Turmeric: It Takes Care Of Your Brain And Neurons

Turmeric is one of the most common spices used in almost all parts of India. Turmeric spices are mainly derived from the roots of the turmeric plant also called Curcuma longa and belong to classes of plant species similar to that of ginger. Turmeric does not only add a yellowish color to dishes, especially to curries but also possesses a good number of medicinal properties. For instance, it contains chemical components like curcumin, which is significantly known to reduce swelling and also helps to treat chronic and joint pains, bone-related disorders like in your body. Moreover, turmeric contains anti-inflammatory properties that also help to prevent the occurrences of chronic inflammatory diseases.

All You Need To Know About Turmeric

Turmeric powder, derived from the roots of turmeric plants are used to treat various serious ailments since the ancient ages. It is bright yellow or orange in color because they contain high amounts of health-beneficial plant-based components like curcuminoids. It has a taste that is bitter, warm, and peppery. Turmeric is primarily rich in nutritional components like carbohydrates, mostly starch, and dietary fiber. Turmeric roots are known to contain health extracts that can treat severe diseases like high fevers, cough and cold, high cholesterol, several types of liver diseases, symptoms of skin diseases like rashes, irritation, and skin itching.

Health Effects Of Turmeric

1.Helps to Cure Inflammation: Chronic inflammations can be extremely concerning and can cause severe damage to your body cells and tissues. Recent studies show that when your body suffers from chronic inflammatory diseases, such conditions can also lead to some other severe diseases in your bodies like the following:

• heart disease
• cancer
• metabolic syndrome
• various degenerative conditions
• Alzheimer’s disease

For this reason, it is very important to consume health-beneficial substances in your diet to reduce chronic inflammatory diseases and thus check the occurrences of some other serious disorders. Moreover, recent studies are now showing that turmeric powder contains essential bioactive compounds that are potential enough to fight inflammation. However, very high doses are required to produce medicinal results.

2. Increases Antioxidants in Your Body: Sometimes your body undergoes some functions like oxidative damage which is considered to be responsible for the occurrences of various severe diseases in your body. Diseases causing highly reactive compounds, called free radicals combine with the essential organic substances in your body, for example with fatty acids, protein components, or genetic materials like chromosomes and DNA, and often result in occurrences of serious diseases. Studies say that extracts of turmeric powder are found to contain essential antioxidants that help to protect your body from the oxidative damage and damage of body cells and tissues, caused by disease-causing free radicals and can thus deactivate the functions of free radicals by their chemical combinations and structure.

3. Takes Good Care Of Your Brain And Neurons: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), present in turmeric extracts, is considered by many scientists and experts as one of the most important proteins and the key component that helps nerve cells or neurons that forms new connections in certain areas of the brain, they can multiply themselves to increase in number and thus protects the life of neurons for a prolonged period of time. This essential protein component is also recommended by experts to improve memory and learning, logic improvement, attention, increase brain skills, and for overall brain development and for maintaining proper functioning of your brain and nerve cells, thus taking care of the entire nervous system. In fact, recent studies are showing that BDNF protein helps to maintain stable mental health and treat mental health disorders like depression and Alzheimer’s disease and, to increase brain levels, and lower the chances of developing brain-related diseases among people in their older ages.

4. Helps to Prevent Cancer: Today, one of the most widely diagnosed diseases is cancer. In cancer, a patient suffers from uncontrolled cell growth and cell division. Recent studies and experiments show that turmeric contains potential health components that are known to prevent the growth of certain kinds of tumors and thus checks the growth of cancer cells and their spread in different parts of the body, which further worsens your health conditions. In fact, a recent study revealed that turmeric contains health extracts called curcumin which can significantly reduce the chances of development of colorectal cancer that was not helped by other treatments. But only consumption of turmeric is not the ultimate solution to treat cancer. Recent experiments are now revealing that turmeric is genuinely helpful in the treatment of carcinogenic diseases and has been found to prevent the growth and development of cells in your body. In recent experiments, experts have found that turmeric health extracts:

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

Experts prescribe that a high dose of turmeric components like curcumin combined with an absorption enhancer like piperine accelerates the process of treatment of cancer diseases in humans. Recently, a 30-day study has been conducted among 44 men with lesions in the colon that could result in colorectal cancer. They were fed 4 grams of curcumin per day and in the end, they reduced the number of lesions by up to 40%.

Other Health Benefits Of Turmeric

Other experiments and studies reveal that the extracts in turmeric also help to protect some other types of diseases like colitis, ulcers or carcinogenic conditions in the stomach and stomach upset, diseases related to high levels of blood sugar like diabetes mellitus or type 2 diabetes, HIV, uveitis, several types of viral and bacterial infections, and high levels of bad or LDL cholesterols.

High fever: Turmeric contains medicinal properties that help to relieve high fever, viral infections, runny nose, sneezing, itching, cough and cold, and congestion.

Mental health: Some chemical components in turmeric are found to act as anti-depressants, that help to keep your mental health at a stable state and thus fights mental health issues like clinical depression.

Turmeric is effective for reducing high levels of LDL cholesterol or other forms of lipoproteins (lipids) in the blood (hyperlipidemia).

Turmeric contains health extracts that reduce the risks of developing liver diseases and can also treat ailing liver conditions like fatty liver.

Consumption of turmeric extracts with other herbal components can significantly reduce joint and muscle pain and thus prevent the occurrences of bone-related disorders like osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and repair fragileness of bones.

Lowers down high blood pressure: Studies are showing that turmeric extracts help in the dilation of blood vessels, which makes the flow of blood much smoother and thus lowers down blood pressure.

Keeps your heart healthy: Turmeric extracts help to keep your heart healthy by maintaining proper functioning of the heart, improving your circulation system, and reducing high blood pressure (6).

Side Effects Of Having Too Much Turmeric

Though turmeric is known to have a good number of health benefits, it still possesses some downsides. Some of them are listed below:

• Overconsumption of turmeric may often lead to occurrences of nausea and diarrhea, especially when taken in high doses for a prolonged period of time. Increased intake of turmeric can also pose a risk of ulcers and digestive problems, including stones in gall bladder and can cause skin irritation, kidney stones, diabetes. In that case you should always seek professional help.
• It is always advisable that pregnant women and breast- feeding mothers should not use turmeric supplements and also limit their intake of turmeric. Since turmeric can potentially increase bleeding. So it is recommended to consult your doctor and avoid taking it at least two weeks before any surgery.