What Are the Medicinal Uses of Turmeric?

The turmeric medicinal uses are many. It was one of the staple medicines used in the ancient Ayurvedic practice, which is still alive and well in India and other parts of the world. Its traditional use has been evaluated by modern scientists. They have found that the ancient uses were correct, but they have also learned that there is more to this compound than meets the eye.

Ayurvedic practitioners were some of the first to use surgery and they had a good understanding of the workings of the human body, but they were, of course limited by what they could see. There investigations were held back somewhat during a reign that forbid them from performing surgery. But, until that time, they were able to perform autopsies and they understood the functions of many of the organs of the body.

They did not understand that the cause of many diseases were microscopic bacteria or viruses. They knew nothing of free radicals or amyloids. We are still limited, to a certain extent, by what we can see. There are things that are smaller than molecules, atoms and DNA strands. We are still unsure about the roles that those things play.

We are sure that there are many turmeric medicinal uses. It can help relieve many digestive disorders including common problems like gassiness and bloating, as well as more serious conditions, such as colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

In the liver, it may help shrink inflamed ducts and rid the organ of toxins that build up there. In the heart, it may prevent blockage of the arteries and reduce levels of LDL or bad cholesterol. In the brain, it may prevent the buildup of amyloids, the plaques that cause Alzheimer’s.

Many of these turmeric medicinal uses are still being studied, but one of the largest fields of study is in the area of cancer treatment and prevention. The active component of turmeric, called curcumin, kills cancer cells, without being toxic to healthy cells that surround it.

This is exciting news, but in order for curcumin to perform this magic, it must be able to enter the bloodstream and researchers have shown that only small amount of curcumin are absorbed when turmeric is eaten. So, what does one do, if they want the benefits of curcumin, without visiting the doctor every day for injections? There is no doctor that I know of that provides daily injections, but an enteric coating and the inclusion of piperine increases the absorption of curcumin supplements.

As time goes by, we may learn about other turmeric medicinal uses. We now know that taking some plant extracts reduces the risk of degenerative eye diseases, like glaucoma. We also know that others reduce the risk of heart disease, by reducing plaque buildup and increasing the longevity of heart cells. Resveratrol is one example of a plant compound that allows heart cells to live longer.

The bottom line is that there is no single supplement that is any more effective than another. Your best bet is to take a multi-ingredient supplement. Now, that you know a little more about the turmeric medicinal uses, you might want to learn about some other extracts. It’s worth your while.

Vital Nutrients for Optimum Health and Longevity

As most of us have heard before, maintaining a properly balanced diet of proteins, complex carbohydrates, and essential fats is vital for good health. With the right mix of foods, we can help insure our bodies receive most of the vital nutrients needed for optimum health.

Due to various circumstances, it may be useful to supplement your diet with some key natural herbs and vitamins to help boost your immune system…and create the vitality and longevity you desire

Unfortunately, many of the foods available in today’s world are preprocessed…and even many of the fresh grown fruits and vegetables are lacking in essential micronutrients necessary for good health. Mass production methods for growing fruits, vegetables, and even livestock have created nutrient deficiencies…and even deadly toxins in many of the foods we now consume. Therefore, it becomes even more important than ever that we supplement our diets with natural herbs and vitamins to help rid the body of toxins and boost its natural supply of micronutrients.

While growing and raising much of our own food would be one of the best methods for ensuring we eat the healthiest foods possible, it’s just not practical for most of us in today’s society. Fortunately, there are organically grown foods available (which I recommend you consume as much as possible)…but many of these foods can be expensive, and there’s no guarantee that these foods will still have all the vital nutrients our bodies need.

Along with concerns about how our foods are produced, it is also important to note that even normal metabolic and immune system functions within our bodies can produce deadly free radicals that over time can wreck havoc on our body’s cells…creating life-threatening disease, and conditions that can severely impact our health and longevity.

Fortunately, there are natural antioxidant substances available that can boost our immune systems and neutralize many of the cell destroying free radicals…thereby helping to slow the aging process

One of the best micronutrients available for improving glucose control and eliminating free radicals is the valuable substance called  Alpha Lipoic Acid. This important vitamin-like nutrient is available naturally in many foods such as spinach, broccoli, and beef…and even small amounts are produced in the body itself.

One of the main functions of Alpha Lipoic Acid is to help the body burn glucose…which helps improve insulin sensitivity and lower free radicals within the body. As with most supplements, the natural version is much more potent than the synthetic version…so supplementing with natural Alpha Lipoic Acid should always be your first choice.

Next in the antioxidant arsenal is Vitamin E. This powerful vitamin is the body’s main fat-soluble antioxidant… and it is an excellent source for destroying free radicals in the body’s fatty structures.

Due to it’s excellent antioxidant properties, Vitamin E has been linked to the prevention of many devastating diseases such as Diabetes, Coronary Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Cancer. For best results, this powerful supplement should always be taken in its natural form with some variation of “d-alpha-tocopherol” in the label.

Along with the other two powerful micronutrients just discussed, Vitamin C is another very important nutrient for the elimination of free radicals and glucose control. In addition to it’s powerful antioxidant functions, Vitamin C is also vital for boosting the body’s immune system functions for battling against unwanted bacteria, viruses, and infections.

Through the informed use of these vital nutrients (and others not discussed here), you can build a strong immune system…and achieve the health, vitality, and longevity you desire and deserve

Natural remedies and supplements have been developed and used for thousands of years…and even today’s modern practitioner of alternative medicine use time-honored knowledge to develop natural alternative remedies that can help you body fight against…and in some cases, actually cure life-stealing diseases and vitality draining symptoms.

Along with the very powerful nutrients just talked about, there are an enormous amount of very potent natural herbs, minerals, vitamins, and mixtures created to help the body fight and strengthen against the deadly toxins and conditions that can adversely effect your health and vitality. Due to the importance of this topic, I encourage you to explore this vital subject further.

Longevity is the Quest of Many Individuals

 

Instead of worrying about the quality of life we are given (or self created) we are eager to extent our longevity. Evolutionary biologists, who theorize about why some organisms naturally live longer than others, ask if there is any reason to believe that maximum human life span, already at the upper end of longevity among mammals, could be increased at all even as researchers on aging, spurred by new experimental breakthroughs, increasingly ask, Why not. At present, the mean life expectancy in developed countries is about 70 to 80 years while the documented record for longevity is 122years. Separately, geneticists studying long-lived people appear to be narrowing in on a gene common to centenarians that promotes longevity.

Aging

Aging is inevitable and is something that all humans will have to eventually face. Aging is a summary term for a set of processes, which contribute to health deterioration and ultimately to death with the passage of time (calendar age). In other words any process, which contributes to age-related decline in performance, productivity and health is a component of the aging process that deserves our attention and intervention.

Radicals

Radicals can damage cells by reacting with cellular components; this type of damage is called oxidation and can result in serious injury to cells. The traditional theory that longevity and rate of aging are determined by metabolic rate and the rate of production of free radicals has had broad appeal as an explanation for why some animals live longer than others. Animals that live fast, so the theory goes, will die young, because high metabolism produces free radicals at a high rate. According to this model, which is known as the metabolic rate/oxidative stress theory, long-lived animals should have high concentrations of antioxidant enzymes in their tissues and low concentrations of free radicals. Antioxidants can cancel out the cell-damaging effects of free radicals.

Antioxidants

While free radicals attack our cells and pollute our bodies, antioxidants allow us to fight back. Antioxidants are compounds in fruits and vegetables that may be helpful in avoiding chronic disease. Examples of antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances. They act as “free radical scavengers” and hence prevent and repair damage done by these free radicals. Antioxidants also help reduce inflammation, keep arteries flexible, and preserve the genetic material every cell contains to prevent mutation. It is interesting to note that, in the normal concentrations found in the body, vitamin C and beta-carotene are antioxidants; but at higher concentrations they are pro-oxidants and, thus, harmful.

Prevention

In the medical and more reputable business community, anti-aging medicine means early detection, prevention, and reversal of age-related diseases. By using advances in antiaging medicine for disease prevention we can avoid certain conditions which would kill us early, however, this does not actually extend the maximum lifespan barrier. The role of antioxidants is a particularly popular nutrition topic in the media these days; in particular, their role in cancer prevention, anti-aging, and heart health. Resveratrol is a powerful agent in both prevention and treatment of many factors associated with decreases in our longevity and health. Resveratrol is the only natural product with such strong evidence to show it stops cancerous cell development at various stages. Resveratrol supplements may contain anywhere from 10-50 mg of resveratrol, but the effective doses for chronic disease prevention in humans are not known.

Supplements

Supplements are not a substitute for a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants are also widely used as ingredients in dietary supplements in the hope of maintaining health and preventing diseases such as cancer and coronary heart disease. The anti-aging industry is offering a dizzying array of hormones and supplements. It is best to obtain these antioxidants from foods instead of supplements. If you are interested in taking antioxidant supplements, talk to your doctor about what is right for you.