Turmeric Elixir

Recipe by: Jennafer Ashley

Apple vinegar in raw form contains strains of “The Mother”. This strand-like substance contains acetic acid, terrific for fighting “bad” bacteria while adding in “good” bacteria. Turmeric is one of the richest herbs when it comes to fighting inflammation in the body or environmental stressors. Turmeric is commonly used to treat IBS and when combined with cayenne pepper, creates a powerful team of antiseptic and anti-inflammatory benefits to treat gut issues. Raw honey sweetens this shot, and adds minerals and enzymes to calm the digestive system.

Begin by heating filtered water in a saucepan until just steaming. Stir in the raw honey to dissolve and add turmeric, cayenne pepper and apple cider vinegar. Pour the mixture into a pitcher and chill. Drink first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Use the batch within 5 days to reap the benefits

Antioxidant-rich turmeric combines with the probiotic benefits of raw apple cider vinegar for a quick shot that washes away parasites and fights digestive ailments.

Ingredients

• 4 cups filtered water
• 1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 t ground turmeric
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper

Instructions

• Heat the water in a saucepan, over medium heat, until just steaming. Remove from heat and stir in the honey until dissolved.
• Stir in the apple cider vinegar, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Pour into a pitcher and refrigerate for 2 hours to chill. Pour 2 ounces into a glass and drink

Turmeric, pt. 3, Will it help Parkinson’s?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22211691

Curr Pharm Des. 2012;18(1):91-9.

Curcumin: a potential neuroprotective agent in Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-associated neurodegenerative disease clinically characterized as a movement disorder. The motor symptoms in PD arise due to selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the ventral midbrain thereby depleting the dopamine levels in the striatum. Most of the current pharmacotherapeutic approaches in PD are aimed at replenishing the striatal dopamine. Although these drugs provide symptomatic relief during early PD, many patients develop motor complications with long-term treatment. Further, PD medications do not effectively tackle tremor, postural instability and cognitive deficits. Most importantly, most of these drugs do not exhibit neuroprotective effects in patients. Consequently, novel therapies involving natural antioxidants and plant products/molecules with neuroprotective properties are being exploited for adjunctive therapy. Curcumin is a polyphenol and an active component of turmeric (Curcuma longa), a dietary spice used in Indian cuisine and medicine. Curcumin exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, crosses the blood-brain barrier and is neuroprotective in neurological disorders. Several studies in different experimental models of PD strongly support the clinical application of curcumin in PD. The current review explores the therapeutic potential of curcumin in PD.

Interesting blog with a compilation of research. http://parkinsonsand5htp.blogspot.com/2012/04/turmericcurcumin-great-promise-for.html

Turmeric, pt. 2

“Turmeric is the spice commonly found in curry — and, according to new research published in Stem Cell Research and Therapy, it may boost your brain proliferation or its power to repair itself.”

I looked through my blogs to see what I’ve written about turmeric—not much, and usually I wrote that I don’t use it.  But since writing about it last week after watching a review of Brain Fog, I’ve been trying it in apple cider.  That sort of covers up the taste and color.  A few sprinkles on food or salad dressing probably isn’t enough, so I’m trying about 1/2 teaspoon in cider until I get used to it.  So far, no stomach upset, and it’s not awful.

“Outside of this study [on neurodegenerative diseases], turmeric is considered the “spice for life.” Another one of its active ingredients is curcumin, and curcumin is considered an anti-inflammatory. This ingredient has also been associated with the ability to prevent diabetes, arthritis, and Alzheimer’s. But as is the case with the rat research, the potential of turmeric acting as modern medicine is uncertain, though adding turmeric powder to food or tea is believed to supplement a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle. Doing so sets you ahead of the game if turmeric is found to be capable of repairing the human brain.”

http://www.medicaldaily.com/turmeric-helps-your-brain-heal-itself-spice-your-brain-power-curry-305242

Source: Hucklenbroich J, Klein R, Neumaier B, Graf R, Fink G, et al. Aromatic-turmerone induces neural stem cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Stem Cell Research & Therapy. 2014.

Turmeric and Alzheimer’s research

http://alzheimer.neurology.ucla.edu/Curcumin.html

I was watching someone plug his book “Brain Fog” today and in addition to the usual walk a mile a day, drink coffee and wine and eat blueberries, he mentioned turmeric and black pepper.  So I looked that up.  Seems to be a lot of pre-prepared items you can buy.

Curcumin (Turmeric), an ancient Indian herb used in curry powder, has been extensively studied in modern medicine and Indian systems of medicine for the treatment of various medical conditions, including cystic fibrosis, haemorrhoids, gastric ulcer, colon cancer, breast cancer, atherosclerosis, liver diseases and arthritis. It has been used in various types of treatments for dementia and traumatic brain injury. Curcumin also has a potential role in the prevention and treatment of AD. Curcumin as an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and lipophilic action improves the cognitive functions in patients with AD. A growing body of evidence indicates that oxidative stress, free radicals, beta amyloid, cerebral deregulation caused by bio-metal toxicity and abnormal inflammatory reactions contribute to the key event in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Due to various effects of curcumin, such as decreased Beta-amyloid plaques, delayed degradation of neurons, metal-chelation, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and decreased microglia formation, the overall memory in patients with AD has improved. . .

Worldwide, there are over 1000 published animal and human studies, both in vivo and in vitro in which the effects of curcumin on various diseases have been examined. Studies include epidemiological, basic and clinical research on AD. . . .

Epidemiological studies have shown that prevalence of AD is 4.4 lower amongst Indian Asians as compared to people of western origin. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2008 Jan-Mar; 11(1): 13–19.

Turmeric

What do you do with turmeric? "Turmeric has a peppery, warm and bitter flavor and a mild fragrance slightly reminiscent of orange and ginger, and while it is best known as one of the ingredients used to make curry, it also gives ballpark mustard its bright yellow color."
WHFoods: Turmeric

While I was cooking lunch today (onions, green beans and corn), I looked through my spice shelf. Hmmm. Things were looking a bit long in the tooth. It's the ones without dates that I'm worried about--you know, the ones that cost less than a dollar, and are stamped with a purple stamp. How many years has that been? Some with dates were 2005. All in all, I removed 10 cans/bottles. What was I thinking? I'm a salt, pepper, cinnamon, allspice type of cook. My former daughter-in-law was a fabulous cook and used interesting spices. Maybe she inspired me to try something different. Some may be from that era--others may have been from our first apartment in 1960 when I was really adventurous.

Incidentally, I really like The World's Healthiest Foods website. Whenever I want to know something about food or nutrition I turn there. Love the bibliographies. It's a librarian thing.

I left blogger dot com and Facebook for six days, and both changed their templates and/or security/announcement system while I was gone!