Turmeric – Curcumin Health Benefits

The turmeric spice is well known for its several preventive and curative properties in our modern era and throughout the history. The term “Turmeric” is used both for the spice and the plant that the turmeric spice is derived from, the rhizome stem from under the ground.

It is also known as the “Saffron of the Indies” and is a very common spice used in Indian curries. What they do with this plant is boil, peel, dry and powder it prior to use as a spice in a variety of dishes, especially Indian. The first-time turmeric is mentioned in history is the Indian and Chinese medicine in the 7th century.

It was used for a variety of diseases and ailments like kidney inflammation, bronchitis, fever, worms, skin and eye conditions, dissolving the kidney stones, preventing urinary dysfunction, healing the spleen and liver. They were using it externally on the skin in the pulp form on the infected wounds and leech bites.

Nowadays we know it most for cancer prevention and protection, enhancing the symptoms of inflammatory arthritis, improving digestion, keeping your brain in good shape and protecting from brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and even helping with diabetes by lowering your blood glucose levels. Turmeric is very low in the glycemic index value.

Turmeric is very low in calories and has a decent dietary fiber content: 4 grams of turmeric includes 1 gram fiber, only 16 calories and has a high iron and manganese content.

But it is a good idea to use this spice in moderation as it has a rather strong taste that can mask the other flavors in your meal. It has very special antioxidant properties of the yellow pigment called curcuminoids that gives the yellow color to Curcuma and your meals. If turmeric is used in combination with black pepper, the absorption of these antioxidants is enhanced, by the piperine in black pepper.

Being a powerful antioxidant, the yellow pigments help fight against the harmful free radicals in your body that cause oxidative stress which leads to cellular degeneration. This indirectly means you will be protected from a variety of cancers in the long run, which can also explain why certain cancers like lung, prostate, breast and colon cancers are rare in Asia, especially in India.

Turmeric has actually been studied in lab settings and has been found to stimulate the self-destruction and to block the tumor progression in the body. Your mucosa is also protected against the Helicobacter pylori bacterium that can cause stomach cancer. The turmeric roots are also known to stimulate better digestion, less nausea, better appetite and less tummy upset.

About the benefits of turmeric for cancer protection, if you’re using chemotherapeutic drugs like docetaxel, paclitaxel, and others, curcumin consumption can enhance both your tolerance of these drugs and the benefits you will receive from your treatment. India is the main producer of turmeric and Indians have been using the spice in their Ayurvedic medicine for a very long time. 

Please just make sure you keep it away from the direct light so the nutritional value is maintained. And do not worry about its color when you’re purchasing it as different types of turmeric plant will produce different colors in powder spice form. It has an acquired taste and please use it sparingly in your curries at first or the results will not be great.

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How to Ease Seasonal Depression- SAD Naturally

Seasonal depression is also known as SAD- Seasonal Affective Disorder in more technical terms and roughly ten percent of the general public are believed to have this autumn and winter blues, and there are certainly ways to help relieve stress and the pressure of negative thoughts you feel on your mind.

The main reason is the shorter days in winter and the lack of natural light outside spring and summer and you can experience fatigue, a decrease in your energy levels, wanting to sleep more, loss of interest in physical activities, irritability and even sweet cravings as the serotonin regulation is affected during the winter months, by the increased production of serotonin membrane transporter (SERT) which moves the serotonin into nerve cells where they become inactive.

Firstly we all know about the general health benefits of Omega 3 fatty acids and how they can change your overall mood, emotional balance, and cognitive function. You can get it from fatty fish like mackerel, salmon, sardines, walnuts, chia, flax seeds as well as from supplements if you’re not able to eat foods that are rich in Omega 3.

Lack of Vitamin D especially in autumn and winter months when you have less sun exposure contributes to your bad mood and fatigue. You can find tablets that contain just vitamin D in high doses or with added vitamin B6, magnesium, calming herbs and other components in the pharmacies and health stores.

Anything that increases the serotonin production in your body will help reduce your stress and anxiety as you would be aware and the essential amino acid tryptophan found in protein-rich foods like red meat, poultry- chicken and turkey, eggs and dairy, certainly helps enhance the serotonin neurotransmitter so you have adequate amounts of it for it to help to improve your general mood.

You may have heard of the lithium trace element or mineral supplements which may help with things like insomnia, disturbed sleep, jet lag, bad mood and general irritability and it is actually a trace element  naturally found in drinking water but please note that in much higher concentrations lithium tablets are also used in treating bipolar disorder, which is something like 250mg as compared to 1mg you need for seasonal moodiness.

The same argument is valid for the magnesium mineral as well because it works in hundreds of different enzymatic reactions and is known to help relieve stress, fatigue, irritability and nervousness and you can find it in things like almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and dark chocolate. Please try and push yourself to exercise even if you are not in the mood as you are depressed, go for a walk or run, do yoga, work out at the gym, do more cardiovascular exercise which will help with the release of endorphins in your brain and help keep your immune system healthy. SAD- Seasonal Affective Disorder is temporary as its name suggests and you will come out of it eventually when the sun starts shining.

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Alcohol and the Brain: Healthy or Harmful?

According to a few recent studies, if taken in little doses alcohol may actually protect your brain against dementia and cognitive decline. While too much alcohol consumption as in the cases of alcoholics is found to be related to heart diseases and cancers, low to moderate alcohol is claimed to have certain benefits, like preventing strokes, heart disease, and mental diseases.

A recent Italian study shows that small amounts of alcohol daily can have a positive impact on dementia and cognitive functions and there are other articles that do not find any beneficial effects at all on the brain. The way it works is the claim that low amounts of alcohol protect against cognitive impairment and dementia is only when certain conditions are met, such as the type of alcohol being wine, having a specific genetic disposition, not smoking and having normal levels of cholesterol and hypertension.

And the Chinese researchers in the European Journal of Epidemiology that worked on a total of 20 articles that involved more than 175k participants and 6400 cases and they found a non-linear association between the alcohol consumption and dementia risk and the maximum amount is specified as 12.5 grams per day, which is just a little over a glass. They found the wine to be a lot more beneficial than spirits and consuming three to four glasses each day was found to be quite risky for dementia.

In another study where American experts that studied the impact of alcohol consumption on cognitive functioning and brain volume of those without a history of alcoholism or dementia, observed enhanced memory function in these senior adults that are moderate drinkers. Two glasses a day for men and a glass per day for women over the age of 60 was found to be linked to the larger hippocampus and better episodic memory (memory of autobiographical events). Their younger age drinking was not found to have any impact on hippocampus volume and cognitive functioning at a later age.

Another study indicated that two or three glasses of wine each day could decrease the premature death risk from early Alzheimer’s disease, which may also be because of a better quality of life and longer life. Those who had one to three glasses per day through young, middle and old age had a less chance of suffering from mental diseases than those who didn’t drink at all. To summarize, a glass of wine a day can be very good for you but if you drink excessively you have a much higher chance of suffering from mental and a variety of other illnesses- liver, heart, and cancer.

Alcohol Glycemic Index

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Fermented Foods and Mental Health

The fermentation that dates back to 6000 BC is a food preservation process that uses bacteria and micro-organisms, helps enhance the nutritional value of foods and the easier digestion of dietary fibers and proteins and the assimilation of micronutrients. Fermentation seems to change foods and/or the molecules can act on the intestinal flora, creating new bioactive molecules.

Many contemporary studies seem to find a connection between depression or mental health and your diet- what you eat on a daily basis, and some of them found that fermented foods play an important role in reducing anxiety and depression. There are a few research papers that suggest that fermentation creates new bioactive molecules and that the friendly bacteria in fermented foods affect the brain in a positive way. Results varied from reducing anxiety in animals under stress to improving depression and decreasing cortisol stress hormone in a clinical trial of humans held over a month.

The fermentation process or fermented foods work in two ways of producing molecules that directly affect the nervous system to enhancing the availability of molecules like magnesium and zinc for controlling mood in a positive way, they can be good for your emotional balance and mood. Fermented products maximise the bioavailability of probiotics that are easy to assimilate by the body and these foods are pickles, olives, yoghurt, cheese, anchovies, sourdough bread, apple cider and other vinegar, soy sauce fermented tamari, fermented soy beans- miso, Lacto-fermented veggie juices, sauerkraut, wine, beer and many traditional fermented foods around the world. So it is not just yogurt that contains the friendly bacteria, and a variety of fermented foods do.

The reason some of the microorganisms that catalyze the reaction- fermentation are known as probiotics is because they help improve your overall health. Researchers found a positive relationship between the older traditional diets like the Japanese diet and Mediterranean diet and the less mental disorder risk and these diets are often rich in fermented foods. Some of the lactic acid bacteria from raw veggies and fruits are not always good for you but if you have more of fermented foods you will have the biodiversity of healthy bacteria. Glycemic index or load values of foods and your blood sugar level will also contribute to your mood negatively or positively so a Western diet rich in both bad fast and sugars cause a more porous intestinal wall are not good for your mood swings. We’re not saying that the fermented foods will fix heavy depression or mental disorders but will certainly have a positive effect on your mood or help heal mild depression.

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Boosting Nitric Oxide Naturally

Nitric Oxide- NO molecule is naturally created by your body and acts as a blood vessel dilator, decreases your blood pressure and ensures more blood flow to different parts of your body including your brain and your penis. It is good for you for a number of reasons including better and leaner muscle growth and increasing mass, giving you more stamina and energy throughout the day, the ability to think better and clearer by helping with neurotransmission.

Viagra- Sildenafil Nitrate works by temporarily increasing the nitric oxide levels in your body and you will find different recommendations online as natural alternatives. On this page, we will mention those that we think are effective and in no specific order. Omega 3 fatty acids as powerful antioxidants are quite important in helping regulate your blood pressure and increasing the available Nitric Oxides in your system. Most of us do not eat enough of Omega 3 but eat a lot more of Omega 6 fatty acids, you can either use supplements available on the market or eat animal and plant based sources of Omega 3. This will only contribute positively to your cardiovascular and overall health, your brain as it is claimed to help with mild depression and increase Nitric Oxide levels significantly.

Many people use Pycnogenol, which is basically the French maritime pine bark and Hawthorn extract, with a variety of supplements at the stores or online it is claimed to treat erectile dysfunction, the former by simply increasing the number and the activity of NOs available in your body and the latter by stopping arterial walls from getting covered with plaque and avoid cardiovascular diseases. Onion, with its high quercetin content, is another one known for boosting Nitric Oxide levels- other natural sources of quercetin include apples, parsley, tea, and wine.

Garlic is one of the most important NO foods you can have as it is filled with nitrates and allicin and when taken by Vitamin C in high doses on a daily basis, it is proven to increase the nitric oxides by around 200%, reducing blood pressure, improving blood flow to penis and giving you better erections. Vitamin C helps protect nitrates from turning to nitrosamines which are known to be harmful and carcinogenic but please note that taking vitamin C on its own does not seem to contribute significantly to blood pressure and don’t expect wonders for your erection.

You may have heard of epimedium or horny goat weed plant extract that contains good levels of Icariin, that acts similar to Sildenafil Nitrate as it is a mild PDE-5 inhibitor (Viagra is a strong one) but at much lower doses so you need to choose products with at least 10% icariin content. Please also try and get enough sunlight for good amouns of Vitamin D and to improve the ability of your skin to synthesize Nitric Oxide. Have beetroot juice, aragula, pomegranate juice and watermelon for L-citrulline daily but as the nitrates in foods are turned to nitrites by the bacteria on your tongue, which are then converted to nitric oxide in your body so do not use mouthwash as it kills those healthy bacteria in your mouth and stop the nitric oxide production right where it starts.

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