Showing posts with label curcumin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curcumin. Show all posts

Monday, 29 December 2014

The Spice That Fights Depression

The kitchen cure that works as well as antidepressants

By Jessica Chia


In feel-good news (literally), a completely natural pill could soon join the ranks of depression prescriptions. Curcumin, an active compound derived from the spice turmeric, was put to the test against a traditional antidepressant, fluoxetine in a study published in Phytotherapy Research. A 1000 mg daily dose of curcumin was just 2-5% less effective than the pharmaceutical drug, and, most importantly, showed no unexpected side effects. 

Study author Ajay Goel, PhD, director of epigenetics and cancer prevention at Baylor University Medical Center, says synthetic options work well when taken as a one-hit fix, but that side effects, toxicity, and tolerance become concerns when the drugs are taken for chronic symptoms. Although curcumin has shown promise as an alternative to antidepressants for years, this is the first time researchers have been able to show the compound at work in humans, and its performance is promising. 

“From a clinical standpoint, a 2% lower efficacy makes no difference,” says Dr. Goel. “Curcumin has been proven safe, even at high doses.”

Researchers are still at work trying to pinpoint exactly how curcumin balances depressive symptoms, but they have a few leads. Curcumin is a natural inhibitor of monoamine oxidase, an enzyme that at high levels, is linked to depression, and it also blocks the release of substances known as cytokines, which can throw off the delicate balance of your body’s stress reactions. 

Although doctors won’t be prescribing the compound to patients soon, anyone can reap the health benefits of curcumin capsules, which are available at most health food stores  “It’s a very strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compound, and is great as an everyday health supplement,” says Dr. Goel. “People who do not have depressive symptoms can make this spice a part of their daily diet now.” 

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

6 Bodily Tissues That Can Be Regenerated Through Nutrition

Written By: Sayer Ji,
6 Bodily Tissues That Can Be Regenerated Through Nutrition

It may come as a surprise to some, especially those with conventional medical training, but the default state of the body is one of ceaseless regeneration.  Without the flame-like process of continual cell turnover within the body – life and death ceaselessly intertwined – the miracle of the human body would not exist.

In times of illness, however, regenerative processes are overcome by degenerative ones. This is where medicine may perform its most noble feat, nudging the body back into balance with foods, herbs, nutrients, healing energies, i.e. healing intention. Today, however, drug-based medicine invariably uses chemicals that have not one iota of regenerative potential; to the contrary, they almost always interfere with bodily self-renewal in order to suppress the symptoms against which they are applied.

Despite the outright heretical nature of things which stimulate healing and regeneration vis-à-vis the conventional medical system which frowns upon, or is incredulous towards, spontaneous remission in favor of symptom suppression and disease management, over the course of the past few years of trolling MEDLINE we have collected a series of remarkable studies on the topic..

nerve cell regeneration

Nerve Regeneration – There are actually a broad range of natural compounds with proven nerve-regenerative effects. A 2010 study published in the journal Rejuvenation Research, for instance, found a combination of blueberry, green tea and carnosine have neuritogenic (i.e. promoting neuronal regeneration) and stem-cell regenerative effects in an animal model of neurodegenerative disease.
 Other researched neuritogenic substances include:

Curcumin
Lion's Mane Mushroom
Apigenin (compound in vegetables like celery)
Blueberry
Ginseng
Huperzine
Natto
Red Sage
Resveratrol
Royal Jelly
Theanine
Ashwaganda
Coffee (trigonelline)

There is another class of nerve-healing substances, known as remyelinating compounds, which stimulate the repair of the protective sheath around the axon of the neurons known as myelin, and which is often damaged in neurological injury and/or dysfunction, especially autoimmune and vaccine-induced demyelination disorders.  It should also be noted that even music and falling in love have been studied for possibly stimulating neurogenesis, regeneration and/or repair of neurons, indicating that regenerative medicine does not necessary require the ingestion of anything; rather, a wide range of therapeutic actions may be employed to improve health and well-being, as well.

[View the first-hand biomedical citations on these neuritogenic substance visit our Neuritogenic Research page on the topic]

Liver Regeneration – Glycyrrhizin, a compound found within licorice, and which we recently featured as a powerful anti-SARS virus agent,  has also been found to stimulate the regeneration of liver mass and function in the animal model of hepatectomy. Other liver regenerative substances include:

Carvacrol (a volatile compound in oregano)
Curcumin
Korean Ginseng
Rooibos
Vitamin E
[view the first-hand biomedical citations on the Liver Regeneration research page]

Beta-Cell Regeneration – Unfortunately, the medical community has yet to harness the diabetes-reversing potential of natural compounds. Whereas expensive stem cell therapies, islet cell transplants, and an array of synthetic drugs in the developmental pipeline are the focus of billions of dollars of research, annually, our kitchen cupboards and backyards may already contain the long sought-after cure for type 1 diabetes. The following compounds have been demonstrated experimentally to regenerate the insulin-producing beta cells, which are destroyed in insulin dependent diabetes, and which once restored, may (at least in theory) restore the health of the patient to the point where they no longer require insulin replacement.

Gymenna Sylvestre ("the sugar destroyer")
Nigella Sativa ("black cumin")
Vitamin D
Curcumin (from the spice Turmeric)
Arginine
Avocado
Berberine (found in bitter herbs such as Goldenseal and Barberry)
Bitter Melon
Chard (yes, the green leafy vegetables)
Corn Silk
Stevia
Sulforaphane (especially concentrated in broccoli sprouts)
[view the first-hand biomedical citations on the Beta Cell Regeneration research page]

Hormone Regeneration – there are secretagogues, which increase the endocrine glands' ability to secrete more hormone, and there are substances that truly regenerate hormones which have degraded (by emitting electrons) into potentially carcinogenic "transient hormone" metabolites. One of these substances is vitamin C. A powerful electron donor, this vitamin has the ability to contribute electrons to resurrect the form and function of estradiol (estrogen; E2), progesterone, testosterone, for instance. In tandem with foods that are able to support the function of glands, such as the ovaries, vitamin C may represent an excellent complement or alternative to hormone replacement therapy.

Cardiac Cell Regeneration – Not too long ago, it was believed that cardiac tissue was uniquely incapable of being regenerated. A new, but rapidly growing body of experimental research now indicates that this is simply not true, and there is a class of heart-tissue regenerating compounds known as neocardiogenic substances.  Neocardiogenic substances are able to stimulate the formation of cardiac progenitor cells which can differentiate into healthy heart tissue, and they include the following:

Resveratrol
Siberian Ginseng (Eleuthero)
Red Wine Extract
Geum Japonicum
N-acetyl-cysteine
Another remarkable example of cardiac cell regeneration is through what is known as fetomaternal trafficking of stem cells through the placenta. In a recent article we discussed the amazing process known as "fetal microchimerism" by which the fetus contributes stem cells to the mother which are capable of regenerating her damaged heart cells, and possibly a wide range of other cell types.

Cartilage/Joint/Spine Regeneration – Curcumin and resveratrol have been shown to improve recovery from spinal cord injury.  Over a dozen other natural compounds hold promise in this area, which can be viewed on our Spinal Cord Injury page.  As far as degenerative joint disease, i.e. osteoarthritis, there are a broad range of potentially regenerative substances, with 50 listed on our osteoarthritis research page.

Ultimately, regenerative medicine threatens to undermine the very economic infrastructure that props up the modern, drug-based and quite candidly degenerative medical system. Symptom suppression is profitable because it guarantees both the perpetuation of the original underlying disease, and the generation of an ever-expanding array of additional, treatment-induced symptoms.

This is the non-sustainable, infinite growth model which shares features characteristic of the process of cancer itself - a model, which by its very nature, is doomed to fail and eventually collapse. Cultivating diets, lifestyles and attitudes conducive to bodily regeneration can interrupt this pathological circuit, and help us to attain the bodily freedom that is a precondition for the liberation of the human soul and spirit, as well.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/6-bodily-tissues-can-be-regenerated-through-nutrition

Friday, 26 September 2014

Turmeric Superior to Chemical Mouthwash For Oral Health.

Turmeric Superior to Chemical Mouthwash For Oral Health.

Turmeric: The Ancient Super herb
Since ancient times, turmeric has been used for remedying oral ailments, among other therapeutic applications too numerous to count.[1] Consider that plants like turmeric were first eaten for thousands of years before our species ever devised the modern day oddity of encapsulated or tableted extracts that could be swallowed without significant oral contact. It is only logical, therefore, that after long stretches of biological time, taking the root orally as either food, spice or medicine, it would agree with and have benefit for that part of our anatomy and its unique physiology.
Indeed, recent research shows that turmeric extract and turmeric oil may even reverse precancerous changes in oral submucous fibrosis in humans.[2] [3] In addition, there are at least a dozen studies showing turmeric extract can kill oral cancer cells,[4] including a recent study showing that turmeric extract-loaded nanoparticles kill chemotherapy-resistant oral cancer cells.[5] But turmeric’s positive role to play in oral health encompasses more than relatively rare health issues like oral cancer, as it also has tangible value to the vast majority of folks who use common mouthwash in an attempt to keep their mouth clean of plaque.

What gives Turmeric magical healing powers?
Turmeric contains approximately 3-4% curcumin by dry weight. This yellow pigmented polyphenol has been studied extensively in human clinical research as a natural alternative to the common mouthwash ingredient known as chlorhexidine for the treatment of gingivitis, “inflammation of the gum tissue.”

Gingivitis is classified as a non-destructive periodontal disease,[6] and involves bacterial plaque-induced inflammation, but if left untreated, it can progress to a form of periodontal disease that can be highly destructive. Some of the most common symptoms associated with gingivitis are bad breath (halitosis), and bleeding, bright, tender or swollen gums.

Chlorexidine, while considered the gold standard in dentistry for the prevention of dental plaque,[7] was flagged in 2012 in a patient safety alert issued by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), due to its potential to induce anaphylactic reactions.[8] While chlorexidine-induced analaphylaxis is an exceedingly rare reaction, low level exposure has been confirmed in numerous scientific studies to cause a variety of complications.[9] [10] [11] Clearly, safer alternatives are needed and especially if they can be shown to be more effective.
Turmeric
Turmeric Mouthwash Shown Superior to Chlorexidine
In 2012, a study published in the Journal of Indian Society of Periodontology compared the efficacy of a .1% curcumin extract mouthwash + .01% eugenol (Group A) to a more strongly concentrated .2% chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash (Group B), in subjects with mild to moderate gingivitis. Both Group A and Group B consisted of 30 subjects who were advised to use 10 ml of mouthwash with equal dilution of water for 1 min twice a day 30 min after brushing. They were then tracked for plaque and gingival changes at day 0, day 14h and day 21. Both their direct experience (subjective) and objective criteria were assessed at days 14 and 21.

The results were as follows:

On comparison between chlorhexidine and turmeric mouthwash, percentage reduction of the Plaque Index between 0 and 21 st day were 64.207 and 69.072, respectively (P=0.112), percentage reduction of Gingival Index between 0 and 21st day were 61.150 and 62.545 respectively (P=0.595) and percentage reduction of BAPNA [The N-benzoyl-l-arginine-p- nitroanilide assay; a measurement of pathogenic bacterial activity] values between 0 and 21st day were 42.256 and 48.901 respectively (P=0.142).

In all three objective parameters tested, turmeric extract was at least as effective as chlorhexidine mouthwash at improving the patient’s oral health. However, technically, the curcumin formulation beat out the chemical mouthwash in all 3 measurements, and at only one-half the concentration.

Also, subjective evaluations showed that the turmeric mouthwash was better received by the subjects.

In the characteristically conservative style of academia, the author’s concluded:

“Chlorhexidine gluconate as well as turmeric mouthwash can be effectively used as an adjunct to mechanical plaque control in prevention of plaque and gingivitis. Both the mouthwashes have comparable anti-plaque, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties.”

Additional human clinical research has confirmed curcumin’s effectiveness as a chlorexidine alternative in reducing plaque,[12] as well as reducing plaque-associated gum inflammation.[13]

One of the major differences with a turmeric (curcumin)-based mouthwash is that if one happened to swallow some, it would not result in the type of adverse effects associated with a biocidal/antiseptic chemical such as chlorhexidine. In fact, given the broad range of documented health benefits of turmeric, it would actually provide some side benefit, were this to happen.

Ultimately, the choice is yours. But remember, always exert caution when embarking on any new dietary and/or supplement change, and do so under the guidance of a trained professional such as a medical herbalist or integrative physician. And remember, the quality of the herb will depend on whether it was organically produced (non-irradiated), well-handled and preserved in order to eliminate mycotoxins and related microbial contaminants.
http://www.curejoy.com/content/turmeric-superior-chemical-mouthwash-oral-health/


Wednesday, 6 August 2014

WHAT IF A SPICE COULD SAFELY DESTROY NEARLY EVERY TYPE OF CANCER?



Cancer is one of the leading causes of death. What if there was a safe, natural herb that could work for nearly every type of cancer?

According to Dr. William LaValley, who focuses most of his clinical work on the treatment of cancer, curcumin—a derivative of turmeric, and the pigment that gives the curry spice turmeric its yellow-orange color—may fit the bill. It's a natural compound that has been extensively researched, and has been found to have numerous health applications.

Like me, Dr. LaValley was trained in general medicine, but he's devoted a considerable amount of time to understanding the biochemical pathways that can support health nutritionally.

In 1982, he participated in an exchange program to the People's Republic of China, where he got first-hand experience with the ancient practices of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

"One of the important messages that I learned there was that natural products, natural molecules, from plants and animals that are already available in nature, have been used by the Chinese for at least hundreds, probably thousands of years. That deeply changed my perspective in the world of medicine," he says.

"I came back to medical school, and thereafter, looked at how I could integrate the perspective of conventional pharmaceutical administration as well as natural extract, natural product administration."

Curcumin Has Powerful Anti-Cancer Activity

In 2005, he took a 75 percent sabbatical from clinical practice to immerse himself in the science of molecular biology, specifically the molecular biology of cancer. He also devoted approximately 9,000-9,500 hours building a relational database from the PubMed literature about the molecular biology of cancer.

One important lesson he learned through that venture is that the understanding of molecular biology can be applied across a range of diseases and symptoms described in the scientific literature. That knowledge can be applied by searching PubMed and other related databases, looking at the relevant molecular pathways involved.

"In learning the molecular biology of cancer pathways, and in learning that what the evidence actually shows for the effect of natural product extracts on various relevant molecular targets in various cancers, 

We see that there's actually quite a large amount of evidence that supports using various molecules, natural products, and pharmaceuticals that are already approved and that have been around for a long time to affect anti-cancer activity along that pathway at that target. That's called molecularly targeted anti-cancer treatment, and it's widely practiced in oncology today.

What's not widely practiced is the use of the natural products for the molecularly targeted anti-cancer activity. I provide that for my patients because the evidence base suggests and supports the use of these treatment recommendations."

Curcumin - A 'Universal' Cancer Treatment?
Interestingly, curcumin appears to be universally useful for just about every type of cancer, which is really odd since cancer consists of a wide variety of different molecular pathologies. You wouldn't necessarily suspect that there would be one herb that would work for most of them. Dr. LaValley explains how he came to this conclusion:

"I went back to the literature and looked at how I can support the decision-making process and the recommendations that I'm making for treatment from the scientific literature, including literature that goes from the treatment of humans with oral products like pharmaceuticals or natural products.

"curcumin does not adversely affect healthy cells..."

This is where I learned about this molecule called curcumin, all the way down to its use in animals and then its use in test tubes or petri dish... One of the amazing things about curcumin is that this molecule has some profound anti-inflammatory activity and has activity in many molecular targets.

There are molecules that are in the cells, and those molecules interact with each other along certain pathways or tracks. The traffic of that interaction, the signals that are transferred in that trafficking of information in the molecules, presents many different targets or molecular-specific complexes."

As explained by Dr. LaValley, whether the curcumin molecule causes an increase in traffic or activity of a particular molecular target, or a decrease/inhibition of activity, studies repeatedly show that the end result is a potent anti-cancer activity. Furthermore, curcumin does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells. Research has also shown that it works synergistically with certain chemotherapy drugs, enhancing the elimination of cancer cells.

Curcumin Destroys Cancer in Multiple Ways
Curcumin has the most evidence-based literature supporting its use against cancer of any nutrient, including vitamin D, which also has a robust base. Interestingly, this also includes the metabolite of curcumin and its derivatives, which are also anti-cancerous.

Curcumin has the ability to modulate genetic activity and expression—both by destroying cancer cells and by promoting healthy cell function. It also promotes anti-angiogenesis, meaning it helps prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth. As for its effect on molecular pathways, curcumin can affect more than 100 of them, once it gets into the cell. More specifically, curcumin has been found to:
Inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells
Decrease inflammation
Inhibit the transformation of cells from normal to tumor
Inhibit the synthesis of a protein thought to be instrumental in tumor formation
Help your body destroy mutated cancer cells so they cannot spread throughout your body
Help prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth (angiogenesis)


Why Whole Turmeric Is Ineffective
Unfortunately, while there's some curcumin in whole turmeric, there's not enough in the regular spice to achieve clinically relevant results. The turmeric root itself contains only about three percent curcumin concentration. Another major limitation of curcumin as a therapeutic agent is that it is poorly absorbed. When taken in its raw form, you're only absorbing about one percent of the available curcumin.

"The natural product industry has developed a standard of a 95-percent concentration of curcumin," Dr. LaValle explains. "Initially, years ago, that was what we had available for patients. Even at that, taking a 95-percent concentration orally in a capsule, only one percent of that could be absorbed. In order to get amounts of curcumin in the bloodstream that are reasonable to have therapeutic effect, people had to take large amounts of curcumin...

In searching the literature, I found that a way to change that, to dramatically increase the bioavailability, is actually a very simple process of bringing water to a boil, putting those capsules or some dry powder (I use it by the teaspoon), and boiling it for 10 to 12 minutes. That increases the amount of curcumin dissolved in water from that one-percent amount up to 12 percent or so. That amount is a vast number of curcumin molecules that are now in a bioavailable or absorbable form."

However, while this is certainly doable, it's really inconvenient, and great care must be taken to prevent staining your clothes and kitchen surfaces. It's a significant enough problem to have been dubbed "yellow kitchen syndrome," as it's virtually impossible to get the stains out. Turmeric is in fact an excellent dyeing agent for fabrics, rendering them a yellow-orange color.

Convenience and efficiency has driven many of the changes in the forms of curcumin in later years. Because it's a fat-loving or lipophilic molecule, many newer preparations now include some sort of oil or fat, which improves its absorbability and bioavailability. Such preparations typically have seven to eight times higher absorption than the raw, unprocessed 95-percent-concentration of dry powder. There are also newer sustained release preparations, which Dr. LaValley prefers and recommends.

The Connection Between Cancer and Insulin Resistance
If you are overweight, or have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and/or diabetes, then in all likelihood insulin and leptin resistance is a factor. Insulin and leptin resistance is also a very common factor among cancer patients. From my perspective, a ketogenic diet (with or without intermittent fasting) would be a prudent treatment strategy to resolve that underlying problem. Once you've normalized your insulin and leptin, you don't necessarily need to maintain a ketogenic diet, if you find it too restrictive.

"I agree with you that a ketogenic diet is really appropriate in many cases, probably the significant majority of cases," Dr. LaValley says. "It's been known for probably 80 years or longer that solid tumors, and some of the blood cancers, are sugar-loving. Another term is that they are addicted to sugar.

I use [a] PET scan to demonstrate to patients that here is objective proof that the tumors you have in your body are sugar-avid. They're taking up sugar at a rate much higher than the other regular healthy cells. I want to drive home that message, so that they are motivated to alter their diet to have a low carb intake, causing their body to generate additional nutrient supply molecules called ketones...

What that means is that we're trying to provide an anti-cancer antagonistic pressure on the cancer cells by reducing the amount of sugar that's readily available for uptake by reducing the easily available sugar in the diet and compensating for the nutrient reduction and sugar [reduction] by increasing healthy fats."

Did you know that curcumin has these healing benefits? Would you try curcumin if you had to fight cancer?

http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/what-if-a-spice-could-safely-destroy-nearly-every-type-of-cancer

Tuesday, 5 August 2014

The Spice That Prevents Fluoride From Destroying Your Brain

http://themindunleashed.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/spiceeee.jpg

Fluoride is found everywhere today, from antibiotics to drinking water, no stick pans to toothpaste, making exposure inevitable. All the more reason why new research proving this common spice can prevent fluoride damage is so promising!
Fluoride’s neurotoxicity has been the subject of academic debate for decades, and now a matter of increasingly impassioned controversy among the general public, as well. From ‘conspiracy theories’ about it being first used in drinking water in Russian and Nazi concentration camps to chemically lobotomize captives, to its now well-known IQ lowering properties, to its ability to enhance the calcification of the pineal gland – the traditional ‘seat of the soul’ – many around the world, and increasingly in the heavily fluoridated regions of the United States, are starting to organize at the local and statewide level to oust this ubiquitous toxicant from municipal drinking water.
Now, a new study published in the Pharmacognosy Magazine titled, “Curcumin attenuates neurotoxicity induced by fluoride: An in vivo evidence,” adds experimental support to the suspicion that fluoride is indeed a brain-damaging substance, also revealing that a natural spice-derived protective agent against the various health effects associated with this compound is available.
The study was authored by researchers from the Department of Zoology, University College of Science, M.L. Sukhadia University, Udaipur, India, who have spent the past decade investigating the mechanisms through which fluoride induces severe neurodegenerative changes in the mammalian brain, particularly in cells of the hippocampus and cerebral cortex.[i] [ii]
The study opens by describing the historical backdrop for concern about fluoride’s significant and wide ranging toxicity:
“Fluoride (F) is probably the first inorganic ion which drew attention of the scientific world for its toxic effects and now the F toxicity through drinking water is well-recognized as a global problem. Health effect reports on F exposure also include various cancers, adverse reproductive activities, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases.[1,2]“
The study focused on fluoride induced neurotoxicity, identifying excitoxicity (stimulation of the neuron to the point of death) and oxidative stress as the two main drivers of neurodegeneration.  It has been observed that subjects with the condition known as fluorosis, a mottling of tooth enamel caused by excessive exposure to fluoride during tooth development, also have neurodegenerative changes associated with a form of oxidative stress known as lipid peroxidation (rancidity). Excess lipid peroxidation in the brain can lead to a decrease in total brain phospholipid content. Owing to these well-known mechanisms of fluoride associated neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration, the researchers identified the primary polyphenol in the spice turmeric — known as curcumin – as an ideal agent worth testing as a neuroprotective substance.  Previous research on curcumin indicates that it is capable of activing as an antioxidant in 3 distinct ways by protecting against: 1) singlet oxygen 2) hyrodxyl radicals and 3) superoxide radical damage. Also, curcumin appears to raise endogenous glutathione production in the brain, a major antioxidant defense system.
In order to assess the neurotoxic effects of fluoride and prove curcumin’s protective role against it, researchers randomly divided up mice into four groups, for 30 days:
  1. Control (no fluoride)
  2. Fluoride (120 ppm): fluoride was given in distilled water drinking water without restriction.
  3. Fluoride (120 ppm/30 mg/kg body weight) + Curcumin: Oral dose of curcumin dissolved in olive oil along with fluoride in drinking water
  4. Curcumin: (30 mg/kg body weight)
In order to ascertain the effect of treatment, the researchers measured the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the brains of the different treated mice. MDA is a well-known marker of oxidative stress/damage.
As was expected, the fluoride (F) only treatment group showed significantly elevated MDA levels vs. the non-fluoride treated control. The F + Curcumin group saw reduced MDA levels vs. the fluoride only group, demonstrating curcumin’s neuroprotective activity against fluoride associated neurotoxicity.
The study concluded,
“Our study thus demonstrate that daily single dose of 120 ppm F result in highly significant increases in the LPO [lipid peroxidation, i.e. brain rancidity] as well as neurodegenerative changes in neuron cell bodies of selected hippocampal regions. Supplementation with curcumin significantly reduce the toxic effect of F to near normal level by augmenting the antioxidant defense through its scavenging property and provide an evidence of having therapeutic role against oxidative stress mediated neurodegeneration.”

DISCUSSION

This is far from the first study to demonstrate curcumin’s remarkable brain-saving properties. From the perspective of the primary research alone, there are over two hundred peer-reviewed published studies indicating that curcumin is a neuroprotective agent. On our own turmeric database we have 115 articles proving this statement: Turmeric Protects The Brain.  We have also featured studies on turmeric’s ability to protect and restore the brain:
  • How Turmeric Can Save the Aging Brain From Dementia and Premature Death
  • Turmeric Produces ‘Remarkable’ Recovery in Alzheimer’s Patients
Considering the many chemical insults we face on a daily basis in the post-industrial world, turmeric may very well be the world’s most important herb, with over 600 evidence-based health applications.

[i] Bhatnagar M, Rao P, Saxena A, Bhatnagar R, Meena P, Barbar S. Biochemical changes in brain and other tissues of young adult female mice from fluoride in their drinking water. Fluoride. 2006;39:280–4. [Ref list]
[ii] Bhatnagar M, Sukhwal P, Suhalka P, Jain A, Joshi C, Sharma D. Effects of fluoride in drinking water on NADPH-diaphorase neurons in the forebrain of mice: A possible mechanism of fluoride neurotoxicity. Fluoride. 2011;44:195–9. [Ref list]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sayer Ji is the founder of GreenMedInfo.com, an author, educator, Steering Committee Member of the Global GMO Free Coalition (GGFC), and an advisory board member of the National Health Federation.
He founded Greenmedinfo.com in 2008 in order to provide the world an open access, evidence-based resource supporting natural and integrative modalities. It is widely recognized as the most widely referenced health resource of its kind.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.