With 20 antibiotics and 12 anti-cancer properties, turmeric's effects are beyond expectations.

Since 4,500 years ago, turmeric has been used mainly in Asia both in cooking and in treating many diseases from digestion, joints... to skin wounds. Today, turmeric is a potential medicine in treating cancer, heart disease, psoriasis, Alzheimer's...

Experts have found in turmeric at least 20 types of antibiotics, 14 anti-cancer substances, 12 types of anti-tumor substances and at least 10 powerful antioxidants. Therefore, the ability to fight oxidation, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, kill viruses and inhibit cancer is highly appreciated.

The uses of turmeric are very rich.

She has found that eating turmeric prepared in foods provides more benefits than taking curcumin orally.

The Arthritis Foundation reports that turmeric can reduce pain and improve long-term function for people with arthritis .

Curcumin is very good for cancer treatment , it kills cancer cells without damaging normal cells. At the same time, it can increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Dr. Saraswati Sukumar, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins University, has been involved in hundreds of studies on the effects of turmeric on cancer. She has found that eating processed turmeric in foods provides more benefits than taking curcumin.

Turmeric can reduce cortisol, a stress hormone, and increase serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of happiness. Furthermore, it is a safe antidepressant that can be used long-term.

Elderly people in India regularly eat turmeric in their meals and they have the lowest rate of Alzheimer's in the world. Turmerone in turmeric stimulates the production of new neurons, promoting the brain's self-repair process. Therefore, turmerone has a positive effect on a series of degenerative brain diseases such as Parkinson's, traumatic brain injury, stroke...

Turmeric can reduce cortisol, a stress hormone, and increase serotonin levels.

May help treat or prevent diabetes : According to a previous review of studies, the curcumin in turmeric may help treat and prevent diabetes, as well as related disorders such as diabetic kidney disease, which often occurs in people with type 1 and 2 diabetes. However, many of these studies were only conducted on animals, not humans.

For example, a study in obese mice with type 2 diabetes published in the July 2019 issue of the journal Nutrition & Metabolism found that curcumin supplements reduced blood insulin levels after 16 weeks.

The authors of one review suggest that curcumin may be a good aid in the treatment of diabetes to improve insulin resistance and blood sugar control, while lowering blood lipids (fats in the blood).

May Help Treat Depression : Like Alzheimer’s disease, depression is associated with lower levels of BDNF. Thanks to turmeric’s ability to increase BDNF levels, the spice shows promise as an effective antidepressant. In fact, one study found that mice injected with 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg of curcumin for 10 days experienced a dose-dependent increase in BDNF, with the higher dose of 200 mg/kg showing greater antidepressant effects.

Meanwhile, in a human study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, scientists randomly assigned 60 patients with major depressive disorder to one of three groups: One group received 20 mg of fluoxetine daily, another group received 1,000 mg of curcumin, and a third received a combination of the two. After six weeks, the three groups had similar improvements, leading the researchers to suggest that curcumin could be a safe and effective treatment for major depressive disorder.

Topical curcumin treatment may be useful in the treatment of skin disorders.

Improve skin: Thanks to its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antioxidant properties, turmeric can be an effective treatment for a variety of skin conditions, including acne, eczema (atopic dermatitis), photoaging and psoriasis.

A review published in the Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences in January 2018 found that oral curcumin in particular may be an effective and safe treatment option for psoriasis (a chronic inflammatory skin disease), but more research is needed before doctors can recommend it.

According to the authors of another review, topical curcumin treatments may be useful in treating skin disorders, especially since previous research has shown curcumin to be relatively safe even at high doses. However, curcumin’s bright orange-yellow color, poor solubility, and poor stability at high pH make it an unattractive topical treatment.

Protect your body from free radicals : Antioxidants help protect your body against damage caused by free radicals, a type of highly reactive atom that is produced in the body and found in environmental pollutants such as cigarette smoke and industrial chemicals. Excessive exposure to free radicals can disrupt the body's fats, proteins, and even DNA, which can lead to a number of common diseases and health conditions, including cancer, arthritis, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

Antioxidant-rich spices like turmeric may play a role in protecting you from free radical damage. Specifically, curcumin has the ability to scavenge various free radicals, control enzymes that neutralize free radicals, and block certain enzymes that create specific types of free radicals, according to a review in the October 2017 issue of Food magazine.

Anti-aging: There is currently no evidence that turmeric or curcumin directly affects longevity, but thanks to their anti-inflammatory properties, which protect your body against free radicals and potentially slow down brain degeneration and other age-related diseases, turmeric and curcumin may be effective anti-aging agents.

Studies also show that turmeric and curcumin are mostly safe, although there will be some negative side effects such as diarrhea, headache, rash when taken in doses between 500 and 12,000 mg.

Topical curcumin treatments may help protect the eyes against degeneration.

May Prevent Eye Degeneration : Glaucoma, a group of eye diseases, is one of the leading causes of blindness in people over 60.

But preliminary research published in July 2018 in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that topical curcumin treatments may help protect the eyes against degeneration. Researchers applied a proprietary curcumin eye drop solution to mice twice a day for three weeks. At the end of the study, untreated mice had a 23 percent reduction in retinal cells compared to the treated mice.

The results seem impressive, but more research is needed to determine whether curcumin is effective in preventing eye degeneration in humans.

How to use turmeric?

The most important active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, but in powder form it is very difficult to absorb. However, when black pepper is added, the piperine in black pepper increases absorption up to 20 times. Curcumin is fat-soluble, so cooking turmeric with oil will significantly increase absorption efficiency.

People in Okinawa, Japan have a very long life expectancy, averaging 81.2 years. The reason may be because they drink a lot of turmeric tea. Boiling turmeric with water for 10 minutes increases the solubility of curcumin by up to 12 times. You just need to add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric powder to 1 cup of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes, but turmeric tea is very bitter, not everyone can easily drink it.

Side effects and who should avoid using it

Using turmeric as a spice in food preparation is considered safe. Turmeric has virtually no side effects. However, with turmeric supplements, there are quite a few side effects, drug interactions, and warnings that may occur.

Pregnant women should not use turmeric products.

Experts advise the following groups of people not to take curcumin or turmeric supplements:

Women who are pregnant or trying to conceive.

People with reproductive cancer, endometriosis, or uterine fibroids.

Gallstones or gallbladder disease. Turmeric might make these problems worse.

People who are due for surgery in the next two weeks. Turmeric increases the risk of bleeding.

People who are taking blood-thinning medications such as aspirin, clopidogrel, diclofenac, ibuprofen, naproxen, and warfarin. Turmeric increases the risk of bruising and bleeding.

If you have acid reflux, ulcers, or other stomach problems while taking medication.

You take medications to reduce stomach acid. Turmeric may interfere with the actions of medications such as Zantac, Tagamet, and Nexium, which increase the production of stomach acid.

You take diabetes medication. Turmeric increases the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

You are iron deficient. Turmeric may block iron absorption.