Turmeric is a widely used spice in cultures around the world. While it is an iconic ingredient in some of the tastiest dishes ever made, it’s also known and used for its incredible health benefits.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, heal your wounds, or treat PTSD, this yellow spice is a powerhouse when it comes to transforming your health.
15 Benefits of Turmeric for Health
With numerous health benefits and powerful properties, turmeric has made a name for itself as a holistic solution to multiple medical conditions.
Ready to see how turmeric can positively transform your life? Keep reading.
1. Fight Inflammation
One of the most popular reasons people turn to turmeric is for its anti-inflammatory properties. Chronic inflammation causes arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, many people turn to this bright yellow spice to use these anti-inflammatory properties to their advantage.
Want to treat inflammation as all-naturally as possible? Start using this golden spice.
According to certain studies, this spice is almost as powerful as some of the leading anti-inflammatory drugs.
2. Take Advantage of Antioxidants
The antioxidants in this beneficial spice are a powerful way to fight free radicals. When left untreated, these free radicals can wreak havoc on our cells and DNA. This damage often leads to cancer and similar medical issues.
By adding turmeric to your diet, you’ll be able to take advantage of its antioxidants.
The antioxidants present in this spice can neutralize dangerous free radicals, highly reactive molecules that cause oxidative damage to our bodies.
According to certain studies, turmeric’s antioxidants are instrumental in fighting free radicals, preventing cancer, and boosting your body’s antioxidant enzymes,
3. Boost Your Cognitive Functions
Cognitive health is typically not a concern until we are older. However, to ensure you maintain cognitive health into old age, it’s essential to take voluntary measures to protect your brain functions adequately.
With the help of this spice, you’ll be able to improve declined cognitive function and help to restore memory.
Additionally, with this spice, an individual can expect to improve memory decline due to age, counteract neurodegenerative diseases, protect against memory impairment, and reduce the impact of cognitive decline as a result of stress.
4. Prevent Blood Clots
As this spice is an effective anti-inflammatory, it makes for an effective treatment for reducing inflammation. This spice is an anticoagulant that is also helpful with preventing blood clots.
According to certain studies, this spice works to affect how blood clots develop, thanks to its blood-thinning properties.
It’s important to note that as blood thinners can be dangerous for certain people. This caution means that you should consult with a doctor to determine if blood thinners are beneficial or harmful to your health. If the latter is true, avoid this spice.
5. Reduce Depression
Can you reduce depression with the addition of Turmeric to your diet? According to certain research, when using turmeric for health benefits, you can help to reduce your depression.
Certain studies show that when taken alongside commercial depression medications, turmeric helps to boost specific effects caused by this drug.
Since this spice is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotectant, professionals recommend it for those diagnosed with depressive disorders.
Additionally, certain studies have connected chronic inflammation and depression, noting that one condition can exacerbate the other. By taking advantage of this spice’s antioxidants, you’ll be able to fight symptoms of depression as you also reduce the effects of inflammation.
6. Boost Your Skin Health
This yellow spice will help to improve your skin health in a variety of ways. By decreasing the oxidation and inflammation in your body, you’ll be able to accelerate your body’s natural healing process.
With the added presence of Turmeric, you’ll help to kickstart the way your body restores tissue in your cutaneous wounds. Moreover, certain studies have linked this spice to increases in collagen, resulting in a boost in the skin’s elasticity.
In addition to healing, this spice provides a natural and healthy glow to the skin. To take full advantage of this aspect of the spice, create face masks, and cultivate a healthy glow.
7. Stimulate Weight Loss
This spice is known for its anti-inflammatory properties that help to promote weight loss. This spice helps to prevent the creation of fatty tissue, ultimately improving one’s overall metabolic health.
Moreover, taking supplements of this spice also have been linked to accelerating weight loss in individuals that are committed to a specific diet and exercise program.
The anti-inflammatory properties of this spice are what makes it so effective as a solution for weight loss. While more studies are needed to determine the positive effect of this spice in triggering weight loss with the help of its anti-inflammatory properties, studies have shown that the curcumin active in this spice helps to improve waist size and systolic blood pressure in individuals diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
8. Support Healthy Joints
With the power of curcumin, this spice also works to support your joints as the anti-inflammatory properties help to prevent them from becoming swollen and inflamed.
According to a study involving arthritis patients, the curcumin in this spice was more effective when compared to the leading prescription drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
When taking this spice to treat your joints, you’ll experience the most success if you consume it before your symptoms kick in. This prevention is particularly efficient when used to keep joints as mobile and as healthy as possible. However, certain studies do indicate that this spice is also useful in treating osteoarthritis after the onset of symptoms.
9. Promote Heart Health
If you’d like to take a more proactive response to protect yourself from heart disease, consider upping your intake of this spice. Chronic inflammation is one of the main complications of heart disease. So taking this spice for its anti-inflammatory properties will help you to prevent heart attacks and heart disease.
One particularly important benefit of curcumin in this spice is that it will improve your blood vessels’ lining. The endothelium (the lining of the blood vessels) helps to regulate one’s blood clotting and pressure properly. When this lining isn’t working as it should, it can easily lead to the development of heart disease.
Moreover, according to research, the curcumin in this spice make it just as effective in improving endothelial function as aerobic exercise is for the body.
10. Encourage Healthy Levels of Cholesterol
High cholesterol can prompt oxidative stress that is a result of high blood sugar and chronic inflammation.
This is another clear instance where this spice’s anti-inflammatory properties make in an effective treatment for serious medical conditions. By using this spice to reduce inflammation in your body, you’ll be able to support healthier cholesterol levels.
According to a study, this spice’s effectiveness in treating your cholesterol is comparable to prescription drugs like Lipitor that help to reduce inflammation and other symptoms of oxidative stress. In these studies, volunteers noted that after a daily dose of curcumin, their total cholesterol dropped by roughly 12% while their good cholesterol increased by about 30%.
11. Boost Your Stress Tolerance
Turmeric is known as an adaptogen, meaning it will help counteract the effects of stressors on the body.
If you’re hoping to reduce the amount of stress in your life, consider turning to the most effective adaptogens. These types of herbal treatments work to modulate how stress is released from your body’s adrenal glands. This will help your body better adapt to emotional and physical stress, allowing you to be more resilient in the face of stressful situations.
12. Improve Your Mood
While you likely won’t see a complete mood swing from simply adding this spice to your next meal, you certainly can improve your mood over time with the active ingredient in this spice.
The curcumin in this spice works to boost the levels of BDNF in your brain, which will likely help in preventing depression. Moreover, curcumin has been proven to boost the body’s levels of dopamine and serotonin–two chemicals that affect one’s mood.
Want to shift your mood with the help of this spice? Try taking a dose of it twice a day to watch your overall mood improve.
13. Reduce bloating and Indigestion
Tired of dealing with uncomfortable indigestion and bloating? While you can turn to prescription or over-the-counter solutions, consider trying this spice.
As it is a powerful anti-inflammatory, this spice works to stimulate the gallbladder, which will help your body to produce the bile necessary to break down your food and improve your digestion.
According to a study, this spice is effective in reducing gas and bloating symptoms for individuals that experience indigestion. This research goes on to show that its curcumin content also helps individuals with ulcerative colitis.
14. Treat PTSD
While most people don’t consider turning to their spice rack as a solution for their PTSD, Turmeric can, in fact, be an effective way to treat this disorder.
As the defining symptom of PTSD is recurring trauma and stress, the stress-relieving and mood-boosting properties of this spice makes it an effective all-natural treatment for PTSD,
Additionally, certain studies have linked dietary turmeric with preventing the return of certain fear memories associated with PTSD.
15. Reduce Your Asthma
This spice’s anti-inflammatory agents make it one of the most effective all-natural treatments for bronchial asthma.
This spice helps to clear the airways and works to improve your breathing capacity. As it dilates the blood vessels, it also improves airflow, thins the blood, relaxes muscles, and relieve the inflammation caused by asthma that causes the lungs to become obstructed.
Final Thoughts on Turmeric for Health Benefits
If you’ve experienced any of the above conditions or symptoms, don’t hesitate to take advantage of the power of using turmeric for health benefits firsthand. As an effective anti-inflammatory solution, this spice will totally transform the way your body looks, feels, and operates.
Whether you take this spice as a supplement or add it into your daily diet, trying this spice as medical treatment will boost your health overall. Keep this guide in mind as you experience everything this golden spice has to offer.