Turmeric - Herbs for Healing Newsletter

Turmeric is an all round beneficial and health inducing spice and natural remedy. Its curative properties are general and far-reaching, therefore it has many possible applications. It can target specific illnesses when ingested in medicinal quantities, and it can also, when used as a supplement, contribute to general wellbeing and work as a powerful preventative.

..To prevent is better than to cure!

“It is not known why turmeric is such an effective anti-inflammatory agent, but one common theory holds that curcumin causes a protein called NFkB, or Nuclear Factor-Kappa B, to remain dormant. NFkB determines which genes are turned on or off and when; it also increases the production of inflammatory proteins, which often attack the joints. By suppressing this protein, curcumin thus reduces incidences of inflammation”.
(source www.turmericinfo.com/curcumin_anti-inflamatory)

Turmeric has also been shown to inhibit Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium know to be responsible for stomach ulcers and some stomach cancers. The liver benefits from eating turmeric, it has a detoxifying effect and it may be of help in keeping the liver healthy during chemotherapy cancer treatment.
Animal studies from the university of Texas also indicate that curcumin inhibits the growth of skin cancer, melanoma, and slows the spread of breast cancer into the lungs. Tests in laboratory dishes even showed that curcumin made melanoma skin cancer cells more likely to self-destruct in a process known as apoptosis.

Curcumin appears to prevent the spread of amyloid protein plaques which are thought to lead to dementia and Alzheimers‘s. In animal studies it was found that curcumin dissolves these plaques and prevents the formation of new plaques.

Dr Susanne Sorensen of the Alzheimers Society said: “Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease but we don’t yet know why”. In fact elderly villagers in India, who eat turmeric in their daily curries, have the world’s lowest rate of Alzheimer’s disease. (source news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8080630.stm).

A newsletter in association with the Sturminster Newton Transition Town Group. Part of the Transition Town Network.

Download the newsletter in PDF format. If you would like a printed version in the post, or to distribute all or part of the newsletter please contact me on 01722 330663.

I run a number of workshops in the local area, book online here or email me.