Approximately 23.6 million people in the United States have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. The National Institutes of Health explains that the amount of people with diabetes may double or triple by the year 2050. This report has researchers looking for new ways to help control blood sugar and manage people with diabetes as well as find ways to reduce the incidence of diabetes diagnoses. Turmeric, a common ingredient in Indian curries, is currently being tested to treat many different ailments, including diabetes. Always consult your physician before using turmeric for medicinal purposes.
Turmeric
Turmeric is a relative of ginger and a flowering perennial found in the tropical regions of India and Southern Asia. It has trumpet shaped flowers and grows approximately six feet tall. Herbalists have used the plant for thousands of years to treat inflammation, digestive and liver problems as well as skin diseases and wounds. Curcumin, turmeric's active ingredient, is an antioxidant, neutralizing free radicals that can tamper with DNA and damage or destroy healthy cells.
Diabetes
Diabetes mellitus refers to a group of diseases affecting how your body uses glucose, also known as blood sugar. Glucose is essential to your body because it is your tissue and muscle cells main source of energy. All types of diabetes mean that you have too much glucose in your blood. Type-1 diabetes occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells inside your pancreas, leaving you with little, if any, insulin. Instead of transporting sugar into your cells, it instead builds within the bloodstream.
Type-2 diabetes occurs when your cells become resistant to insulin and the pancreas cannot create enough insulin to overcome your resistance, causing glucose to build in the bloodstream. Symptoms of diabetes often include excessive thirst, excessive hunger and excessive urination as well as unexplained weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision, frequent infections and sores that are slow to heal. Common treatments include insulin injections, oral medications and lifestyle changes.
The Science
Research on turmeric and its active ingredient, curcumin, is still in its infancy with testing only performed in lab animals and Petri dishes. However, researchers gave lab animals with diabetes turmeric, and their blood sugar levels decreased as did their blood cholesterol levels, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Due to a lack of clinical human trials, as of 2011, researchers do not yet know whether turmeric will help lower blood sugar levels in humans. Clinical trials are ongoing.
Warnings
When used in foods, turmeric does not seem to produce any adverse effects. However, researchers do not have enough data to know whether turmeric may produce adverse events or side effects when given medicinally. Turmeric may interfere with medications that lower stomach-acid levels such as omeprazole, exacerbating a preexisting condition. Turmeric can interfere with antiplatelet and anticoagulant medicines such as warfarin and aspirin, increasing your risk of excessive bleeding or bruising.
