Like curry? Turmeric, one of the chief spices in curries and contributor of curry’s bright color may be more than just a zesty ingredient. Turmeric has been shown to aid in the treatment in ailments as trivial as itchiness (psoriasis) to ones as ominous and deadly as cancer, even producing beneficial results in stroke-related brain damage and Alzheimer’s.
For the treatment of cancer, “laboratory research has shown the curcumin, from turmeric, has not only improved the effectiveness of chemotherapy, but has also reduced the number of chemo-resistant cells,” says Doctor Karen Brown, principal investigator in research coming out of the University of Leicester in the UK, released in September of 2010.
Chemotherapy, one of the chief treatments of many cancers, eradicates many cancer cells by targeting cells which divide rapidly, as cancer cells often do. However, “following treatment for cancer, small populations of cancer cells often remain which are responsible for disease returning,” Karen Brown stated in an article about her research. Thus the importance reducing the number of these chemo-resistant cancer cells is imperative. By reducing this number, the likelihood of return is smaller, the severity, and the speed at which the cancer returns is reduced. This Leicester research was done on biopsied portions of cancer cells, specifically, colorectal cancer cells.
Other research, undertaken by doctors out of Sanford University in South Dakota, has shown similar results for a completely different kind of cancer. “Pre-treatment with curcumin, a component of the spice turmeric, makes ovarian cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy,” another article professes, based on a Journal of Ovarian Cancer release by Drs. Subhash Chauhan and Meena Jagi.
Yet another study out of the Texas’ MD Anderson Cancer Center (one of the nation’s and the world’s leading cancer treatment facilities) found that “curcumin can suppress tumor initiation, promotion and metastasis.” The report adds, “Extensive research over the last 50 years has indicated [curcumin] can prevent and treat cancer.”
Curcumin works on veins that feed tumor cells. Although tumor cells are bad for us, they are no different than any other part of the body in one respect – they need to be fed by blood. Curcumin has been shown to restrict the flow of blood to these unwanted formations.
As if curcumin’s implications in cancer treatment weren’t enough to get people excited, it also has a profound capacity in the brain. “Experimentally,” writes Wolfgang Quitschke, a Ph.D. out of New York State University, “curcumin has been implicated in resolving and preventing Alzheimer’s disease associated plaques or deposits both in living systems and in test tubes.” While Quitschke’s study is incredibly important, it isn’t quite done yet. The importance of his study was recognized and he was awarded over 100,000 dollars to complete the study, which is coming to a close at the end of this month, on March 31st.
Yet another study published out of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in February of this year, gave evidence that curcumin “does not [break up] clots, but instead repairs stroke damage at the molecular level that feed and support the all-important brain cells.” This is profound. Unlike most cells in the body which reproduce and repair after damage such as your skin does after you get cut, neurons are typically not regenerative.
So, why aren’t there world-wide announcements about the wonders of curcumin? Why haven’t there been headlines that read “Cancer Cure Discovered” or “Cure of Alzheimer’s Unveiled”?
“Digestive juice in the gastrointestinal tract quickly destroys the curcumin so that little actually gets into the blood,” says the American Chemical Society. Simply put, we don’t absorb the nutrient well. Curcumin gets destroyed as we digest it. It is “not well absorbed in the body,” it “fails to reach its target in high concentrations,” and it “becomes depleted quickly,” says the Cedars-Sinai research.
Scientist all over the world are working on what they call a “cocktail.” This is not something you order at the club – it is a tonic or injection that will boost the ability for curcumin to be absorbed by the blood and distributed by the body.
Cancer is not cured, nor is Alzheimer’s, nor is stroke damage, but there is hope. It’s bright yellow or orange, comes from a root, and can be bought in the “Foreign” section of your local super-market.