The Health Benefits of Turmeric: Why & How to Add Turmeric Into Your Nutrition Plan Nutrition Promoted

Turmeric is a spice often found in Asian cooking. In terms of medicinal properties, you’ll mostly hear about turmeric today in reference to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits. Turmeric contains curcuminoids, most notably curcumin. It has been found that curcumin has powerful anti-inflammatory properties, which may work by inhibiting molecules that play a role in inflammation.

Not only does curcumin have powerful anti-inflammatory properties, but it is also a powerful antioxidant. Free radicals are atoms with unpaired electrons, and since they want to be paired, they scavenge the body for another electron. Free radicals can have numerous negative side effects in the body, including damage to cell membranes, changes in DNA and the growth of tumors.

Antioxidants, like curcumin, prevent free radicals from taking electrons, and thus causing damage to, cells in the body. Antioxidants give an electron to the unstable free radicals without becoming destabilized themselves.

The downside of curcumin is that it is rapidly metabolized by the body, thus lowering its effectiveness and its bioavailability (the amount of a substance that the body is actually able to use). A study shows that the bioavailability of curcumin is increased up to 2000 percent by using it in conjunction with piperine, an alkaloid found in black pepper.

You can add some turmeric (and curcumin) into your diet in various ways. It’s certainly worth noting that, even if you dislike the taste of turmeric, you can still enjoy its benefits via nutritional supplements.

1MD is a health platform that provides useful and reliable health and wellness information and the highest quality health supplements. Learn more at 1MD.org. This post is sponsored by 1MD.

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