Eat Turmeric and Maybe Prevent Cancer

[Guest guest]

Eat This Spice. It Could Save Your Life

 

The curry spice turmeric could help prevent and possibly even cure cancer.

 

Also found in yellow mustard, turmeric contains an ingredient called

curcumin that researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson

Cancer Center in Houston say may help suppress and destroy the blood

cancer multiple myeloma. Curcumin is what gives mustard and turmeric

their yellow color.

 

In the laboratory, the researchers added curcumin to human cells

infected with multiple myeloma. The result: The curcumin stopped those

cells from replicating, and the cells that were left died, reports Reuters.

 

Even though the study did not actually test curcumin in cancer patients,

lead researcher Dr. Bharat B. Aggarwal is so impressed with these early

lab results that he recommends cancer patients eat food seasoned with

turmeric. And with good reason. Previous research has shown that

curcumin may fight other types of cancers besides multiple myeloma. It

has also been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

that can heal wounds and possibly fight Alzheimer's disease and multiple

sclerosis. Best of all, curcumin has no known side effects in human

beings--even in large amounts. The study findings were published in the

journal Blood.

 

A study last year from Kumamoto University in Kumamoto, Japan, that was

published in the journal Cancer also found that curcumin prevented

cancer and stopped tumors from growing. Reuters reports that the

Japanese researchers determined that curcumin inhibited the production

of interleukin-8 (IL-8), a protein that attracts white blood cells to a

particular site and leads to inflammation. The compound also reduced the

activity of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-kappaB), a molecule that helps

regulate the gene that produces IL-8.

 

What does that mean? Tumor cells secrete high levels of IL-8, which is a

protein that causes inflammation. The exact role IL-8 plays in cancer

growth is still unclear, but previous research shows it may stimulate

tumor cells to produce at the same time it suppresses the immune system.

But the compound in turmeric--curcumin--curbs IL-8. If the spice

actually does what the study findings suggest, then " curcumin is capable

of working as a potent agent that reduces tumor promotion, " the

researchers concluded.

 

In yet another study, researchers from the University of Rochester

Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y., found that curcumin helped protect

the skin of cancer patients who were undergoing radiation therapy. A

common and painful side effect of radiation is burns and blisters. Mice

who were given three doses of curcumin for five to seven days a week

along with a dose of radiation had minimal skin damage caused by the

radiation. In addition, curcumin was found to suppress the development

of new cells in tumors, which furthers the effectiveness of radiation

therapy, reports Health Newswire.

 

There's only one problem with what could be Mother Nature's miracle cure

for cancer, and you won't believe what it is: Greed. To learn more about

turmeric's cancer-fighting properties, including the proper dosage,

requires large medical experiments with a great number of patients. Such

ventures are costly and are typically financed by drug companies eyeing

future product development. However, in this case, the " drug " is a

natural compound. Aggarwal explained to Reuters that no drug company can

reap the financial benefits if turmeric proves to be an effective

anti-cancer drug so no drug company is likely to pay the big bucks

needed for the medical studies.

 

--Cathryn Conroy