Turmeric Naturally Fights Heart Attacks, Strengthens Heart

Turmeric has been shown to generate incredible overall health benefits. The main active compound in turmeric, curcumin, is often responsible for turmeric‘s benefits due to its anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Recent research points out not only how turmeric is fantastic for overall health, but how it can be utilized to fend off one of the leading killers in the modern world. The research shows how extracts from turmeric can help stave off heart attacks in individuals who have had recent bypass surgery.

Turmeric Naturally Fights Heart Attacks, Strengthens Heart

For the research, study conductors examined 121 patients who had undergone non-emergency bypass surgery between 2009 and 2011. Half of the patients were given one-gram curcumin tablets to be taken four times daily, while the other half of patients were given drug-free placebos. Both groups were to begin taking the capsules 3 days before the surgery and for five days following surgery.

“Previous studies have shown that curcuminoids decrease proinflammatory cytokines during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery and decrease the occurrence of cardiomyocytic apoptosis after cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury in animal models….In conclusion, we demonstrated that curcuminoids significantly decreased MI associated with [coronary artery bypass grafting,] CABG. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcuminoids may account for their cardioprotective effects shown in this study,” the study reads.

It was found that during post-bypass hospital stays, 13 percent of patients taking the curcumin capsule had a heart attack, while 30 percent experienced a heart attack in the placebo group. Wanwarang Wongcharoen from Chiang Mai University and his colleagues calculated that people taking curcumins had a 65 percent lower chance of heart attack. It is likely thanks to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, which may have helped limit heart damage.

“Curcumin has for many years now been shown to reduce inflammation and to reduce oxygen toxicity or damage caused by free radicals in a number of experimental settings.” said Jawahar Mehta, a cardiologist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, who didn’t work on the study.

Amazingly, curcumin has been found to benefit over 560 negative conditions including: Alzheimer’s disease, oxidative stress, DNA damage, inflammation, HIV infections, and cancer. Studies performed on lab mice showed that curcumin also effectively treated kidney problems and restored kidney functions. The world of modern medicine has discovered that curcumin is also effective in the treatment of diseases and in the prevention of cancer, exemplified in one study where curcumin reduced brain tumor size by 81%.