on Hepatic Stellate Cell Activation via Interrupting Leptin Signaling
- Physiological Reviews: Hepatic Stellate Cells: Protean, Multifunctional, and Enigmatic Cells of the Liver
- Nutrition, Metabolism, and Cardiovascular Diseases: From Chronic Overfeeding to Hepatic Injury – Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Inflammation
- Diabetes and Metabolism Journal: Clinical Relevance of Adipokines
- Turmeric in White Bowl: 3 image by Leena Damle from Fotolia.com