Turmeric and Viruses

Turmeric, Known as ‘Golden spice’ or ‘Earthy herb of Sun’ is a perennial herbaceous plant of ginger family (Zingiberaceae).

It has strong associations with sociocultural life of Indian people since vedic period, but recently, during this Covid pandemic, it gains more importance in our life because many of us believes that it can help us fighting the virus.

 

So, now the questions are- Is turmeric powder really anti-viral? How much do we need to take daily? Which is better to consume- Turmeric powder or Raw turmeric roots?        

 Lets discuss ------

               

  (Picture courtesy:Google)

Geographical Distribution of the plant:

 

Many Species of curcumin are economically valuable, the most important being Curcuma longa , known as turmeric commercially. The greatest diversity of the species occurs in India, Mayanmer, and Thailand and extends to Korea, China, Australia and the islands of the South Pacific.

 

Active ingredients of turmeric:

Turmeric powder contains many natural ingredients ,like - Vitamin C, Calcium , Flavonoids, Iron, Fibre , Niacin ,Potassium etc; But the curcuminoids are known to have certain pharmacological activities. Generally raw turmeric contains about 2% - 3% Curcumin, the most important among curcuminoids.

 

Anti viral activity of Curcumin :    

In recent scientific studies (Antiviral potential of curcumin by Dony Mathew and Wei li(2018), Curcumin inhibits cell binding of Zika and Chikungunia virus by Bryan C. Mounce Pasteur institute(2017), Curcumin’s antiviral and antibacterial activity ware investigated and it was shown that its acts against many viral pathogens, like- Influenza virus,Hepatitis C virus, HIV etc. Despite these studies,curcumin has not yet been approved as a therapeutic antiviral agent.

 

Here is a list of antiviral activity of curcumin against different viruses-

 

VIRUS	ANTI-VIRAL ACTIVITY
Chikungunya virus	Inhibits entry of the virus
Dengue virus	Inhibits entry of the virus and also inhibits viral particle production
Hepatitis B virus	Inhibits viral replication and ccc DNA
HIV	Inhibits different viral protein production
Human papillomavirus	Inhibits viral protein production
Rift Valley fever virus	Inhibits viral replication
Zika virus	Inhibits entry of the virus

Other benefits of Turmeric:

1. Relief of arthritis:

Curcumin helps in anti inflammatory process, it removes free radicals in our bodies which are responsible to damage cells, major cause of arthritis.(James W daily(2016) PMC5003001)

2. Helps in digestion:

Raw turmeric improves digestion by stimulating gall bladder to generate bile.

3. Wound healing:

Curcumin stimulates the production of the growth factors involves in wound healing.

4. As anti cancer agent:

Studies shows turmeric can suppress various Cell-signaling pathways to inhibit proliferation.

It can also reduce the harmful effects of anti cancer drugs.

5. As anti inflammatory agent:

Chronic inflammations has been linked to various disorders like-Cancers,heart disease, Alzheimer’s etc. Curcumin helps in treating inflammation and reducing the risk of those disorders.

6. Curcumin reduces Cholesterol level, improves blood pressure and fights inflammation- improves health of heart and brain.

 

 

 

How much we need to take daily:

If we want to use turmeric as a drug, then we can take 2.5-3 teaspoons of fresh turmeric daily.

Actually, if we want to get anti-inflammatory effect then we need 500 mg-1000 mg of curcumin daily.

A teaspoon of turmeric contains 150-200 mg of curcumin(roughly estimated)

But the quantity varies depending source of turmeric.

 

 

Turmeric powder or Turmeric roots - which one is better?

 

 Dried turmeric is more widely used but the fresh root contains far more nutrients than powder, many get lost when it converted into powder.

 

How to use?

                                                    (Picture courtesy:Google)

Turmeric powder is usually used as a spice in our cuisines but there are variety of delicious ways to use it with different kinds of food--

1. Golden milk

2. Mango lassi mousse

3. Overnight Oats with Cashews, seeds and turmeric

4. Add a good amount of turmeric in kitchdi

5. Puda-style tacos

 

Or simply eat Turmeric roots with honey or Jaggery(Gur).

 

Search the Delicious recipes in google 😋and stay safe and healthy.

REFERENCES

1. Sarker, S.D.; . Nahar, L. Bioactivity of Turmeric.In Turmeric the Genus Curcuma. Medicinal andAromatic Plants Industrial Profiles. Ravindran,P.N.; Nirmal Babu, K.; Sivaraman, K.; (Edts.),Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2007.

2. Kotwal, G. J. Natural Products and MolecularTherapy, First International Conference. NewYork, NY: Annals New York Acad. Sci.,1056, 2005.

3. Funk, J. L.; Oyarzo, J. N.; Frye, J. B.; Chen, G.;Lantz, R. C.; Jolad, S. D.; Sólyom, A. M. Turmericextracts containing curcuminoids preventexperimental rheumatoid arthritis. Timmermann, B.N. 1999.

4. Tønnesen, H. H. Phenolic Compounds in Food andTheir Effects on Health, Chapter 11. ACSSymposium Series 1992, 506, 143-153, DOI:10.1021/bk-1992-0506.ch011.

5. Zhang, L. J., Wu, C. F., Meng, X. L.. Comparisonof inhibitory potency of three differentcurcuminoid pigments on nitric oxide and tumornecrosis factor production of rat primary microgliai nduced by lipo-polysaccharide. Neurosci. Lett.

2008, 447, 48.

6. Lin, H.; Lin, J., Ma, J. Dimethoxycurcumin induced autophagic and apoptotic responses on

breast cancer cell in photodynamic therapy. J.Funct. Foods 2015, 12, 439.

7.Efficacy of Turmeric Extracts and Curcumin for Alleviating the Symptoms of Joint Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials James W. Daily,Mini Yang, and Sunmin Park

(The data and evidence presented in this post  are experimental, not yet approved by approval authorities.To establish curcumin as a drug more study and clinical trial needed. Curcumin shows no toxic effects and contains not only curcuminoids but also various helpful compounds like Vitamin C, Irons etc, it is established as a ayurvedic compound and risk free for use)