The colourful molecules of turmeric

• The turmeric powder has about 3% of the active component molecule called curcumin.
• There is another molecule in turmeric called piperine, which is an alkaloid, responsible for the pungency of pepper that we use every day in our cooking, along with turmeric.
• Piperine enhances curcumin absorption in the body.
• It gives turmeric its multivariate healing and protective power.

Background:

• Turmeric has been known for over 4,000 years in the Indian subcontinent, West Asia, Burma, Indonesia and China, and used as an essential part of our daily food – what the colonials called curry powder.

Benefits of Turmeric Powder:

• Curcumin, which is the active molecule in turmeric, is a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties; it is a natural anti-inflammatory compound; chronic low-level inflammation affects your health, including heart diseases and metabolic syndromes.
• It has the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier, Curcumin reduces or stops the build-up of insoluble protein tangles called amyloid plaques, which are responsible for Alzheimer’s disease, thus helping in memory and learning.
• It may help prevent cancer, as some herbal medicine experts have held. As cancer cells die, the spread of cancer is reduced, and new tumour cells are stopped.
• In arthritis and joint inflammation, Curcumin has been shown to be very effective. Herbal medicine practitioners have also suggested this.
• It is useful for treating depression in people.
• During Covid times: Administration of oral curcumin with piperine as an adjuvant symptomatic therapy in COVID-19 treatment could substantially reduce morbidity and mortality, and ease the logistical and supply-related burdens on the heath system.