Source: www.sacbee.com
Author: staff

Commonly used in many Eastern countries, tumeric has been found to suppress cancer growth and reduce brain tumors by an astounding 81% without evidence of toxicity. While the benefits of turmeric are just coming to light within the mainstream and alternative media, it has been known for quite some time that this inexpensive spice can profoundly improve biological function.

Curcumin, a natural phenol and derivative of turmeric, may be responsible for many of these effects — particularly the anti-cancer benefits. Used by ancient Chinese and Indian systems of medicine, curcumin has been shown to reduce brain tumor size by 81% in 9 out of 11 studies. With the research published in the July edition of the Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, scientists found that curcumin dramatically decreased the size of brain tumors by 81% in 9 out of 11 studies without evidence of toxicity.

Additional research has found that turmeric and curcumin also inhibit the spread of cancer by actually blocking a key enzyme responsible for its growth. Given chewable curcumin supplements containing 1,000 milligrams of curcumin each, 21 study participants with head and neck cancer experienced a halt in cancer spread after intake. Conducted by the UCLA, the results were examined by an independent lab in Maryland which confirmed that curcumin supplements ultimately stopped the spread of malignant cancer cells.

Curcumin gives turmeric its unique color, and each 100 grams of turmeric contains 3 to 5 grams of the compound. Some health experts believe that turmeric will soon reach the popularity level of vitamin D, which is now almost universally recognized as a fantastic health-promoting substance.

“Turmeric and curcumin are both extremely cheap methods of boosting your health, and are readily available almost worldwide. The ubiquitous nature of turmeric both in the form of supplementation and spice sets up turmeric to be the next vitamin D over the next few years. As more medical professionals begin to recognize the benefits of turmeric and curcumin, a major media blitz will follow as it did regarding the multiple known effects of vitamin D,” said Mike Barrett, Co-Founder of alternative health organization Natural Society.

Both turmeric and curcumin can be purchased as a spice, or in the form of supplementation.