Turmeric's Incredible Health Benefits

Most cultures of the world include herbs in their medicinal approach to health. Even the Bible mentions use of spices by the priests in I Chronicles 9:30: "the sons of the priests made the ointment of the spices." India has been using turmeric in their foods and medicinally for 3,000 years. Ancient India healers used turmeric to treat skin wounds, jaundice, indigestion and several other ailments. The flavor you taste in curries has a lot to do with turmeric.

I find it interesting that many cuisines of the world include spices and herbs in their traditional recipes ... while the United States seems to focus on salt and pepper. In knowing the beginning and the end, God knew man would need help battling disease, so He created natural plant medicines to help us.

A lot of research is now being done on turmeric. It's the root of the broad-leaf plant that is being used. Preliminary research shows turmeric lowering total blood cholesterol by 11 percent and increasing good cholesterol by 29 percent. Most hopeful is medicinal use of the spice to treat Alzheimer's, and even reverse it.

The active constituent in the spice is a substance called curcumin. In lab tests, curcumin is shown to aid the body in ridding itself of amyloid-beta plaques that result in Alzheimer’s disease. These results are also supported in a population study done in India. A study of people over 65 years of age in India who ate turmeric showed that the incidence of Alzheimer’s was 25 percent of what it is in Western countries.

Read about more research on turmeric relating to many other health issues.

Personally I don't like the flavor of turmeric since I'm not fond of curries. I prefer to take turmeric in capsule form that includes a blend of herbs to gain the benefits of synergism. I like Nature's Sunshine's Super Antioxidant with turmeric being the main ingredient. Right now I'm using Super ORAC. I like to swap around.