Turmeric - as effective as anti-cancer drugs?
it’s no longer a well kept secret that turmeric has some great health giving properties, with news of its powers leaking slowly into the press over a number of years now.
However with number of high profile individuals, including Steve Jobs, sadly succumbing to cancer last year, the amazing research on turmeric’s cancer fighting properties has catapulted the results from over 200 published studies into the press; and the results impressive. So much so that we are left asking is turmeric actually a life saver?
The compound in turmeric that we believe elicits its medicinal properties is curcumin. Unlike many cancer drugs, which have one specific mode of action for treating the disease, curcumin prevents and attacks cancer cells using a variety of different mechanisms. Just one of these mechanisms would give you a good chance of preventing cancer. However, disrupting several provides even greater protection. Not only that, but a clinical trial conducted recently at MD Anderson Cancer Center found that turmeric was equal to or better than all currently available US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs, except that it does not cause the same negative side effects.
So for the science bit. One of curcumin’s major actions is that of blocking the action of a specific immune cell called nuclear factor-kappaB. This immune cell is considered the inflammatory master molecule and, by blocking it, curcumin blunts inflammation, which is a major factor in cancer as well as other chronic health conditions. Curcumin also helps the body maintain a healthy control over cellular replication, which tightly regulates the cellular reproductive cycle, helping to stop uncontrolled proliferation of new tissue in tumours. It promotes apoptosis (cell death) in rapidly reproducing cancer cells without affecting healthy tissue and reins in tumour growth by making tumours more vulnerable to pharmacologic cell-killing treatments. In addition to all of the above, curcumin helps suppress the growth of tumours and blocks molecules that would otherwise open pathways to allow tumours to penetrate into tissue. It also helps to starve tumours of their vital blood supply and it can oppose many of the processes that permit metastases to spread.
These multi-targeted actions are central to curcumin’s capacity to block multiple forms of cancer before they manifest. Most importantly, some of the most impressive research on the effects of curcumin is on some of the most aggressive and common cancers including cervical, breast, and pancreatic cancers plus aggressive brain tumours. For example curcumin has been found to decrease brain tumour size in animals by 81 percent in more than nine studies. It has also been shown to effectively combat cervical cancer, a leading cause of cancer death in women in developing nations. It is caused largely by infection with the human papilloma virus, or HPV. Curcumin’s anti-inflammatory effects break the link that triggers HPV-induced cancer development.
If its amazing anticancer properties are not enough, then studies have also pinpointed curcumin as a tool against nearly 600 other diseases including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. So go on – get out the turmeric and start adding it to as many dishes as possible. Despite its bright orange colour, turmeric is not spicy and simply adds a slightly earthy taste to dishes and a lovely yellow hue to side dishes such as rice and quinoa. Remember that spices lose their medicinal properties over time so buy small pots and if they have not been used within a few months then throw them away and buy a new one. To get the most out of turmeric, use it alongside black pepper, which makes it over 1,000 times more bioavailable to the body.
Suzanne Laurie, Academic Director of the Institute of Health Sciences, Dublin
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Thursday 23 February 2012
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