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Turmeric, a common Asian spice that gives curries and
other dishes their bright yellow colour, has a long
history of use in reducing inflammation, healing wounds
and relieving pain.
Recently, at a medical conference in San Francisco,
participants heard that tumeric also is effective at
combating two health problems that many people suffer
from - diabetes and obesity.
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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, MD - an endocrinologist and
research scientist at the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at
Columbia University Medical Center in New York - and his colleagues
were curious about what effect tumeric might have on diabetic
mice.
The scientists 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 the journal 'Endocrinology' and were presented
at ENDO 2008 - the Endocrine Society's annual meeting.
Humans can eat turmeric - Curcuma longa - in doses
of up to 12 grams daily without ill effects, Tortoriello said.
The researchers fed high doses of dietary curcumin
to two different mouse models of obesity and Type 2 diabetes
- mice fed a high-fat diet and leptin-deficient obese female
mice. Lean wild-type mice that were fed low-fat diets were
used as controls.
The inflammation associated with obesity
was shown - several years ago - by researchers at the
same 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, while
also increasing insulin resistance in muscle and liver. |
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Researchers thought 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.
In addition, eating curcumin also was 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
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, most likely, impractical, it is entirely possible that
lower dosages of curcumin could nicely complement our
traditional therapies as a natural and safe treatment" - he
added.
For now, Dr. Tortoriello and his colleagues have concluded
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.
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