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Turmeric is as effective as 14 drugs: Science proves

by Mary Manaros

Turmeric is as effective as 14 drugs 13 seeds therajoint

Nothing is as unnerving to pharmaceutical companies as the mention of the power of many a herb. Among these, Turmeric comfortably sits, with one thousand and one reasons backing it.  As one of the plants that have been incessantly researched by all and sundry, Turmeric no doubt stands out. 

An element of primary interest to researchers within Turmeric is Curcumin, alongside its other components and equally medicinal properties. These have been the key points of 12000 peer-reviewed and published biomedical studies that provide great enlightenment into Turmeric’s power. To get a better picture, GreenMedinfo, which preaches the science of natural healing and whose report this article owes much, conducted a five-year research endeavour on Turmeric. Their research unearthed its potential to suit 800 therapeutic and preventive applications. Not to mention its 250 additional psychological effects. 

Want to download GreenMedinfo’s 2,666 ncbi-hyperlinked Turmeric abstracts as a PDF? Acquire it like a retail item through their downloadable Turmeric document page or with their GMI token when you join as a member. Members automatically receive this token monthly or annually, depending on their membership plan. 

Based on the voluminous amount of research that has been conducted on Turmeric, a significant portion has come to the same conclusion. Turmeric is accurately comparable to numerous conventional medicines that include: 

  • Lipitor/Atorvastatin (cholesterol medication): According to a 2008 study that the Drugs in R & D journal issued, a standard preparation of curcuminoids from Turmeric equates considerably to the atorvastatin drug (trade name Lipitor) on endothelial dysfunction. The blood vessels’ fundamental pathology influences atherosclerosis associated with drops in inflammation and oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic patients. [i] [Additional curcumin and 'high cholesterol' research – 8 abstracts]

    1. Corticosteroids (steroid medications): Going by a 1999 study that appeared in the Phytotherapy Research journal, the principal polyphenol in Turmeric, the saffron-coloured pigment known as Curcumin, is likened positively to steroids in managing chronic anterior uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease. [ii] Another 2008 study that came out in Critical Care Medicine discovered that Curcumin equates significantly to the corticosteroid drug called dexamethasone in the animal model as a substitute remedy for lung transplantation-associated injury. It specifically down-regulates inflammatory genes. [iii] An initial study conducted in 2003 and published in Cancer Letters discovered that the same drug also significantly equates to dexamethasone in a lung ischaemia-reperfusion injury model. [iv] [for more curcumin and inflammation research – 52 abstracts]

  • Prozac/Fluoxetine & Imipramine (antidepressants): Curcumin favourably compares to both drugs as far as reducing depressive behaviour in an animal model is concerned, going by a 2011 study published in the Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica journal. [v] [More curcumin and depression research – 5 abstracts]

  • Aspirin (blood thinner): A 1986 study (on in vitro and ex vivo) discovered that Curcumin contains anti-platelet and prostacyclin tempering essences comparable to aspirin. The study indicates that it may be valuable to patients susceptible to vascular thrombosis and require anti-arthritis therapy. It was issued in the Arzneimittelforschung journal. [vi] [for further curcumin and anti-platelet research]

  • Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Curcumin and resveratrol are adequate substitutes to drugs that include naproxen, aspirin, sulindac, celecoxib, dexamethasone, phenylbutazone, ibuprofen, tamoxifen, indomethacin, and diclofenac in exercising anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative action that counters tumour cells. This fact was unearthed by a 2004 study that appeared in the Oncogene journal. vii] [further curcumin and anti-proliferative research – 15 abstracts]

  • Oxaliplatin (chemotherapy drug): Curcumin measures up to oxaliplatin as an antiproliferative agent in colorectal cell lines going by a 2007 study in the International Journal of Cancer.[viii] [for more curcumin and colorectal cancer research – 52 abstracts]

  • Metformin (diabetes drug): Research conducted in 2009 looked into how Curcumin could be invaluable in eliminating diabetes. It found that Curcumin triggers AMPK (which upsurges glucose uptake) and overwhelms gluconeogenic gene expression (suppresses glucose manufacture in the liver) in hepatoma cells. This study was in the Biochemistry and Biophysical Research Community journal. The study also proved that Curcumin was 500 to 100,000 times (in the form known as tetrahydro curcuminoids {THC}) more effective than metformin in stimulating AMPK and its downstream target acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC).[ix]

    • Turmeric and its remarkable components showcase their notably therapeutic properties in additional ways, for example, in research on drug-resistant- and multi-drug resistant cancers. GreenMedinfo has two segments (on these subjects) devoted to examining natural and integrative therapies on their site. 

    Even though numerous other substances have evident efficacy against the mentioned chemotherapy- and radiation-resistant cancers, Curcumin trumps them all. You can read the comprehensive compilation of this research is here: Cancers: Drug-Resistant & Cancers: Multi-Drug Resistant. There are more than 97 studies that point to Curcumin’s capability to induce cell death or sensitize drug-resistant cancer cell lines to everyday treatment. View them here. [x]

    Additionally, GreenMedinfo compiled 28 studies showcasing Curcumin’s capacity to induce cell death or sensitize multi-drug resistant cancer cell lines to conventional treatment. View them here. [xi]

    Turmeric (Curcumin) has an excellent track record in its efficiency as medicine and food over thousands of years in different communities and cultures. Therefore, a strong argument can be made that favours Curcumin as a drug substitute or enhancement during cancer treatment. 

    A better strategy would be to regularly use certified organic (non-irradiated) Turmeric in smaller doses for culinary purposes. This approach would all but guarantee that heroic doses would not be necessary much later when notorious diseases set in. Nourishment, unlike self-medication using ‘nutraceuticals,’ should be the aim of a healthy diet.  

    Want to learn more about the incredible power of Turmeric? Look no further than these four articles: 

    References

    [i] P Usharani, A A Mateen, M U R Naidu, Y S N Raju, Naval Chandra. Effect of NCB-02, atorvastatin and placebo on endothelial function, oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, 8-week study. Drugs R D. 2008;9(4):243-50. PMID: 18588355

    [ii] B Lal, A K Kapoor, O P Asthana, P K Agrawal, R Prasad, P Kumar, R C Srimal. Efficacy of Curcumin in the management of chronic anterior uveitis. Phytother Res. 1999 Jun;13(4):318-22. PMID: 10404539

    [iii] Jiayuan Sun, Weigang Guo, Yong Ben, Jinjun Jiang, Changjun Tan, Zude Xu, Xiangdong Wang, Chunxue Bai. Preventive effects of Curcumin and dexamethasone on lung transplantation-associated lung injury in rats. Crit Care Med. 2008 Apr;36(4):1205-13. PMID: 18379247

    [iv] J Sun, D Yang, S Li, Z Xu, X Wang, C Bai. Effects of Curcumin or dexamethasone on lung ischaemia-reperfusion injury in rats. Cancer Lett. 2003 Mar 31;192(2):145-9. PMID: 18799504

    [v] Jayesh Sanmukhani, Ashish Anovadiya, Chandrabhanu B Tripathi. Evaluation of antidepressant like activity of Curcumin and its combination with fluoxetine and imipramine: an acute and chronic study. Acta Pol Pharm. 2011 Sep-Oct;68(5):769-75. PMID: 21928724

    [vi] R Srivastava, V Puri, R C Srimal, B N Dhawan. Effect of curcumin on platelet aggregation and vascular prostacyclin synthesis. Arzneimittelforschung. 1986 Apr;36(4):715-7. PMID: 3521617

    [vii] Yasunari Takada, Anjana Bhardwaj, Pravin Potdar, Bharat B Aggarwal. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents differ in their ability to suppress NF-kappaB activation, inhibition of expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and cyclin D1, and abrogation of tumor cell proliferation. Oncogene. 2004 Dec 9;23(57):9247-58. PMID: 15489888

    [viii] Lynne M Howells, Anita Mitra, Margaret M Manson. Comparison of oxaliplatin- and curcumin-mediated antiproliferative effects in colorectal cell lines. Int J Cancer. 2007 Jul 1;121(1):175-83. PMID: 17330230

    [ix] Teayoun Kim, Jessica Davis, Albert J Zhang, Xiaoming He, Suresh T Mathews. Curcumin activates AMPK and suppresses gluconeogenic gene expression in hepatoma cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Oct 16;388(2):377-82. Epub 2009 Aug 8. PMID: 19665995

    [x] GreenMedInfo.com, Curcumin Kills Drug Resistant Cancers, 64 Abstracts

    [xi] GreenMedInfo.com, Curcumin Kills Multi-Drug Resistant Cancers: 28 Abstracts.







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