Long used in Ayurvedic, Siddha, Unani and traditional Chinese medicine for a wide range of uses, Turmeric (Curcuma longa) seems to be a plant with so many purported uses that they all couldn’t be anything but folklore…or could they?
Indeed, Turmeric has many confirmed activities throughout the various organ systems of the body, making such wide claims about health scientifically more plausible. Much of the research focuses on what is considered the main active compound of Turmeric, called curcumin, a yellow-colored pigment which gives its color, and is also used for coloring in foods and cosmetics.
In clinical studies, Turmeric, or curcumin, has shown positive results for a range of conditions involving the joints, the respiratory tract, lipid profile, cytokine balance, liver, brain and skin, among others. But how can something have an effect on so many systems? Is it due to the ‘polypharmacy’ (range of bioactive compounds) that Turmeric has to offer?
Research is showing that perhaps the answer is found by looking upstream. In the building of studies on the interactions of the gut microbiota and curcumin, two key insights have arisen. Curcumin has a regulating effect on the intestinal microflora, and the gut microbiota can biotransform curcumin to be used in the body. As modulating upstream health in the microbiome has shown to play a key role in human disease progression, perhaps its Turmeric’s upstream effects on the gut that leads to its wide applications through downstream conditions that is reported as traditional medicine indications.
It’s my prediction that this insight into how a purported panacea such as Turmeric exerts its wide-ranging effects by modulating upstream processes will be found over and over throughout the medicinal plant realm. Already we can see in the scientific literature, just like Turmeric, multiple instances of medicinal plants exerting modulating effects on upstream processes thus widely affecting health outcomes.
*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.
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