Tumeric

I've talked about tumeric before, but it bears being mentioned again. You will see this spice used in Asian cooking and in curry dishes. The greatest thing about tumeric is that it is a very potent anti-inflammatory agent.

As I mentioned a few days ago, the heart disease and cholesterol piece is more related to inflammation than cholesterol. There are a plethora of diseases that tumeric may help prevent and help. Some of these are disease such as Alzheimer's, pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, Parkinson's, arthritis, and psoriasis. Studies out of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have shown that tumeric affects gene activity in cancer cells. Tumeric actually starves and kills cancer cells. Multiple studies and Universities are now testing tumeric to determine it's affect in various types of cancer.

More tidbits on Herbs

Turmeric helps prevent joint inflammation, especially that associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Turmeric is also felt to slow the spread of prostate cancer.

Rosemary helps protect brain cells from the aging process and can also protect against cardiovascular disease.

I've written more about some of these herbs previously. Just look under the herb to see what else is good about them.

A Spice That Helps Your Brain

I have written about this spice before as an anti-inflammatory and it is part of the anti-inflammation diet. Turmeric which is often used in soups, stews and casseroles does indeed help the brain as well.

Turmeric helps keep the brain healthy by decreasing oxidation which occurs with increased inflammation. Turmeric also decreases plaque in the blood vessels.

The brain is similar to the heart in that plaque in blood vessels can become oxidized and break free. In the heart this causes a heart attack, in the brain it causes a stroke.

The Last 2 Components of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Here are the last two components of the anti-inflammatory diet. Use anti-inflammatory herbs such as ginger and turmeric. I have written about ginger on October 23, 2008. I talked about anti-inflammatories on November 22, 2008 and mention the effects of turmeric.

The last thing mentioned in the anti-inflammatory diet is to consider taking grape seed extract. This herbal contains polyphenols which are potent antioxidants. In addition, grape seed extract is potent anti-inflammatory.

Now you have the one of the anti-inflammatory diets. Let just say that this is not the only one, just one that I ran across in my reading and thought I would share with you.

Inflammation Reducers

I was speaking a few days ago about inflammation in our bodies. I just ran across some research from John Hopkins where the researchers were looking at curry. Curry has been known for a long time as a strong antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. The ingredient in curry that is active is turmeric from which curcuma is dervived. The curcume is really the ingredient that has an effect.

Because of it's anti-inflammatory properties, turmeric helps in any inflammatory diesease such as arthritis, heart disease, cancer and many other inflammatory diseases processes. In addition, it has been demonstrated to assist with protection of the brain where there is oxidative stress like Parkinson's Disease.

If you're looking at a turmeric product, you may see that Bromelain is also in the product. Bromelain works synergistically with turmeric to enhance the anti-inflammatory effects.