As I’m sure most of you know, turmeric is a spice and it is actually what gives curry its yellow color. But did you know that it has been used for thousands of years for its healing properties? The main active ingredient in turmeric that gives it its many health benefits is curcumin.

So what are some of turmeric’s health benefits?

• It helps fight chronic pain and inflammation: Curcumin is one of the strongest anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative agents in the world. It actually fights inflammation at the molecular level. It is believed that chronic inflammation plays a major role in many of our nation’s most common diseases.
• It helps with arthritis: Because arthritis is inflammation of a joint, curcumin is highly effective at helping people manage arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis (RA), by reducing the amount of inflammatory markers.
• It can help treat depression: There was a controlled trial done that took 60 patients diagnosed with depression. It showed that curcumin was as effective in treating the symptoms of depression as Prozac.
• It can help with diabetes: It has been shown to lower blood glucose levels and reverse insulin resistance.
• It could help prevent cancer: Cancer is characterized by the uncontrollable growth of cells. Curcumin leads to several changes on the molecular level that may help prevent and perhaps may even be used to help treat cancer one day.
• It helps your skin look healthy and allow you to age gracefully: Turmeric reduces redness or other skin irritations, it is an antibacterial (so it’s amazing for blemishes, acne and skin balance), it’s full of antioxidants and is a natural exfoliator.
• It’s great for brain health and memory: Taking turmeric can improve the oxygen intake of the brain, which is needed for all of the brain’s normal functions and processes. Turmeric allows the brain to heal and increases memory function. When your brain is functioning at its best, it actually increases the uptake of hormones, like serotonin and melatonin. So, by healing the basic functioning of the brain, you may also be able to heal other mental illnesses.
• It helps prevent and fight heart disease: It improves the function of the endothelium (the lining of the blood vessels). Damage to the endothelium can cause issues regulating blood pressure, blood clotting or other factors. As I mentioned above, turmeric can help fight inflammation which is also a contributing factor to heart disease.
• It evens helps treating autoimmune diseases.

These are just a few of the amazing health benefits of turmeric!

If you are currently on any medications, like anti-coagulants or anti-inflammatory drugs, I would make sure there won’t be any drug interactions. We prescribe turmeric (we carry Turmero – a liquid concentrated form of turmeric) to a lot of our patients here in the office, and a lot of us take it as a daily supplement.

Why not take something natural to help treat or prevent disease?

Dr. Jess

Dr. Jessica Stensland is a busy family wellness Chiropractor in Urbandale, Iowa. She spends her weeks taking care of dozens of families.  Not only does Dr. Jessica specialize in pediatric and pregnancy chiropractic care, but she’s a board certified Acupuncturist.  Dr. Jessica believes that a healthier community means taking care of all ages.   She is a Minnesota native and enjoys seeing family and friends in her free time, in addition to staying active and reading the many books she has on her kindle.