May 18th, 2009
By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
You’ve already heard about how curcumin, or turmeric, may help reduce your chances of getting Alzheimer’s, a disease that is virtually unheard of in India where this spice turns up in a lot of dishes.
Today’s news brings another reason to eat your turmeric-spiced curry: It may help reduce the size of your tummy. Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University found that mice fed high fat diets that were supplemented with curcumin gained less weight than a control group that was fed a high fat diet without curcumin.
The scientists warn in a news release that they don’t know if the results can be replicated in humans. What they observed, however, was that the curcumin seemed to inhibit a process known as “angiogenesis” that helps grow fat, which would appear to be applicable to larger (get it?) life forms as well.
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift
