Health Benefits Of Turmeric And Curcumin

Turmeric is a flowering plant belonging to the ginger family and whose roots are used for cooking. Native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, it is a perennial, rhizomatous and herbaceous plant, which requires temperatures ranging between 20 and 30 °C and a substantial amount of annual rainfall to survive.

Every year some of the crop is harvested for its rhizome and the rest of it for consumption. The rhizomes are used either in its fresh form or boiled in water and dried into a deep orange-yellow powder easily available with Turmeric Powder Suppliers in India.

The bright yellow chemical, curcumin churned out by the plant has been approved as an additive in food by the World Health Organization, European Parliament and United States Food and Drug Administration.

Uses
As already mentioned before, the main use of turmeric was as a key ingredient in Indian and Asian cooking. Splashing the powder into cooking imparts a mustard-like and earthy aroma with a slightly pervasive and bitter flavor. Its most common usage is in salty and spicy food but it is sometimes used in sweet dishes too.

Although, it is mainly used in the powder form easily got from Turmeric Powder Suppliers in Andhra Pradesh (as it is mostly found in South India), it is also at times used fresh like ginger in East Asian culinary items and as large chunks in pickle recipes. The fresh rhizome also has immense skin benefits when made into a paste and applied on the skin. It acts like an antiseptic.

The golden yellowish colour of turmeric due to the presence of curcumin consists of an orange-coloured volatile oil. Though it is not a very good dyeing agent because of it not being light fast, yet it is used to dye Indian clothing items. It protects food products from sunlight.

Benefits of the Powder

Turmeric powder is considered to be one of the most potent nutritional supplements that exist today. The top health benefits are enlisted below:

1. Turmeric has Bioactive Compounds that have Powerful Medicinal Properties: What Indians knew a few centuries back; science recently backed it – that it contains compounds with medicinal properties known as curcuminoids with the all power loaded anti-inflammatory and antioxidants. Curcumin quashes many molecules which play a vital role in inflammation. Their antioxidizing effect neutralizes the free radicals and at the same time boosts the body’s own antioxidizing enzymes.
2. Curcumin Boosts Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor: Curcumin is responsible for the promotion of the brain hormone BDNF which quickens the growth of new neurons and also fights a multiple brain degenerative processes.
3. Lowers Risk of Heart Diseases: Curcumin revamps the function of the endothelium.
4. Prevents Cancer: Curcumin has the power to change molecular levels which help to prevent cancer.
5. Treating Alzheimer’s disease: By crossing the blood-brain barrier it shows marked improvement in the pathological process of Alzheimer’s disease.
6. Treats Arthritis Very Well: The anti-inflammatory compounds in curcumin help in the treatment of arthritis.
7. Benefits against Depression: Curcumin is effective in fighting against depression.
8. Delays the Aging Process: The potentiality of curcumin in preventing cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer’s and cancer it lends a helping hand in the aging process.

Availability

The Turmeric Powder Suppliers are well equipped to supply the ever growing Indian market which is its main consumer as it has been known to Indians even when the world was just discovering its benefits.