Turmeric

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Have you seen the news? Apparently they are testing turmeric to see what effect it has on cancerous tumours, and on dementia!

Quite extraordinary stuff!

My parents-in-law have been here for the weekend. FIL has a bit of vascular dementia, and so I made my 'dementia potatoes'
- when I made roast spuds, I sprinkled turmeric on the par-cooked spuds, with salt, pepper, herbs de Provence and of course duck fat - the roasties came out the most fabulous colour, and my in-laws and everyone else loved them.

This morning, I made 'dementia mushrooms' by sprinkling turmeric and cumin on the mushrooms as I cooked them in a knob of butter. They were absolutely yummy with bacon and eggs etc!

HH

[jeral Profile]

Turmeric is known to have various health benefits, including that it is an antisceptic of sorts. It can be very strong (bitter) though, so only a little is typically used.

Does it refer to a medical trial? I'm just wondering how much one would have to eat as it is quite bitter. Does it say what the sample size was (i.e. how many people were in the trial/survey) and over what period they were assessed, so more info on how they drew their conclusions. Did it include any national differences? For example different peoples have different inherent metabolisms and other eating habits generally. Ta.

However, I've never read that there's anything bad about eating turmeric so there isn't a downside that I know of even if the upside might be vague.

Turmeric goes well in a cauliflower bhaji dish incidentally. Caulis are quite good at the moment.

[Mamta Profile]

Turmeric has been recognised as a healing spice in Ayurvedic medicine for ever! It's anti-inflammatory properties are known to most Indians. If I have any aches/pains, especially in joints or muscles, I just add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder to a hot mug of milk, along with some sugar/honey and drink it at bed time. It seems to work, though I am not aware of any controlled studies.
Most savoury Indian dishes;dals, vegetables, pilafs, curries and even snacks have turmeric, so we do tend to eat a lot of it over a life time. I even bake a bread loaf with turmeric added to it, which looks pretty nice. I am not sure what difference it makes over the years collectively/accumulatively, if any. Indians suffer from most of the diseases it is supposed to protect against!

[Wokman Profile Website]

Hi hungryhousewife,

Like Mamta says

It seems to work, though I am not aware of any controlled studies.

I have used it for years yet it doesn't seem to cure everything for everyone, if it did then we would probably have it as an added ingredient in everything. I'm glad that scientific research is being done into the benefits as I also have relatives who suffer from cancerous tumours, and on dementia.

Indians suffer from most of the diseases it is supposed to protect against!

Lets hope that the tests help us all in the future, even though it might take many years before anything is discovered for certain and is brought onto the market for the average consumer in the street to be able to buy over the counter.

[Happy Violas Profile]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17959521
Here's a link to the BBS News page on this .... originally it was used in lab studies and is now being used on people in a hospital study in Leicester. Mother Nature is very good at inventing potential drugs ... just needs us to find them and work out what to do with them

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Yes, and this was in the Mirror - which I've just looked up on Google

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology ... wel-822280

Wouldn't it be great if they made a breakthrough with something that isn't outrageously expensive!!
HH

[Nigeepoo Profile Website]

I mentioned the health benefits of Turmeric in http://www.carta.co.uk/foodforum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11&start=20#p1177

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Well done! So you did, but I was just rather pleased to see it in print in the newspaper. To me that means people are opening their minds to things they would previously been sceptical about.
HH

[Stokey Sue Profile]

it should be pointed out

1) the amount of curcumin (the active ingredient of turmeric) you get in food is probably irrelevant

2) there's a huge industry (especially in India) looking into using traditional/herbal medicines, to see if they stand up to being used as part of "evidence based medicine" (as modern medicine is known). The scepticism is mainly aimed at anecdotal evidence of the "my legless auntie ate two berries and started to dance" variety.

A lot of medicines are based on these tradtional remedies - aspirin is based on the traditional remedies meadow sweet and willow bark

[hungryhousewife Profile]

Love the auntie dancing bit!!

Re the willow bark and meadow sweet, just think of the poor people burned at the stake in days gone by for suggesting they might be helpful!

HH

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Well I cook Indian food about twice a week, and regularly use turmeric in lots of dishes.
So I may live to be 100, as long as I don't get botulism, bird flu, yellow fever, malaria or run over by a maniac Caracas motor bike!

[Mamta Profile]

Nothing to do with this thread KK, but every time I look at your new ID picture on this forum, I am reminded of this flower from SA; http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&cl ... 4,s:0,i:80

[Renée Profile]

Well, my mother lived to be 101, used aluminium saucepans all her life, never took vitamin pills or drank alcohol. She did eat "less", rather than more, although what she did eat was healthy, I suppose. Eating "less" is supposed to contribute towards a long life.

[jeral Profile]

Longevity is probably hereditary to some extent, although eating less has its followers for a longer and healthier life. Indeed, I recall Paulthebread on the BBC board saying he was going to try -25% calorific intake to see how he got on. Lost track though.

Lots of deterioration illnesses or sudden attacks either do or don't seem to "run in the family" whatever their lifestyles individually. Most spices and herbs on homeopathic websites are said to have possible medicinal features - perhaps we should all be using more of them - I'm a great believer in balance, rather than, say, just "medicinalising" one such as turmeric. I'm sure a lot of side effects come about from isolating the essence of things...