Turmeric Shown to Cut Heart Disease, Diabetes Risk

Research is lending even more reason to amp up spice use on a daily basis, with spices such as turmeric, cinnamon, and cloves normalizing insulin and triglyceride levels while boosting antioxidant defenses. Keeping triglyceride and insulin levels low effectively reduces your risk for numerous health conditions like metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and the number one leading killer — heart disease.

Turmeric Reduces Heart Disease, Diabetes Risk

Study conductor Shelia West found that the levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, decreased by approximately a third in a meal prepared with spices. The decrease even occurred when oily sauces high in fat were present. The research, published in the journal Nutrition, shows how extremely simple dietary changes can have such a positive influence on health.

“Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood…If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 per cent, compared to a similar meal with no spices added,” West says.

Although many spices have been shown to boost health, turmeric is especially gaining massive recognition for its incredible ability to fend off illness and disease. Shown to positively impact over 560 diseases, with the new study showing diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease to be among them, turmeric is rising to the top of the health spectrum. A main component in turmeric, known as curcumin, has even been shown to block cancer growth by inhibiting a cancer-promoting enzyme.

“To me, the biggest advantage [found in the study] is the lowering of triglycerides and the insulin levels [which dropped about 20 percent],” says cardiologist Ravi Dave of the University of California, Los Angeles who has reviewed West’s spice research.

Recognizing the health benefits of turmeric, other spices, and healthy foods in general is a necessary step to overcoming the ‘need’ for harmful pharmaceuticals. Instead of living a lifestyle that breeds health complications, preventing illness and disease should be sought after first and foremost. Being aware of the health-promoting foods which can be found with ease every single day will enable you to prevent illness, rather than turning to side-effect riddled pharmaceuticals designed to keep you sick.

The benefits of turmeric are just hitting the mainstream light, and its inexpensive nature makes it very simple to acquire virtually worldwide.