haldi

[Guest guest]

Dear Maharaja,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Thought this might interest you...

 

Your servant,

Braja Bihari dasa

 

 

 

http://www.life-enhancement.com/article_template.asp?ID=642

 

The Indian Spice Turmeric

Turmeric May Help Prevent

Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases

An ancient remedy may enliven your brain as well as your food

 

The spice of life - how many times have you heard that term applied to

something especially nice? It might be chocolate truffles, or the

music of Mozart, or playing with children. Part of the spice of life,

of course, is that there are so many different spices to choose from,

both figuratively and literally. On the literal side, there are food

spices galore in many parts of the world, especially Southeast Asia,

which is particularly rich in these botanical treasures. One of them,

turmeric, has actually been called "the spice of life" since ancient

times.1

 

Southeast Asia is the fabled source of the spices that Marco Polo and

those who followed him brought back to Europe to enliven the dull fare

that had been eaten there for millennia (they didn't even have pizza,

if you can imagine that). The people of Europe - the wealthy ones,

anyway - became wildly enamored of spices, which were more highly

prized than gold and jewels for as long as they remained rare.

Eventually they flooded the market and were joyfully embraced by

everyone.

Turmeric's anti-inflammatory

properties have aroused great

interest, as well as its effects on

cholesterol and cancer.

 

How fortunate for the people of India, China, and other countries in

that region of the world that they had always been able to enjoy these

spices - often at blast-furnace intensity - with their daily meals.

The spices were, and are, undeniably pleasant in their own right as

sources of flavor and zest, but they often served other, more

practical, purposes as well: to mask the odor and taste of rancid meat

and to inhibit further spoilage (these were vital factors in Europe as

well, before the advent of refrigeration). One did what one could to

survive.

 

Does Curry Prevent Alzheimer's Disease?

 

Marco Polo brought turmeric to Europe.

Life, though, is about health and happiness, not just survival. If

spices make us happy, do they also help our health? Yes indeed.

Scientists continue to learn more and more about the health benefits

of various spices and herbs, whose exotic chemical constituents can

affect many aspects of our physiology beyond our taste buds. First

there is gastrointestinal function, because everything we eat goes

directly to the stomach. But if some of those spicy compounds pass

from the intestines into the bloodstream, the entire body becomes

their laboratory, so to speak - including, of course, the brain.

 

Consider this: elderly (aged 70-79) residents of rural India, who eat

large amounts of curry, appear to have the lowest incidence of

Alzheimer's disease in the world: 4.4 times lower than that of

Americans.2 Does that mean that curry helps prevent Alzheimer's?

Perhaps, but it's impossible to say, because innumerable other factors

(dietary, genetic, social, economic, lifestyle-related, etc.) would

have to be taken into account, and systematically ruled out, before

any such conclusion could be drawn. But the correlation is suggestive,

and there are scientific reasons for believing that there may indeed

be a real effect there.

 

The Key Component of Curry Is Turmeric

Curry, perhaps the quintessential Asian spice, is a pungent seasoning

prepared from cumin, coriander, turmeric, and other spices native to

that continent. Not surprisingly, there are countless variations on

the curry theme, depending on who is preparing it. It is the turmeric

in curry that has attracted the attention of scientists, in part

because turmeric has a long history of medicinal use in India,

particularly in the traditional medical philosophy known as Ayurveda.

 

 

Figure 1. The fleshy rhizomes of turmeric (Curcuma longa), from which

the yellow spice is extracted. Rhizomes, a kind of horizontal,

underground stem, often send out roots and shoots from their nodes.

They are also called rootstalks or rootstocks.

The turmeric plant (Curcuma longa, also known as Curcuma domestica) is

a member of the ginger family. It has yellow flowers and aromatic,

somewhat fleshy rhizomes (see Figure 1) that, when dried, yield a

bright yellow powder commonly used as a spice or coloring agent -

sometimes both, as in certain yellow mustards. As a spice, turmeric

serves not only to jazz up the food but also to help protect it from

spoilage and protect its nutritive value, because it contains potent

antioxidant chemicals whose action inhibits the oxidative degradation

of foodstuffs.

 

Can Turmeric Protect Us from Oxidative Degradation?

If turmeric can protect foodstuffs from oxidative degradation, can it

do the same, more or less, for our bodies, which are composed entirely

of former foodstuffs? When it comes to meat, in particular, isn't

there really relatively little difference between a piece of beef and

us, biochemically speaking? The answer to both questions is yes. Most

of the antioxidative chemical reactions that can protect a piece of

beef from spoiling can also protect our tissues from spoiling, so to

speak.

 

The chemical compounds in turmeric that are primarily responsible for

its antioxidant action are curcumin and several related compounds

called curcuminoids (no, they're not related to cucumbers, despite the

oddly similar names). They belong to a broad class of compounds called

polyphenols, many of which have been found to have major health

benefits in humans.

 

Turmeric, the "Multi-Anti" Spice

In herbal medicine, turmeric (in the form of an extract of Curcuma

longa) has been found to have the following effects:3

 

* Antihepatotoxic - it has a protective effect on the liver

* Antihyperlipidemic - it inhibits the excessive buildup of lipids

(fatty substances, such as cholesterol) in the blood

* Anti-inflammatory - it reduces inflammation

* Antioxidant - it scavenges free radicals and inhibits lipid

peroxide formation, especially in the liver

* Antitumoral - it inhibits the formation of tumors, including

cancerous ones

* Antimicrobial - it inhibits the action of microorganisms such as

bacteria

* Antifertile - it has a contraceptive effect

* Anti-insect - that's right, it acts as an insect repellent, a bonus

 

Turmeric Has Many Uses As an Anti-Inflammatory

Among the many conditions for which turmeric is sometimes used (but

note that these are unproven uses by modern medical standards) are

gastrointestinal problems (dyspepsia, upper abdominal pain, bloating,

colic, flatulence, and diarrhea), intermittent fever, edema

(swelling), bronchitis, colds, worms, leprosy, kidney inflammation,

cystitis (inflammation of the urinary bladder), headaches, chest

infections, and amenorrhea (the abnormal suppression of absence of

menstruation). Externally, it is used for bruising, leech bites,

festering eye infections, inflammation of the oral mucosa,

inflammatory skin conditions, and infected wounds.3

 

How many of these uses are legitimate, even if unproven, and how many

are based on nothing more substantial than wishful thinking and the

placebo effect? Who knows? Our scientific (as opposed to folkloric)

knowledge of herbal medicine is still immature, with vast areas yet to

be explored before we can be certain of what really works and what

does not, and why.

Curcumin is several times more

potent than vitamin E as an

antioxidant, and it protects the

brain from lipid peroxidation.

 

But there are valuable clues along the way, such as recurrent patterns

of effect. The perceptive reader (that's you - wake up!) will have

noticed, for example, that a particular concept kept cropping up in

the description given above: inflammation. Aha! Maybe we're on to

something here. Indeed, it is the anti-inflammatory properties of

turmeric that have aroused the greatest interest in the medical

community, although its ability to lower blood cholesterol is also

recognized, as well as its anticancer effects in laboratory animals

and humans.1,4

 

Ordinary Anti-Inflammatories Protect Against Alzheimer's Disease

Among the most prevalent kinds of inflammation is that of arthritis,

and turmeric is widely used to ease the pain of this disease, in both

of its major forms: osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Inflammation takes many forms, however, and it can occur in many

places throughout the body. One such place is the brain, where

Alzheimer's disease becomes manifest, in part, through the formation

of a kind of plaque called amyloid. This is a hard, waxy deposit,

consisting of proteins and polysaccharides, that results from the

degeneration of tissue. Turmeric has been found to be helpful here

too. Let's see how and why it came to be studied for this purpose.

 

Accompanying the formation of amyloid is chronic inflammation of the

affected tissues, and among the most common treatments for

inflammation in general is the use of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal

anti-inflammatory drugs), such as the over-the-counter medications

aspirin and ibuprofen. A recent study has found that adults who took

NSAIDs for at least two years had a dramatically reduced risk (80%

lower!) for Alzheimer's disease than those who used these drugs for

shorter periods or who did not take them at all.5 Furthermore,

research has shown that chronic treatment with ibuprofen suppresses

inflammation and the development of amyloid in a special strain of

"transgenic" mice whose DNA was augmented with a human Alzheimer's

gene.6 In other words, ibuprofen gives some protection to mice that

are predisposed to develop Alzheimer's disease.

 

Curcumin: An Extraordinary Anti-Inflammatory Is Better

All this would be great, except for one huge drawback: the chronic use

of conventional NSAIDs such as ibuprofen carries a high risk of severe

irritation or ulceration of the stomach, as well as occasional kidney

or liver damage. Because of that, researchers have sought other

strategies for preventing Alzheimer's. It is known that the disease is

associated with significant oxidative damage caused by free radicals,

and laboratory studies have shown that antioxidants can protect

neurons (brain cells) from the ravages of amyloid. So it made sense to

try a well-known antioxidant, such as vitamin E, to see if it could

slow down the development of the disease.

 

Vitamin E, however, turned out not to be the right kind of antioxidant

for the job, mainly because it is a poor scavenger of nitric

oxide-based free radicals produced during inflammation. (Nitric oxide

is itself a free radical, and although it serves a number of vital

functions in the body, it can be harmful under the wrong

circumstances.) So other researchers (at UCLA) looked for a powerful

antioxidant of the right kind, and found curcumin, the main active

ingredient in turmeric. Curcumin is several times more potent than

vitamin E as an antioxidant,7 and it is known to protect the brain

from lipid peroxidation8 and to scavenge nitric oxide-based free

radicals.9 It is also known to be nontoxic and virtually free of side

effects.4

 

Curcumin Is Effective in Several Ways

The UCLA researchers undertook to study the effect of curcumin on the

combined oxidative and inflammatory damage that occurs as a response

to amyloid formation in those transgenic, Alzheimer's-predisposed

mice. When they become old and develop Alzheimer's, the poor little

critters display symptoms of age-related nerve-cell damage caused by

amyloid plaque, a quantifiable inflammatory response, oxidative

damage, and age-related memory deficits linked to defective long-term

memory.

 

In the study, the mice were tested with both low and high doses of

dietary curcumin to determine its effect on inflammation, oxidative

damage, and plaque pathology. Both the low and high doses of curcumin

were found to suppress inflammation and oxidative damage

significantly, as evidenced by microscopic and biochemical analyses of

specific sections of the mouse brains; the biochemical tests focused

on certain molecules whose levels are sensitive indicators of the

conditions in question. The effect of curcumin on amyloid was

different, however: the plaque formation was significantly reduced by

the low dose but not by the high dose (which was 31 times greater than

the low dose), indicating yet again that more is not always better -

or even as good.

 

Curcumin May Prevent Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases

The researchers noted that both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's

disease are linked to increased oxidative damage to the brain,

including nitric oxide-based damage to a specific protein called

synuclein.10 They speculated that curcumin may effectively inhibit

this type of damage and that its apparent ability to target several

different mechanisms implicated in the development of Alzheimer's

disease may make it a more effective agent than more potent but more

specific inhibitors of any of the individual mechanisms.

 

The researchers concluded by saying,

 

Hence, curcumin is not only efficacious at multiple levels but may

have fewer side effects and toxicity than many other NSAIDs, including

ibuprofen. Together, the multiple beneficial effects of curcumin make

it a promising agent for controlled clinical trials to establish its

safety and efficacy as a chronic antioxidant and NSAID prophylactic

for prevention or treatment of Alzheimer's and possibly other

neurodegenerative diseases of aging, such as Parkinson's disease.

 

"Chronic antioxidant" means an antioxidant that would be taken

chronically, i.e., regularly for a long period of time. And curcumin

is referred to here as an NSAID because it is one: it's nonsteroidal,

it's anti- inflammatory, and it's a drug - well, sort of, in the same

sense that other nonprescription agents such as aspirin and ibuprofen

are "drugs."

 

Add Some Spice to Your Life

To obtain turmeric and the beneficial natural curcuminoids it

contains, you could eat curry every day, or you could take generous,

scientifically validated amounts of the ancient Ayurvedic agent

turmeric. The potent natural anti-inflammatory agent Boswellia serrata

is also a good NSAID. Commonly known as frankincense and also used in

Ayurvedic medicine for many centuries, Boswellia has been shown in

both animal and human studies to help with health problems such as

arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and bronchial asthma.

 

Together, Curcuma and Boswellia provide health benefits that, as we

have seen, may include support for mental as well as physical

function. They bring an honored healing tradition into modern times

and add, literally, a bit of spice to your life.

 

References

 

1. Packer L, Colman C. The Antioxidant Miracle. John Wiley & Sons,

New York, 1999.

2. Lim GP, Chu T, Yang F, Beech W, Frautschy SA, Cole GM. The curry

spice curcumin reduces oxidative damage and amyloid pathology in an

Alzheimer transgenic mouse. J Neurosci 2001;21:8370-7.

3. PDR for Herbal Medicines, 2d ed. Medical Economics Company,

Montvale, NJ, 2000.

4. Majeed M, Badmaev V, Shivakumar U, Rajendran R. Curcuminoids:

Antioxidant Phytonutrients. NutriScience Publishers, Piscataway, NJ,

1995.

5. in 't Veld BA, Ruitenberg A, Hofman A, Launer LJ, van Duijn CM,

Stijnen T, Breteler MMB, Stricker BHC. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory

drugs and the risk of Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med

2001;345:1515-21.

6. Lim GP, Yang F, Chu T, Chen P, Beech W, Teter B, Tran T, Ubeda

O, Hsiao Ashe K, Frautschy SA, Cole GM. Ibuprofen suppresses plaque

pathology and inflammation in a mouse model for Alzheimer's disease. J

Neurosci 2000;20:5709-14.

7. Zhao BL, Li XJ, Ho RG, Cheng SJ, Xin WJ. Scavenging effect of

extracts of green tea and natural antioxidants on active oxygen

radicals. Cell Biophys 1989;14:175-85.

8. Martin-Aragon S, Benedi JM, Villar AM. Modification on

antioxidant capacity and lipid peroxidation in mice under fraxetin

treatment. J Pharm Pharmacol 1997;49:49-52.

9. Sreejayan N, Rao MNA. Nitric oxide scavenging by curcuminoids. J

Pharm Pharmacol 1997;49:105-7.

10. Glasson BT, Dude JE, Murray IV, Chen Q, Souza JM, Hurtig HL,

Ischiropoulos H, Trojanowski JQ, Lee VM. Oxidative damage linked to

neurodegeneration by selective alpha-synuclein nitration in

synucleinopathy lesions. Science 2000;290:985-9.Dr. Lad:

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