Curcumin Found To Prevent Brain Degenerative Diseases

March 29, 2012

Natural News

By John Phillip

Curcumin, the bioactive compound found in the Indian curry spice turmeric and commonly referred to as ‘holy powder’, has been used for centuries in folk medicine to treat wounds, infections, and other health problems. Today researchers are using the power of the evolving science of epigenetics to reveal how curcumin is crucial in the fight against many forms of cancer, as it causes metastatic cells to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis.

Researchers from Michigan State University, publishing the result of a study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry have found that this amazing natural compound is able to prevent the destructive formation of alpha-synuclein proteins that are the hallmark presentation in many neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Curcumin is one a very select group of structures that is able to cross the delicate blood-brain barrier to affect biochemical and electrical activities in the brain. The turmeric derivative has demonstrated the unique capability to prevent clumping or aggregation leading to disease development.

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Why H.R.3380 Is The Only Way To Stop The FDA’s Vitamin Grab

February 10, 2012

Activist Post

By Activist Post

If the Food and Drug Administration has its way, thousands of supplements will be removed from store shelves. We’ve heard this cry before, but this time it is very true. Supplements that you and I might take for granted – like resveratrol, L-GABA, curcumin, bioperine, and many more – which have not hurt a soul but only helped the health of millions, are slated for oblivion because the outlaw FDA thinks that it alone can decide whether they are safe or not. It might seem like a joke, but the FDA is dead serious.

Ignoring the law passed by Congress back in 1994, the FDA wants all new dietary ingredients (i.e., those on the market from October 15, 1994 on) to jump through regulatory hoops that Congress never intended for them. More specifically, the FDA’s draft Guidance for Industry on New Dietary Ingredients (issued last July) would subject these “new” supplements to expensive, drug-like testing requirements for safety that will effectively eliminate thousands of supplements because it simply will not be cost-effective for companies to spend the millions of dollars on each dietary-supplement ingredient. Sales will not justify the expense and the products will be dropped like hot potatoes.

The NHF’s Answer

Immediately upon hearing the news last July about the FDA’s latest power grab, the National Health Federation (NHF) decided that the FDA should get a taste of its own medicine. Through the astute work of NHF’s lobbyist Lee Bechtel in Washington, D.C., that reflexive thought has taken substance in the form of a new bill introduced last October in the House of Representatives by freedom-oriented Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Called the “Dietary Supplement Protection Act” (H.R.3380), the DSPA moves the defining date of October 15, 1994, to a more realistic and recent date of January 1, 2007. In this one simple act, the bill encompasses within that previous grandfathering clause all of the “new” dietary-supplement ingredients that have appeared in that 13-year interval and that would otherwise be subject to the onerous requirements of the FDA Guidance.

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Turmeric, Curcumin Naturally Block Cancer Growth

January 30, 2012

Natural Society

By Anthony Gucciardi

“Here are two more examples of natural anti-cancer substances.”  –KTRN

Turmeric and curcumin have been highlighted as powerful anti-cancer substances in the past, but research has now shed even more light on the amazing ability of both turmeric and curcumin to actually block cancer growth. This is due to the unique ability of a main component in turmeric that is actually able to block an enzyme that promotes the spread of head and neck cancer.

Researchers at UCLA found that curcumin — the primary component in turmeric also responsible for its color — exhibited these cancer-blocking properties during a study involving 21 participants suffering from head and neck cancers. The subjects were given two chewable curcumin tablets containing 1,000 miligrams of the substance each. After administering the chewable curcumin tablets, an independent lab in Maryland was in charge of evaluating the results.

What the lab found was that the enzymes in the patients’ mouths responsible for promoting cancer spread and growth were inhibited by the curcumin supplementation. As a result, the curcumin intake halted the spread of the malignant cells. Curcumin has previously been found to reduce tumors by 81% in similarly shocking research, which also gives credence to the natural anti-cancer benefits of turmeric and curcumin intake.

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Drug Makers Keeping You Sick For Profit

January 25, 2012

NaturalSociety

By Anthony Gucciardi

Why are ineffective and dangerous drugs peddled by supposed ‘public health’ organizations in place of well-established natural solutions with virtually zero side effects? The truth of the matter is that drug makers simply would not profit if the world were to awaken to the plethora of free health-promoting substances that beat out over-priced pharmaceuticals and medical interventions. There would be no need for pharmaceutical manufacturers, phony ‘public health’ organizations peddling the latest ‘miracle’ drug, and certainly no research organizations feeding off the donations of good-hearted individuals.

You may think that this is an impossibility and that natural solutions simply do not compare to ‘scientifically proven’ pharmaceutical science. The truth of the matter is that scientific evidence is the very thing disproving the safety and effectiveness of pharmaceutical drugs as well as highlighting the surplus of beneficial properties associated with inexpensive and free vital nutrients.

It was recently revealed that cancer drugs, toted as the only choice among chemotherapy for many cancer sufferers by ‘public health’ groups, are actually causing massive tumors and subsequently killing the patient. The cancer drugs were found to not only be completely ineffective, but deadly. These are the same drugs that are sold for a premium price and considered to be scientifically validated.

Meanwhile, peer-reviewed research has found that a spice known as turmeric can reduce tumors by 81% naturally. Researchers found that curcumin (a derivative of turmeric) dramatically decreased brain tumors in 9 out of the 11 studies examined by 81 percent. Furthermore, there was no evidence of toxicity. Widely used as a spice in South Asian and Middle Eastern countries, turmeric is continually being pinpointed as an extremely potent anti-cancer solution. What’s more is the fact that turmeric is extremely inexpensive, and can be found around the globe — from Saudi Arabia to Kentucky.

This is just one example of scientific research validating natural alternatives while simultaneously pinpointing the extreme dangers associated with mainstream pharmaceuticals pushed as the only treatment by drug companies.

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Protect Your Liver with Curry Spice

November 2nd, 2010

Natural News

By: Jonathan Benson

A powerful compound in curry known as curcumin may play an important role in liver health, according to a new study out of Saint Louis University (SLU). Researchers observed that curcumin seems to help fight and prevent damage caused by liver fibrosis, a chronic liver disease that typically leads to cirrhosis, liver failure, and portal hypertension, as well as the eventual need for a liver transplant.

“My laboratory studies the molecular mechanism of liver fibrosis and is searching for natural ways to prevent and treat this liver damage,” explained Anping Chen, Ph.D., author of the study and director of research in the pathology department of SLU. “[O]ur study suggests that curcumin may be an effective therapy to treat and prevent liver fibrosis, which is associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).”

Curcumin plays many important roles in health. Besides recent research published in the journal Gut that found similar benefits for curcumin in liver health, studies have shown that curcumin prevents and fights cancer, prevents and treats Alzheimer’s disease and other mental conditions, and even reverses the aging process.

High levels of leptin, a key protein hormone that helps regulate energy intake and use, is linked to causing liver fibrosis. Leptin activates hepatic stellate cells which can cause the overproduction of collagen protein responsible for liver damage. But Chen and his team learned that curcumin helps to stop leptin from activating these cells, effectively halting the liver damage process.

Other key factors associated with liver disease include high glucose and insulin levels, both of which are common among obese and type-2 diabetic individuals. These conditions make people more prone to developing liver disease, but in the presence of curcumin, the likelihood of their onset is significantly reduced.

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Curcumin and Black Pepper Combination May Stop Breast Cancer

May 11, 2010

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

Natural chemicals found in the spices turmeric and black pepper appear to stop the growth of breast tumors, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center and published in the journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Researchers applied a solution containing both curcumin, found in turmeric, and piperine, which makes black pepper spicy, to breast cancer cells in a laboratory, using concentrations 20 times higher than those found in the human diet. They found that the solution hampered the ability of stem cells to propagate but did not affect the differentiation of normal breast cells.

“This shows that these compounds are not toxic to normal breast tissue,” lead author Madhuri Kakarala said.

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Eating Curry Fights Dementia

August 20, 2009

Natural News

By David Gutierrez

Regular consumption of curry could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, according to a study conducted by researchers from Duke University and presented at the annual meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

“If you have a good diet and take plenty of exercise, eating curry regularly could help prevent dementia,” researcher Murali Doraiswamy said.

Researchers conducted experiments on the effects of curcumin, a biologically active ingredient of the essential curry spice turmeric.

“There is very solid evidence that curcumin binds to plaques, and basic research on animals engineered to produce human amyloid plaques has shown benefits,” Doraiswamy said. “You can modify a mouse so that at about 12 months its brain is riddled with plaques. If you feed this rat a curcumin-rich diet, it dissolves these plaques. The same diet prevented younger mice from forming new plaques.”

Amyloid plaques and nerve fiber tangles are thought to be among the causative agents of the brain damage that produces the symptoms of dementia.

A clinical trial is currently underway at the University of California-Los Angeles to see if curcumin has the same benefits in human Alzheimer’s patients as in mice. According to Doraiswamy, the evidence suggests that human beings would need to eat two to three meals of curry per week to lower their risk of dementia.

Because it would take more than 100 grams of curry powder to get enough curcumin to count as a clinical dose, scientists are exploring the possibility of developing a curcumin pill.

Doraiswamy warned, however, that even consuming massive amounts of curcumin could not compensate for a bad diet and sedentary lifestyle, two of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.

Previous research has shown that curcumin also improves the symptoms of cancer and arthritis, and may help suppress the growth of body fat.

Click here for the full report from Natural News