Anti-Cancer Superfood – Curcumin, Turmeric’s Active Ingredient

(NaturalNews) A simple, yet highly effective way to thwart cancer and protect your liver against disease can be found in a common spice that has been used in Indian cooking for thousands of years.

Turmeric, and more specifically, curcumin, its primary active ingredient, continues to shine as an awe-inspiring, anti-cancer “superfood” spice with a vast array of tangible health benefits, including its ability to induce cancer cell death and prevent cirrhosis.

A recent study published found that a dose-dependent administration of curcumin effectively activated apoptosis of liver cancer cells, meaning it prompted these harmful cells to die.

Another study tested the effects of curcumin in mice with chemical-induced liver damage. Compared to hepatic damaged mice not given curcumin, those given the spice effectively averted developing liver cirrhosis, an outcome that researchers attributed to turmeric’s anti-inflammatory properties.

“As curcumin ingestion is safe in humans, it may be reasonable to assess in clinical studies the beneficial effect of curcumin in slowing the development of liver cirrhosis,” wrote the authors in their conclusion.

In 2008, researchers out of Taiwan published a study verifying that curcumin can also benefit in the treatment of lung cancer. Not only did the spice demonstrate a unique ability to prevent cancer cells from invading and spreading, but it also activated key proteins responsible for naturally blocking and suppressing tumors from forming. The team from the National Yang-Ming University in Taipei ultimately declared that their findings support the application of curcumin in anti-cancer metastasis therapy.

In 2010, a study published in the Journal of Ovarian Research found that curcumin has another unique use in cancer treatment. Patients with ovarian cancer, which is difficult to treat conventionally due to chemotherapy and radiation resistance, can be effectively “pre-treated” with curcumin in order to improve the efficacy of conventional cancer treatment.

[C]urcumin pre-treatment may effectively improve ovarian cancer therapeutics.”