By Sara Altshul
A bright-yellow spice has generated a big buzz in research labs all over the country. It’s turmeric (Curcuma longa), a tropical plant that’s related to ginger, and it’s one of the many curative spices native to Asia, India, and China.
Indian cooks use turmeric powder liberally in cooking—it’s what gives curries that mellow yellow color. And for thousands of years Chinese and Indian healers have used turmeric’s dried root to treat conditions including digestive woes, wounds, arthritis, skin conditions, and menstrual problems. Those healers were onto something, say modern researchers and physicians.
Brand new research validates ancient science
Just last week, a press release from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign appeared in my inbox. A biochemistry professor there, Lin-Feng Chen, PhD, and his team discovered more about how a key protein, NF-kappa B, works: They actually deciphered the molecular code that controls its function.
NF-kappa B is known as the master regulator of the immune system, and when activated it triggers the process of inflammation (a process that’s implicated in many chronic conditions that deteriorate health). “NF-kappa B, the protein central to the inflammatory process, has to be tightly controlled, otherwise things could go crazy within the body,” says Chen in the press release.
Last Updated: March 16, 2009
Filed Under: Sara Altshul
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