Welcome to Sano Health Bursts. I’m Heather Richards Nutritional Therapist, Director of Nutrition at Sano and nutrition lead for the College of Medicine. Sano Health Bursts are short, informative, practical sessions discussing food, nutrition and lifestyle, helping you live a healthier life.
Today we are going to explore the health benefits of turmeric. Turmeric is a plant grown in Asia and the root is traditionally used in Indian cooking and Ayurvedic medicine. It is deep golden yellow/orange in colour.
If you have ever cooked with turmeric you will know that it easily stains; that includes your cooking utensils, hands and clothes, so be careful! You can cook with the fresh root that looks similar to ginger root or it is available as a powder from the spice section of supermarkets.
Plants contain phytochemicals. These are compounds within plants that give them their colour, smell and taste. Some phytochemicals within specific plants have been studied for their medicinal properties. The phytochemical that has been widely studied within turmeric is the curcuminoid, curcumin that gives turmeric its colour.
It is important to note that just because curcumin has been widely studied, that does not mean that there are not many other health benefiting compounds within it. Nutritional science continually evolves and what we have not yet studied we do not know about!
However, given that it is curcumin that has been most researched let us look at this specific compound. Curcumin has strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties and is, therefore, a useful nutraceutical in the management of chronic conditions including metabolic, cardiovascular, skin, neurological, joint and digestive disorders.
Curcumin has been studied across a variety of disease states. For example, in a small study of participants with rheumatoid arthritis, a daily dosage of 500mg of curcumin was shown to reduce swelling and tenderness more than anti-inflammatory drugs.
Inflammation itself is an important part of physiology but when chronic it is detrimental to health. Free radicals are produced as a normal part of metabolism and the human body produces antioxidants to prevent damage from these free radicals. However, when we have high levels of free radicals along with insufficient antioxidants, as experienced in chronic, disease cellular damage will occur.
Chronic inflammation and oxidative damage co-exist with chronic disease-causing systemic cellular damage. Therefore the properties of curcumin are beneficial when supporting chronic disease.
Curcumin may be particularly beneficial to support cardiovascular disease as in addition it can improve endothelial function. That is the function of the inner lining of the blood vessels. The endothelium is involved in the regulation of blood pressure and blood clotting. The release of nitric oxide from the endothelium causes the blood vessels to relax resulting in a lowering of blood pressure.
Curcumin has been shown to cross the blood-brain barrier and therefore can have a beneficial impact on neurological health including Alzheimer’s, depression and dementia. As well as reducing inflammation and oxidative damage, therefore, protecting brain structures, curcumin has been shown to increase the production of a protein brain-derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF for short.
BDNF is involved in neuroplasticity, in the growth and repair of neurons and is vital for cognitive function, memory and learning. Those with higher levels of BDNF have been shown to have a slower rate of cognitive decline. So the question you might be asking is whether you should consider a supplement or stick to real food. This depends upon what you are trying to achieve.
Studies are generally performed on curcumin extracts at anything from 500mg upwards a day. Some studies are performed at up to 6g a day. It has been found that the curcumin content within turmeric itself is only about 3% by weight. Therefore, the amount of turmeric you would ingest from cooking is small compared to the quantities at which the studies are performed.
Additionally, limitations in curcumin’s bioavailability have been raised and its absorption is enhanced by piperine, a compound within black pepper. Curcumin is fat-soluble hence ingesting it alongside fats is advised.
Hence does this research mean that cooking with turmeric is not beneficial? In my opinion, cooking with real food is always beneficial to our health. There is so much we don’t know and understand concerning nutritional science.
It is very difficult to perform a scientific study on the food itself as there are so many variables, from the food source to the health of humans involved in the study. Studies are therefore often animal studies under controlled conditions and examining a specific compound of food, like curcumin.
Yet we know that nutrients in food work synergistically. Just because we don’t know and understand all of the compounds within our food and how they work together to benefit our health, does not mean that when eaten as a whole food that they are not beneficial.
Turmeric has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Maybe we do not understand everything but that does not mean turmeric as food is not beneficial to health.
Therefore include turmeric in your cooking. Even though the amounts might be small, when included within a varied diet they will be beneficial to health. If you are looking for specific targeted support for a health area for instance supporting rheumatoid arthritis or diabetes then a supplement may be useful. However, include the food as well.
And remember that supplements are exactly that. They are supplemental to a healthy varied diet for a specific therapeutic need. There is not much point in taking a curcumin supplement and eating a high carbohydrate processed food diet. Any benefits of the supplement will be removed by the poor diet and you are wasting your money.
So do include turmeric within your cooking and reap the health benefits. You can use the fresh or powdered form in curries and stews or popular today are turmeric lattes. Make sure you are using oils and where possible black pepper to increase the absorbability of the curcumin. If you are making a latte do not use fat-free milk! And do remember to watch out for the staining of your utensils, hands and clothes!
I hope you enjoyed this episode of Sano Health Bursts. If you want to learn more then subscribe to this podcast, to our newsletter, read our blogs, join our webinars or study with us. Visit our website www.sanolife.co.uk or email us at learn@sanolife.co.uk to find out more and enrol on our courses. Start improving your health today and put the tips I have given you into practice. Mens sana in corpore sano. A healthy mind in a healthy body.
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