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Turmeric for Liver Repair and Regeneration

Turmeric For Liver Health and Fitness

To date, most effective food supplements cannot exclude turmeric because for thousands of years, people in Middle East, Southeast Asia, Subcontinent region (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) have been consuming it as a favorite spice and for treating wounds according to Ayurvedic medicine [1].

The common name for turmeric is “Indian saffron” since the spice is native to India and imparts the same color as saffron. Both fresh turmeric root and dried, ground turmeric powder are used in cooking

Turmeric is increasingly becoming popular these days due to its medicinal significance as natural remedy. With a bright yellowish hue, why turmeric is good for health? Ground turmeric in amount of one tablespoon provides 29 calories, 6 g of carbohydrate and 2 g protein and contains several minerals, such as potassium, manganese and phosphorus [2].

British Nutrition Foundation and other published books about medicinal foods focused pretty much on turmeric as rich source of bioactive compounds.

Only in USA, the turmeric sales reached to about $328 million in 2018, as reported by The New York Times with reference to Nutrition Business Journal.

Published literature and Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicines presented turmeric health benefits in detail along with health claims because of its powerful medicinal properties, and hence main ones are given below in sequence [1,3].

 

Dried, ground turmeric is a yellow powder
Ground turmeric- A source of powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds termed curcuminoids. Source Pixabay

 

Why Should We Use Turmeric?   

  • The medicinal properties of turmeric are because of special compounds called curcuminoids of which curcumin is the important among all and constitute 3% of dried spice
  • Turmeric is reservoir of natural anti-inflammatory compounds to reduce chronic inflammation [4]
  • Turmeric enhances cognitive abilities of brain and reduces incidence of Alzheimer and brain functions decline (Neurodegenerative diseases) [1]

Ground Turmeric Powder Health Benefits for Liver Health and Fitness

  • Turmeric decreases the incidence risks of cardiovascular diseases
  • Turmeric has most profound effect on preventing/treating cancer
  • Turmeric supplementation is highly recommended to alleviate Arthritis
  • Curcumin in Turmeric exhibits striking potential as anti-depressant
  • Turmeric is documented as super food to delay aging by preventing onset of Chronic diseases
  • Curcumin in Turmeric is helpful in prevention or treatment of diabetes
  • Turmeric helps in skin improvement due to its antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties [1,5]
Organic ground turmeric powder
Turmeric- An essential culinary ingredient in Indian cuisine and natural spice of medicinal properties. Source: Pixabay

As relative of ginger, just go to spice aisle and use turmeric in culinary. Curry formulations in India and Subcontinent involves turmeric as culinary ingredient and spice which imparts yellow color to curry.

It is often used in the form of smoothies, veggie soup and teas to treat various seasonal flu and respiratory blockage as alternative of over-the-counter painkillers.

You may have noticed the tawny hue of turmeric in ice-creams, smoothies and lattes. Haven’t you? See carefully next time! Moreover, turmeric is widely available in form of ground turmeric, powdered supplements and pills [1,3,6].

 

Curcumin for Liver Repair and Regeneration

Tumor growth is closely linked with increased inflammation in our bodies. Curcumin exhibits anti-inflammatory properties and may play contributory treating roles for various cancer types like breast, liver, prostate, pancreatic, colorectal and gastric cancers.

A research report on mice have suggested that curcumin may decrease the progression rate of tumor cells and may also help in formation of tumors at initial stage. Curcumin do so by employing several mechanisms [1,4], such as:

  • Destruction of tumor cells during propagation stages in cell cycle;
  • By causing interference in involved cell-signaling pathways and;
  • Even causing death of such tumor cells

Recent research on animals (in vivo) and cells (in vitro) has demonstrated promising potential of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of curcumin in prevention of various cancerous cells provided that curcumin was administrated at very high doses.

Curcumin in turmeric exhibits striking and significant positive impact on ailment named non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Advanced stage of disease may lead to serious consequences regarding liver health, such as incidence of cirrhosis, diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure.

According to National Health Service of UK, one in three persons reports fatty liver at early stages. Curcumin supplementation in range of ≥1000 mg/day showed significant reduction in serum concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). However, further need of study with higher dose administration is recommended to fully understand the effects of curcumin on liver health [3,6].

 

Bioavailability of Curcumin

The extremely high doses suggested in published literature are very difficult to implement in our daily routines because in order to consume the suggested dose of curcumin (4 g/day), it is equivalent to turmeric consumption of 100 g which is not possible to replicate in currently employed culinary and dietary practices, as a commonly used curry recipes comprises of only tablespoon of turmeric which is enough for group of 3-4 persons [2,6].

Unluckily, the absorption of turmeric including curcumin is not well enough in our bloodstreams and the already employed amounts in curry or cuisines are not enough to provide the desired antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

Hence, various nutritionists including Dana Angelo White of Dana White Nutrition suggested to consume turmeric in form of immunity-boosting turmeric chicken soup/ turmeric soup for colds or curcumin supplements.

Still, there is another suggested way to increase the bioavailability of turmeric/curcumin in our bodies to reap the health benefits [6].

Black pepper consists of an ingredient which is termed as piperine which can be incorporated into turmeric supplements or utilized along with curcumin. The specific piperine compound of black pepper is reported to enhance the bioavailability of turmeric.

The bioavailability determines the fate of the bioactive compounds with respect to usage by the body. In one study, it was suggested that bioavailability extremely increased (up to 2,000 %) when 2 g of curcumin was consumed in combination with 20 mg of piperine.

Hence, synergistic relationship of curcumin and back pepper is evident and must be taken into account during regular curcumin consumption to detoxify liver and it repairment and regeneration [2,6].

Turmeric Curcumin: combining the piperine in black pepper with the curcumin in turmeric enhances curcumin absorption
Curcumin in Turmeric: A powerful antioxidant that absorbs more with piperine of black pepper. Source: Pixabay

 

Rare Case of Autoimmune Hepatic Problem in Arizona

Recently, a rare liver problem was reported by BMJ Case reports due to turmeric supplementation in Arizona-based woman who was regularly consuming turmeric supplements. That 71-year old woman was taking turmeric supplements to prevent onset of stroke.

After 8 months of regular consumption, the woman was gone thru blood test which revealed elevated levels of liver enzymes in her blood as an indicator of potential live problem.

The turmeric supplementation triggered her autoimmune response of body’ immune system against liver causing inflammation and damage [7]. This is also referred to as autoimmune hepatitis.

The turmeric supplementation was not included in medical records of patient and instead of doctors, patients identified curcumin-induced live inflammation by herself. This is probably the first documented report available and exact role of turmeric compounds regarding liver damage is unclear. The woman was taking 20 other medicines and combination of turmeric supplementation with other medicines might be involved in triggering the autoimmune hepatitis condition.

The woman stopped taking and turmeric supplements which brought the serum levels of liver enzymes down and led to decreased inflammation. Hence, it is suggested that herbal supplementation must be reported by the patients to their health care providers including dietitians, pharmacists and doctors [8].

 

Caution about Supplement Consumption

Although, turmeric supplementation is popular in western countries, however, caution should be taken. Hence, it is suggested that herbal supplementation must be reported by the patients to their health care providers including dietitians, pharmacists and doctors.

Moreover, the ground turmeric should be preferred to consume in form of ingredient in cuisines. As the turmeric is usually cooked with oil in Indian cuisines which increases the availability of curcumin in our bloodstreams, hence instead of supplements, turmeric should be consumed in cooked forms of cuisines [1-3].

 

Bottomline

In conclusion, it can be inferred that there is no reason to not reap the health benefits of turmeric in everyday life. Turmeric should be incorporated into our cuisines as in terms of balanced diet in combination with other foods like black pepper. However, caution should be taken that turmeric consumption should be primarily from ground turmeric or in form of cooked cuisines in combination with other spices and oils.

Moreover, anticancer effect of turmeric should be taken in to account whereas, healthy lifestyle and dietary patterns play crucial role in live disease incidence. People should be cautious to consider turmeric as the total replacer of life-style related factors in cancer prevention and no single food item is capable to subside the risk factors of liver cancer and turmeric may help to alleviate the symptoms associated with oxidative stress.

 

References

[1] Hay, E., Lucariello, A., Contieri, M., Esposito, T., De Luca, A., Guerra, G., & Perna, A. (2019). Therapeutic effects of turmeric in several diseases: An overview. Chemico-biological interactions, 108729.

[2] British Nutrition Foundation. To turmeric or not to turmeric…can it really prevent cancer? https://www.nutrition.org.uk/bnf-blogs/turmeric.html.

[3] The New York Times: What Are the Benefits of Turmeric? https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/16/style/self-care/turmeric-benefits.html

[4] Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Turmeric. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-turmeric#section6

[5] Why is Turmeric Good for Me? https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/features/why-ls-turmeric-good-for-me.

[6] 12 Scientific Health Benefits of Turmeric and Curcumin. https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/diet/scientific-health-benefits-turmeric-curcumin/

[7] Lukefahr, A. L., McEvoy, S., Alfafara, C., & Funk, J. L. (2018). Drug-induced autoimmune hepatitis associated with turmeric dietary supplement use. BMJ Case Reports, 2018, bcr-2018.

[8] Woman’s Liver Problems Tied to Her Turmeric Supplement. https://www.livescience.com/63594-turmeric-supplement-liver.html

Kashif Ameer, PhD

I am Dr. Kashif Ameer. My research work include functional foods, food safety, food processing, extraction of phytochemicals and detection of irradiated foods. I have rich experience in scholarly publishing and serving as an Associate Editor for the Indexed Journals. I received Tanner Award from Institute of Food Technologists and Top Reviewer Awards from Publons and Top-Notched Journals in Field of Food Science and Technology, such as Food Chemistry, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry etc. This blog is about healthy foods, healthy living and overall well-being and combat lifestyle and aging-related diseases.

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