Common Cooking Spice Found In Curry Shows Promise In Combating Diabetes And Obesity

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Lifer
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ScienceDaily (June 20, 2008) ? Turmeric, an Asian spice found in many curries, has a long history of use in reducing inflammation, healing wounds and relieving pain, but can it prevent diabetes? Since inflammation plays a big role in many diseases and is believed to be involved in onset of both obesity and Type 2 diabetes, Drew Tortoriello, M.D., an endocrinologist and research scientist at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center, and his colleagues were curious what effect the herb might have on diabetic mice.

Dr. Tortoriello, working with pediatric resident Stuart Weisberg, M.D., Ph.D., and Rudolph Leibel, M.D., fellow endocrinologist and the co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing Type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls. They speculate that curcumin, the anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant ingredient in turmeric, lessens insulin resistance and prevents Type 2 diabetes in these mouse models by dampening the inflammatory response provoked by obesity.

Their findings are the subject of a soon-to-be published paper in Endocrinology and were recently presented at ENDO 2008, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) has no known dose-limiting toxicities in doses of up to at least 12 grams daily in humans. The researchers tested high-doses of a dietary curcumin in two distinct mouse models of obesity and Type 2 diabetes: high-fat-diet-fed male mice and leptin-deficient obese female mice, with lean wild-type mice that were fed low-fat diets used as controls.

The inflammation associated with obesity was shown several years ago by researchers in the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center to be due in part to the presence of immune cells called macrophages in fat tissues throughout the body. These cells produce "cytokine" molecules that can cause inflammation in organs such as the heart, and islets of the pancreas, while also increasing insulin resistance in muscle and liver. Researchers hypothesized that by suppressing the number and activity of these cells, with turmeric or a drug with similar actions, it may be possible to reduce some of the adverse consequences of obesity.

Curcumin administration was also associated with a small but significant decline in body weight and fat content, despite level or higher calorie consumption, suggesting that curcumin beneficially influences body composition.

"It's too early to tell whether increasing dietary curcumin [through turmeric] intake in obese people with diabetes will show a similar benefit," Dr. Tortoriello said. "Although the daily intake of curcumin one might have to consume as a primary diabetes treatment is likely impractical, it is entirely possible that lower dosages of curcumin could nicely complement our traditional therapies as a natural and safe treatment."

For now, the conclusion that Dr. Tortoriello and his colleagues have reached is that turmeric -- and its active anti-oxidant ingredient, curcumin -- reverses many of the inflammatory and metabolic problems associated with obesity and improves blood-sugar control in mouse models of Type 2 diabetes.

In addition to exploring novel methods of curcumin administration to increase its absorption, they are also interested in identifying novel anti-inflammatory processes invoked by curcumin and in adapting those processes in the development of more potent curcumin analogues.

Funding for the study comes in part from the National Institutes of Health's Child Health and Human Development branch and the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...08/06/080620195436.htm
 
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Descartes

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We use it in just about every meal, but it's in relatively small quantities. 12 grams a day would be quite a lot. Unfortunately, turmeric doesn't actually taste very good.
 
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DrPizza

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Curcumin administration was also associated with a small but significant decline in body weight and fat content, despite level or higher calorie consumption, suggesting that curcumin beneficially influences body composition.

So, the amount you eat isn't the *only* reason for gaining weight? Some people could eat the exact same amount as others, yet gain a lot more weight as others??
 
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Slew Foot

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Hmmm, in my experience there is a large number of obese Indian guys/women around so that would put the study conclusions into questions. Granted they're not behemothly obese like some mexicans/rednecks get, but they do have their share of fatties as well.

 
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vi edit

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Originally posted by: Descartes
We use it in just about every meal, but it's in relatively small quantities. 12 grams a day would be quite a lot. Unfortunately, turmeric doesn't actually taste very good.

One of the little spice shakers of this is around 26 grams. You'd have to eat half of that shaker a day. Yuck.
 
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Nyati13

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Jan 2, 2003
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Originally posted by: vi edit
Originally posted by: Descartes
We use it in just about every meal, but it's in relatively small quantities. 12 grams a day would be quite a lot. Unfortunately, turmeric doesn't actually taste very good.

One of the little spice shakers of this is around 26 grams. You'd have to eat half of that shaker a day. Yuck.

They aren't saying that it takes 12 grams a day for the benefit. They are talking about dose limiting toxicity, which is a fancy way of saying whether something is dangerous for you to take too much of it in a day. ( They have to check that, because lots of morons hear that "Vitamin A" is good for you, and then take 2 to 3 times the lethal limit and die)
 
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uli2000

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Tumeric is also avalible fresh, its a rhizome like ginger, and you can grade it into food like ginger. It can often be found in asian markets.
 
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Descartes

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Originally posted by: uli2000
Tumeric is also avalible fresh, its a rhizome like ginger, and you can grade it into food like ginger. It can often be found in asian markets.

Yeah, we get it at the local international farmer's markets. Usually pretty easy to find.

I think it tastes better fresh, but it's still pretty nasty by itself. Some of the more boutique stores sell turmeric drinks though; it's tea + turmeric or simply water + turmeric. Still nasty :)
 
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dabuddha

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Well I eat a lot of tumeric daily (in our cooking that is) and I go through phases for months where I hardly eat much Indian food. I haven't noticed a difference at all in my sugars or my A1Cs.
 
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