Turmeric Beats 14 Most Commonly Prescribed Drugs

Sharon Moore August 19, 2013

Tweet

You probably heard about the amazing health benefits of turmeric or curcumin and that adding it to your daily diet can significantly improve your health. But more than being a supplement, did you know that this powerful herb works the same, if not better than some of the most used medications these days? From enhancing our mood like antidepressants do to maintaining our cholesterol levels like statins do, turmeric is starting to invade the medical world – showing that it is possible to treat a disease without causing side effects to the body.

Turmeric has a peppery, warm and bitter flavour, and a mild fragrance that resembles orange and ginger.  If you like curry dishes, you know how turmeric tastes like. Turmeric is also used as a natural colouring for food and textiles. Just 2 teaspoons of turmeric powder contains 17% manganese, 10.1% iron, 3.7% fibre, and 3.1% potassium. It also has 0 calories.

But apart from its diverse uses, turmeric has been found to play a big role in the treatment of many diseases. Literally thousands of published studies worldwide give credence to the notion that turmeric, through its active compound called curcumin, has the capacity to address varying health problems like the most effective drugs do – without side effects. Way back the ancient times, turmeric has been a part of the Chinese and Indian systems of medicine.

The following are some of the drugs that studies have shown can be effectively replaced with turmeric:

Anti-inflammatory Drugs

Inflammation is to blame for many illnesses. Curcumin is thought to be the primary pharmacological agent in turmeric which has a very powerful anti-inflammatory effect. In many studies, curcumin has been found to be as effective as potent drugs like hydrocortisone and phenylbutazone, even the over-the-counter medications like Motrin. But unlike these drugs which increase the risk of intestinal bleeding, turmeric poses no toxicity.

Antidepressants

Lately, research on the health effects of antidepressants has gotten into news headlines. Apart from their copious side effects, antidepressant medications like Prozac and Paxil can actually make depression symptoms worse. Some studies even claim they are “addictive”.  The antidepressant property of turmeric has been attributed to its two primary effects. First, it stimulates neurogenesis in the hippocampus, and second, it raises serotonin levels – the neurotransmitter that plays a role in mood regulation, sleep, learning, memory and sexual behaviour.

Statins

Taking anti-cholesterol drugs like Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) and Crestor (rosuvastatin) is completely unnecessary when taking standardised dosage of curcumin, according to a 2008 study published in the Drugs in R & D. Here, researchers found that turmeric extract worked at least as good as the drugs at reducing inflammation and relieving oxidative stress in people with type 2 diabetes.

Blood Thinners

Turmeric is an effective blood-thinning agent so it is good for people who are at high risk of heart attack or stroke. According to a 1986 study published in the journal Arzneimittel-Forschung, curcumin has similar anti-platelet and prostacyclin modulating effects as aspirin, the most prescribed drug by conventional doctors.

Chemotherapy Drugs

A 2007 study published in the journal International Journal of Cancer found that curcumin works just as well as oxaliplatin in treating oral cancer. Another research, led by the University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Centre suggests that turmeric could play an important role in preventing breast cancer. They found that when combined with piperine, curcumin interrupted the self-renewal process that is the hallmark of stem cells which initiate cancer.

Corticosteroid Drugs

A 1999 study published in the Phytotherapy Research journal revealed that curcumin works as good as steroid medications in treating inflammatory eye disease.

Diabetes Drugs

A groundbreaking study published in the journal Biochemistry and Biophysical Research Community found that turmeric works 100,000 times better than the popular diabetes drug Metformin at increasing glucose uptake. The herb also helps suppress glucose production in the liver like most popular anti-diabetic drugs do.

Research is still going on about the health benefits of turmeric. Currently, scientists are studying its therapeutic role in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, which until now, doesn’t have a medical cure yet.