Turmeric for weight loss
Every foodie knows turmeric as the golden herb from Southeast Asia. The main ingredient in curry that provides that beautiful shiny yellow colored rice, and that gives a mild bitter taste to your dish, which enables you to digest it better. But turmeric does so much more: it supports your liver function, increases bile production, heals wounds, detoxifies, is an anti-inflammatory and it has antioxidant properties.
Turmeric for weight loss – the plant
Curcuma longa or yellow root is part of the ginger family (Zingeraceae); it’s root grows and it flowers in the same way as the ginger plant. The yellow root can grow up to 1 metre high and flower for a long period of time. When the flowers wither in December-January, the rhizomes are dug out. Stripped from the lateral roots, tuber and rhizome are submerged in boiling water and allowed to dry in the sun. The warmth of the sun releases the dye from the gland cells which distributes itself over the rhizome. You get the yellow/orange tuber as we know it.
Turmeric for weight loss – active components
The active components of turmeric are the essential oils 2-7% (mono- and sesquiterpenes), the orange dyes 2-5% curcumin and 2 methyl derivatives (monodesmethoxycurcumin and didesmothoxycurcumin). These curcuminoids, of which curcumin (80%) is the most important, are non-volatile polyphenols that are fat-soluble and contribute the most to the health-promoting effects of turmeric.
Turmeric for weight loss – the golden wonder
In addition to its popular culinary function, turmeric has been used in Asian countries for the treatment of issues such as like arthritis, jaundice and gallstones. The scientific world also recognizes the versatility of turmeric. Today the word ‘curcumin’ gives 9129 hits on pubmed, an internet database for scientific articles.
Numerous in vitro studies describe the working mechanism of curcumin and gradually clinical studies are also being started to study the therapeutic strength and effective dose.
Antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties
One of the beneficial powers that curcumin has is its antioxidant properties. Curcumin stimulates the activation of genes that cause an increase of the glutathione level (intracellular antioxidant) and therefore gives you better protection against harmful radicals. A clinical study on healthy volunteers shows that curcumin causes a decrease in lipid peroxidation (damage to the adipose tissue by free radicals and cause of many diseases). This results in a positive effect for diseases such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.
Turmeric for weight loss – research
Other studies have shown that turmeric slows down both acute and chronic inflammation processes by acting against the formation of inflammatory arachidonic acid metabolites and acting on the activation of genes that regulate the inflammatory response (NF-kB factor and T-helper cells).
This effect influences syndromes such as type-2 diabetes, postoperative inflammation, rheumatoid artritis, inflammatory intestinal diseases or asthma.
Turmeric for weight loss – experimental research
A more recent research area for curcumin is its effect in obesity. In addition to a positive influence on type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, recent studies show a metabolic effect on fat absorption. Curcumin could well be an excellent alternative solution, with a lasting positive effect, for obese treatment.
In 2015, a preclinical study was conducted with 44 obese patients diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure. After a 30-day course with curcumin, 5% extra weight loss was determined. In vitro studies indicate that curcumin not only prevents the formation of adipose tissue, but also stimulates a reaction in the mitochondria (increased activation of the enzyme caspase-3) that stimulate the burning of existing adipose tissue. However, this research area is still recent and further studies are needed to determine the definitive effect and the best therapeutic dose.
Other health-promoting effects that are associated with Curcumin:
- Increases bile secretion
- Promotes the flow of bile to intestine
- Protects the liver and support its function
- Antioxidant
- Inhibits blood platelet aggregation
- Antibiotic properties
- Lowers cholesterol
- Fungicide works against, among others, Candida Albicans
- Reduces Cataracts
- Reduces inflammation and reduce cramp in asthma
- Depression
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Wound healing
- Psoriasis
- Stomach ulcers
- …
Our scientific sources about turmeric for weight loss:
- Natura foundation monografie – Curcuma Longa – www.naturafoundation.nl
- Food-info.net – Curcumine (Geelwortel)
- Di Pierro et al., “Potential role of bioavailable curcumin in weight loss and omental adipose tissue decrease: preliminary data of a randomized, controlled trial in overweight people with metabolic syndrome.” European review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences, 2015;19:4195-4202
- Zhu et al., “Curcumin triggers apoptosis via upregulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and caspase activation in SW872 human adipocytes”, Molecular medicine reports 12:1151-1156,2015
- Lone et al., “Curcumin induces brown fat-like phenotype in 3T3-L1 and Primary white adipocytes”, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 27 (2016)193-202
- Iqbal et al.,”Dietary Supplementation of Curcumin Enhances Antioxidant and Phase II Metabolizing Enzymes in ddY Male Mice: Possible Role in Protection against Chemical Carcinogenesis and Toxicity”, Pharmacology & Toxicology 2003, 92, 33–38