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Could Turmeric Benefit Your Health?

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28 September 2016

By Lauren H

Recently, the world has gone crazy with discovering super foods and enduring the latest health kicks. Well, it’s time to add another to the list – turmeric.

So, what’s so good about it? Well, many people have claimed that it can positively affect allergies and even depression, alongside having numerous other qualities.

Though there have been thousands of papers published on turmeric, in particular on its key component curcumin, few tests have been carried out on humans. Rather, animals have been used and fed high doses.

So, after claims were made that the spice could boost your health, the BBC investigated.

In order to get to the truth of the matter, they recruited almost 100 volunteers and split them into 3 groups; those who would consume a teaspoon of turmeric every day, those who would swallow a supplement of the spice every day, and those who would simply have a placebo.

The results: those who had the placebo showed no difference, and neither did those who had the supplement. However, there was a considerable difference for the other candidates.

According to Professor Martin Widschwendter, of the University of London,

“It was really exciting, to be honest. We found one particular gene which showed the biggest difference. And what’s interesting is that we know this particular gene is involved in three specific diseases: depression, asthma and eczema, and cancer. This is a really striking finding.”

Likewise, Dr Kirsten Brandt, who is a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, commented:

“It could be that adding fat or heating it up makes the active ingredients more soluble, which would make it easier for us to absorb the turmeric.”

So, it does seem that this spice, which is used typically in a Chicken Tikka Masala, could be really beneficial to your health, but there are certainly more tests needed to determine just how well it works.

What do you think? For us, it’s all quite interesting, and we’d certainly like to see what other research shows in the future.

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