Another favorite herb, especially for winter health- TURMERIC ROOT- Curcuma longa, Zingiberaceae, found in Apollo Botanica Arthro~Ease, Mushroom Defense, & Viral Defense Elixirs. TURMERIC is a plant of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is native to tropical South Asia and needs temperatures between 20 °C and 30 °C and a considerable amount of annual rainfall to thrive. When not used fresh, the rhizomes are boiled for several hours and then dried in hot ovens, after which they are ground into a deep orange-yellow powder commonly used as a spice in curries and other South Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine, for dyeing, and to impart color to mustard condiments. Turmerics active ingredient is CURCUMIN and it has a distinctly earthy, slightly bitter, slightly hot peppery flavor and a mustardy smell. Turmeric contains up to 5% essential oils and up to 5% curcumin, a polyphenolic compound. Turmeric is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, arthritis, and other clinical disorders. In Ayurvedic practices, turmeric has is used as an anti-inflammatory agent and remedy for gastrointestinal discomfort associated with irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive disorders. Turmeric may also be used in skin creams as an antiseptic agent for cuts, burns and bruises. The U.S. National Institutes of Health currently has registered 19 clinical trials underway to study use of dietary turmeric and curcumin for a variety of clinical disorders. Research has demonstrated the following about Turmeric Root: *Anti-oxidant; *Anti-arthritis: inhibiting inflammation, *Anti-platelet; *Anti-cancer effects: causes apoptosis in various cancer cell types including skin, colon, forestomach, duodenum and ovary in the laboratory; *Anti: -viral, -fungal, -bacterial effects, inhibits NFkappaB, 5-lipoxygenase, glutathione S-transferase and cytochrome P-450 isoenzyme 1A1; *Anti-diabetic effects in rodents. [1] Yang F, Lim GP, Begum AN, Ubeda OJ, Simmons MR, Ambegaokar SS, Chen PP, Kayed R, Glabe CG, Frautschy SA, Cole GM. J Biol Chem. 2004 Dec 7; Curcumin inhibits formation of Abeta oligomers and fibrils and binds plaques and reduces amyloid in vivo. GRECC (VA Medical) and Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, North Hills, CA 91343. [2] Jackson JK, Higo T, Hunter WL, Burt HM. Inflamm Res. 2006 Apr;55(4):168-75. The antioxidants curcumin and quercetin inhibit inflammatory processes associated with arthritis. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2146 East Mall, Vancouver BC, Canada V6T 1Z.
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:58:18 +0000
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