Turmeric May Help Treat Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

I’ve blogged about the spice turmeric and its reported health benefits on maladies such as cancer, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. Now, new data from animal trials also indicate 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.

These are just preliminary data from animal trials and therefore further trials are necessary to see if these health benefits will also apply to humans. Besides, the dosages they used in the experiments were quite high, and though turmeric has no known dose-limiting toxicities in doses of up to at least 12 grams daily in humans, just how much curry can you eat on a regular basis, eh?

“It’s too early to tell whether increasing dietary curcumin [through turmeric] 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 likely impractical, it is entirely possible that lower dosages of curcumin could nicely complement our traditional therapies as a natural and safe treatment.”