Posted on 10/07/2008 10:51:46 PM PDT by Coleus
Curcumin, an ingredient in the curry spice turmeric, may help prevent heart failure. That's according to two new studies done on rats, not people. In both studies, researchers gave curcumin to rats. The rats then got surgery or drugs designed to put them at risk of heart failure.
The rats that got curcumin showed more resistance to heart failure and inflammation than comparison groups of rats that didn't get curcumin. Also, in one of the studies, the researchers saw signs that curcumin treatment reversed heart enlargement. The other study didn't include that experiment.
Together, the studies suggest that curcumin short-circuited the heart enlargement process, though it's not clear how it did that. Both studies showed no sign of side effects from curcumin.
The researchers included Tatsuya Morimoto, MD, PhD, of the National Hospital Organization in Kyoto, Japan, and Hong-Liang Li, MD, PhD, of the University of Toronto's cardiology division. The studies "came to nearly identical conclusions," says an editorial published with the studies in February's edition of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
But editorialist Jonathan Epstein, MD, cautions against counting on curcumin to prevent heart failure in people, since the findings in rodents may not apply to people. Epstein works at University of Pennsylvania's cell and developmental biology department, Cardiovascular Institute, and Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Yeh, but you’ll get an ulcer.
Yuck...
I love curry. Another reason to eat Indian food. LOL!
... she died of a sudden heart attack ....
So much for spicy food as this 'study' tries to show ... the real thing is that nobody really knows what food or foodstuff is gonna save you or what it gonna kill you ... these types of studies are just simply the Food Police on the prowl looking for another government grant, thats all there is to it
Articles like this.... almost make me wish I were a rat. ;>)
Your post came at exactly the right time; you must be an angel! I saw this and remembered your previous posts on turmeric.
I’d been having typical stress chest pain (waaaay too much stress at work and community work lately), and getting worried about that on top of everything else. When I read this, I remembered that I had turmeric tablets in my medicine cabinet, took a couple (yes, Mom, and a couple of aspirin, too), and felt better almost immediately. Yes, yes, I know it doesn’t work that way, but it’s a bandaid (placebo) until I can get in later today to see the doctor to make sure nothing more serious is going on.
And I made a batch of chili in the crockpot, and my all-time favorite chili spice is cumin. Mmmmmmm!
Thanks for all your health-related postings. You’re a life-saver (maybe literally this time, LOL)!
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