CURRY FOR BETTER HEALTH?-THE SCIENTIFIC ANGLE!

Curry dishes of India have often been ridiculed and reviled because of their strong smell and pungency not tolerated by people in the West. Traditionally Curry preparation is a blend of different spices, the major one being Turmeric which imparts its characteristic yellow color and mild aroma. Turmeric shot into prominence some years ago as a source of natural color after synthetic colors were weeded out by the food industry due to their toxicity to humans. The Curcumin fraction in Turmeric is responsible for the yellow color and it can be extracted in relatively concentrated form through oleoresin route. India is the major country which supplies Curcumin to the world market for use by the food and pharmaceutical industries. It was known that Turmeric has health protecting properties which were exploited by the traditional Ayurvedic medicinal system in India. Now comes the news that Curcumin from Turmeric plays an important role in boosting human immune system and reducing systemic inflammation in the body when taken regularly and can protect the regular consumers from many infections. Here are more details about these findings. 

"Any natural compound that can influence or raise CAMP levels is of significance to human health, as it helps boost immunity and provides a barrier against a host of chronic conditions and pathogenic invaders. In recent years, vitamin D has been studied extensively and has been found to be a potent stimulator of CAMP activity. New research has found that curcumin and vitamin D work synergistically to fight infection and systemic inflammation as they both exhibit disease-fighting anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The lead study author from the Linus Pauling Institute, Dr. Adrian Gombart commented about the study,"This research points to a new avenue for regulating CAMP gene expression... it's possible that sustained consumption over time may be healthy and help protect against infection, especially in the stomach and intestinal tract."Researchers compared the CAMP-stimulating activity of curcumin to omega-3 fatty acids and found that curcumin caused levels of CAMP to almost triple. Vitamin D and curcumin have both been the subject of intense research over the past decade, because of the many potential therapeutic benefits in treating infection, cancer, psoriasis, and other diseases. New studies will be designed to fully examine the ability of these natural nutrients to enhance the genetic expression of the CAMP peptide to protect against a broad range of bacteria, including those that cause tuberculosis and protect against the development of sepsis. Experts suggest 2000 to 5000 IU of vitamin D and 500 mg of a standardized curcumin supplement daily to yield optimal protection from bacterial and viral pathogens and chronic diseases".

The synergy between Curcumin and Vitamin D is another discovery with far reaching implications. Those living in Tropical countries like India are exposed to Sun more than others in other parts of the world which helps them to generate plenty of Vitamin D in the process and interestingly the same people also consume lot of curry preparations containing Turmeric. Probably this may explain the relatively high immunity enjoyed by Indians against many pathogens that are prevalent here under conditions which are conducive to their proliferation while food poisoning episodes in highly "sanitized" countries like the US are frequent and serious. More studies planned to elucidate the full impact of Curcumin+Vitamin D combination preparations may herald a new era of food based palliative products that can fight a plethora of diseases that bother the world to day.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com