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20 Scientific Health Benefits of Curcuma – Medical – Culinary Uses
20 Scientific Health Benefits of Curcuma – Medical – Culinary Uses
Curcuma belongs to Zingiberaceae family which is native to Asian spices including India and Sri Lanka. Curcuma Longa or turmeric is known the as the main spice in curry. Moreover, Curcuma is being used as the herbal medicine due to the presence of curcumin, a compound which gives the most yellow color in Curcuma. In addition, Curcuma is an ancient spice and has been used as culinary traditions of cultures.
In other hand, to give you more information, we provide you the nutritional value of Curcuma on the table below.
Information | % Daily Value |
Vitamin B-6 | 138% |
Niacin | 32% |
Vitamin E | 21% |
Cholesterol | 0% |
Vitamin C | 43% |
Zinc | 40% |
Iron | 517% |
Manganese | 340% |
Potassium | 54% |
As the consequence, we provide you the list of great health benefits of Curcuma you can find out below.
1. Great Medicinal Herb
Curcuma is known as a kind of spices which gives strong yellow color in food. Moreover, it is also known to be used as a medicinal herb since thousand years ago. The compounds that takes part in this work is called curcuminoids and curcumin which are very beneficial to maintain the body health well.
2. Acts As Anti-inflammatory
The first benefit that curcuma offers is the way it acts as anti-inflammatory. By having Curcumin which blocks NF-kB, it is linked to prevent the inflammation as well as it repairs the damage cells. Then, if our body has succeeded to fight inflammation, we can deal against the body’s tissues including heart disease, cancer, and other metabolic health problems.
3. Source of Antioxidants
With good nutrients contained in curcuma, it gives us the great source of antioxidants, too. Then, our body will do a great work and help to prevent free radicals as well as it prevents the works of unpaired electrons in the body.
4. Prevents Free Radicals
As explained before, curcuma has a role in providing antioxidants nutrients well, so that it works great in preventing free radicals. As a result, it is beneficial to neutralize free radicals due its chemical structure.
5. Supports Detoxification
Curcuma laid the fact that it is being a natural detoxification ability to remove the toxins from the body. Indeed, the toxins substances comes from the bad environment and the foods we have eaten.
6. Improves Brain Function
As a matter of fact, curcumin contained in curcuma has a role to promote the brain functions as it also improves the good process of Brain-Derived-Neutrophic-Factor (BDNF) as well. With that, it helps to delay brain diseases and aging process that are linked to the brain function.
7. Improves Memory
As described in previous statement, curcuma takes part in improving memory due to the great works of brain functioning. However, this benefit need to be studied more in case to be well proven.
8. Prevents Cancer
People may worried to have a chronic disease such as cancer. Indeed, cancer is being a hot topic recently. People try to find the effective treatments and preventing ways to deal with this health problems. Consequently, by consuming curcuma it leads you to have a great preventing way of getting the risks of this disease. It is due to the curcumin composition contained. Then, with curcumin, it helps to reduce the growth of cancerous cells including the angiogenesis which is the growth of new blood vessels in tumors.
9. Lowers Risk of Heart Disease
Curcumin contained in curcuma helps to improve the function of the endothelium to line the blood vessels. Hence, this process takes a great role to lower the risks of having heart disease. In contrast, the dysfunction of the process which involved endothelium may lead to certain health problems such as an inability to regulate blood pressure and blood clotting. In addition, with antioxidants contained, it also help to reduce the risks of heart disease.
10. Prevents Alzheimer’s Disease
Talking about how to prevent Alzheimer’s disease may takes a long time to get a proper result. As the consequence, it is known that eating good foods daily help to prevent certain health problems including Alzheimer. Therefore, curcumin in curcuma is ready to help you help clear the plaques which comes from a buildup of protein tangles called Amyloid plaques. However, this statement need to be studied more and properly for a best result.
11. Threats Arthritis
Given the fact that curcuma is having a good source of antioxidants make this kind of spices help to heal arthritis greatly. Besides, Arthritis is linked to the inflammation which can be healed by Curcuma as well.
12. Helps With Depression
Studies show that curcuma helps against depression due to the presence of curcumin. Thus, it concludes that curcumin is an effective way to treat depression as well as it boosts the brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine. For more tips, having a good holiday may help you to deal with the stress and depression as well.
13. Balances Blood Sugar Level
Everyone watch their blood sugar level by keep eating good foods that is low in blood sugar content. Therefore, research shows that curcumin has a role in producing insulin within the pancreas. There, it balances the blood sugar levels and help to prevent diabetes as well.
14. Lowers Cholesterol Levels
Research shows that consuming Curcuma regularly helps to reduce cholesterol levels in the body. Thus, it also takes part in preventing heart diseases including heart attack as well.
15. Delays Aging Process
Due to the presence of antioxidant nutrients contained in curcuma, it play a role in delaying the aging process as it is being a good anti-aging supplement. Thus, you may do not have to worry about getting the faster process of aging since curcuma has been a good solution for this case.
16. Treats Kidney Disease
One of the health benefits of curcuma is the way it is being the great treatment for kidney disease. By consuming this kind of spices, it will help you to reduce the itching of long-term kidney disease.
17. Promotes Digestive System
Studies has shown that curcumin contained in curcuma helps to control the stomach PH levels. Hence, consuming curcuma together with fiber foods help to improve the function of digestion system as well.
18. Prevents Gastrointestinal Disorders
Due to the presence of curcumin in curcuma, it is known that this nutrient is beneficial to promote the health digestion system. Also, curcumin is being the effective way to prevent gastrointestinal disorders as it is preventing the recurrence of ulcerative colitis.
19. Reduces Allergies
Indeed, curcumin is an active nutrient which takes main part in maintaining the body health. Since curcumin has been known to inhibit histamine release from mast cells, then the histamine itself can trigger the eczema. Also, the antioxidant properties is linked to give the anti-allergic role of curcuma.
20. Heals Wounds
Soothe your wounds and skin irritations by applying the grind powder of curcuma. With curcuma, it helps to heal the recovery process of wounds as well as it improves the cell proliferation around the wound. Indeed, curcuma is such a natural gift that gives us the excellent benefits we may have never imagined.
Tips for Consuming
- While shopping, it is a must to pick the one which has the best quality and freshness. There, try to select the originally grown curcuma which has great features including the skin and the shape of the curcuma.
- Store it in the sealed container at the cool and right temperature or simply put it in the refrigerator. Then, if you get a stain from the skin contact of curcuma, it is better to wash the stained area with soap and water. For the tips, using kitchen gloves while handling curcuma is a great way to do.
- Enjoy curcuma as a great food menu option such as soups, salads, and food dressings. For recipe tips, get your amazing salad bowl by mixing the green vegetables with curcuma.
- Make curcuma into frittatas or add it into your favorite scrambled eggs is a good idea to cook curcuma as a food. Also, adding curcuma to rice may give you a unique and tasty meal.
- Consuming food in moderate is the best way to get best result. In the same way, taking curcuma as a food is a great way to achieve the health benefits it has provided. In contrast, taking high amounts of curcuma may lead to iron deficiency and lead to certain health problems such as chronic fatigue.
- If you are the one who suffers from gallbladder health problems, it is best to not consume curcuma as it can make the disease worse.
- Last, you may have to consume Curcuma carefully as it is likely unsafe to eat as a food during pregnancy. Moreover, Curcuma is known to reduce fertility due to the lowering process of testosterone levels and decreasing process of sperm movement.
To conclude, curcumin is a kind of beneficial spices which gives us great health benefits. However, consuming Curcuma in moderate is the best way. Besides, there are many food options to process Curcuma as a meal. Hence, give your body best health efforts by eating Curcuma regularly.