Turmeric at the Root of Preventing & Killing Cancer (New Research)

turmeric cancer image

Turmeric is probably the most powerful foods we know of for preventing and fighting cancer.

It and has fast become THE most researched natural food because of it’s powerful anti-cancer properties and the scientific and medical community are really sitting up and taking note.

In just the past 12 months an abundance of research has been published with positive results about turmeric preventing and fighting:

  • Colon Cancer: Effect of Curcumin and Silymarin in Combination Exerts Synergistic Inhibition of Colon Cancer Cell Proliferation; Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal; April 2015 (Link)
  • Cervical Cancer: The Effects of Curcumin-based Compounds on Proliferation and Cell Death in Cervical Cancer Cells; Anticancer Research Journal; October 2015 (link)
  • Prostate Cancer: Development of Curcumin Loaded Nanoparticles and Evaluation of Antitumor Effects on Prostate Cancer Cell Lines; UNT Health Science Centre; October 2015 (link)
  • Breast Cancer: The Effect of Curcumin on Breast Cancer Cells; Journal of Breast Cancer; August 2015; (Link)
  • Colorectal Cancer: Curcumin Inhibits DLD-1 Colorectal Cancer Cell Proliferation by Modulating MicroRNA and Tumor Suppressor Gene Expression; Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal; April 2015 (link)
  • Pancreatic Cancer: Curcumin Induces Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Cell Death Via Reduction of the Inhibitors of Apoptosis; Pancreas Journal; January 2016; (link)
  • Liver Cancer: Curcumin inhibits cancer stem cell phenotypes in ex vivomodels of colorectal liver metastases, and is clinically safe and tolerable in combination with FOLFOX chemotherapy; Cancer Letters; August 2015; (link)

I could go on…

Curcumin Punishing Cancer at It’s Root: Cancer Stem Cells

A research paper published in 2014 in the journal ‘Cancer Letters’ has particularly caught my eye.

In this research, the authors, Yanyan Li and Tao Zhang, found that curcumin (the primary polyphenol in turmeric) had the capacity to target these cancer stem cells, believed to be at the root of every variant of cancer.

This explains the research above showing turmeric as effective in so many different types of cancer!

According to the Ludwig Centre at the Stanford Medicine School cancer stem cells are potentially the key to finding a cure for cancer:

“The stem cell theory of cancer proposes that among all cancerous cells, a few act as stem cells that reproduce themselves and sustain the cancer, much like normal stem cells normally renew and sustain our organs and tissues.

The idea that cancer is primarily driven by a smaller population of stem cells has important implications. For instance, many new anti-cancer therapies are evaluated based on their ability to shrink tumors, but if the therapies are not killing the cancer stem cells, the tumor will soon grow back (often with a vexing resistance to the previously used therapy). An analogy would be a weeding technique that is evaluated based on how low it can chop the weed stalks—but no matter how low the weeks are cut, if the roots aren’t taken out, the weeds will just grow back.
Another important implication is that it is the cancer stem cells that give rise to metastases (when cancer travels from one part of the body to another) and can also act as a reservoir of cancer cells that may cause a relapse after surgery, radiation or chemotherapy has eliminated all observable signs of a cancer.”

(Source: Stanford School of Medicine)

In other words, unless the CSCs are addressed, the cancer may not be removed. These CSCs are at the root cause of every cancer forming…and remaining…and returning.

And the research by Li and Zhang has shown that curcumin has been shown to inhibit CSCs.

They concluded:

“Curcumin, as well as its modified forms (analogues or nanoparticle-encapsulated formulations), has shown great potential to inhibit CSCs in several types of cancer both in cell cultures and in mouse models, including glioma, breast, colorectal, pancreatic, brain, and esophageal cancers. Some analogues (e.g., CDF) and formulations (e.g., nanotechnology-based formulation) have exhibited improved efficacy against CSC-like cells and greater growth-inhibitory capacity in tumors. It is promising to evaluate curcumin and its modified forms in other types of CSCs.”

This is such an important breakthrough, and given the huge volume of research and studies emerging proving the benefit of curcumin/turmeric in the fight against and recovery from cancer, I truly hope that it will not be long before individuals are offered these compounds as part of their routine treatment.

Start Now: Make Turmeric a Part of Your Daily Diet!

Turmeric

WHAT IS TURMERIC?

Turmeric comes from the root of the Curcuma longa plant and looks a little bit like a knobbly old finger from a witch in a kids book.

Or more accurately, it looks like this:

Turmeric

Turmeric has a rough brown-ish skin and a deep orange flesh, and it smells awesome.

It’s from the ginger family, and looks a little bit like a smaller, more knobbly, orange looking root ginger.

Turmeric has a peppery, warm and slightly bitter flavor and a mild fragrance that is a little like orange and ginger mixed together (which is why it makes such a great tea – more on that too in a bit…)

It’s really lovely.

Nutrient Content of Turmeric

It is a great source of the alkaline minerals and vitamins manganese, iron, vitamin B6, copper & potassium and also contains a lot of fibre for it’s small size!

Nutrition Data for Turmeric (2tsp)

TURMERIC NUTRITION LABEL

But the real star of the show is the curcumin – a diarylheptanoid which is the chief curcuminoid in turmeric.

The oil in turmeric has huge anti-inflammatory benefits, but even more powerful and the main beneficial part of turmeric is this yellow/orange curcumin molecule.

THIS has the power to change your life.

SEE ALSO: Get Over 150+ Delicious, Easy Alkaline Recipes Here

A Diabetes Cure? Just 1 of 1000+ Studies on the Power of Turmeric

In just one example of the studies I showed you in my Guide to Turmeric last week turmeric was 100% successful at preventing pre-diabetic patients from becoming diabetic over the course of a 9-month intervention (research published in the journal Diabetes Care – see this research paper here).

This incredible study involved 240 volunteers who all had the signs known to be pre-diabetes. At the beginning of the study they were split into two groups and were assigned either a curcumin tablet or placebo.

After the 279 days of the study, 16.4% of the placebo group had gone on to develop Type II Diabetes.

And as for the turmeric group…

Absolutely NONE went on to develop Type II Diabetes.

Not one.

Not a single person. ZERO.

In other words, in this sample group turmeric had a 100% success rate at preventing pre-diabetic patients from going on to develop type 2 diabetes.

This is just one study (of thousands) that proves the power of turmeric.

Which leads to the obvious question…

WHERE CAN I BUY TURMERIC?

Alkaline Recipe BookTurmeric is readily available in most grocery stores in the UK, Europe, Australia, NZ, USA and Canada and I would certainly imagine it’s pretty much everywhere in Asia!

The reason you haven’t seen it before or noticed it is because:

a) it looks weird
b) recipes rarely call for it
c) when they do they often tell you to buy powdered (which is fine too, more on that in a minute).

➞ Fresh Turmeric

As mentioned, you can get turmeric in most grocery stores.

I’ve seen it in Tesco, Waitress, Morrison’s etc in the UK, in Coles & Woolworths in Australia and in Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Albertson’s etc in the USA.

You can also buy it online with Amazon (of course, is there ANYTHING they don’t sell?) retailing turmeric here for example.

Note: when handling turmeric, be aware it WILL stain clothes, skin, surfaces, chopping boards etc. You can wash it off your skin and surfaces easily enough – but it won’t come out of clothes.

There are also companies like Real Foods in the UK and Ripe n Raw Organics in Australia

To get to the point: it’s easy to find now you know how important it is!

➞ Powdered Turmeric

powdered-turmericThis is also absolutely fine, but I would always say fresh is best (tired of hearing me say that yet?).

You can also get this practically anywhere on Earth in any shop, store or online. Just make sure you keep it sealed, away from light, heat and preferably in the fridge.

Don’t be afraid to use copious amounts if you’re using the powdered form.

I’ve compared cutting up about 1 inch of fresh into making tea, and then making tea with the powdered, and you’d be surprised at how much powdered you need to use to get the same strength of flavour.

HOW DO I COOK WITH IT?

When cooking fresh turmeric, I would always recommend peeling it, as the skin can be a little tough.

In terms of using fresh or powdered turmeric in your meals, here are some ideas to get you started (and a few recipes to follow):

1. Use in Soups: as you can see on the recipe below, turmeric is fantastic for having in blended soups. Generally speaking, add the chopped, fresh turmeric at the same time as you’d add garlic, and once you blend it in, it gives the soup such depth. I love it. Offically my new favourite thing.

➞ Recipe: Turmeric & Lentil Anti-Inflammatory Soup

2. Use in Smoothies: just as easily as you can blend into soups, you can blend turmeric into smoothies. It adds a really nice warmth and spice to any smoothie, especially nice in winter!

➞ Recipe: The Anti-Inflammatory Smoothie

3. Add to Juices: turmeric can be put through a juicer just in the same way as ginger to give you a concentrated hit of that incredible goodness.

➞ Recipe: Alkaline Immune Booster Juice

4. Use in Dips: a little turmeric root or powder can easily be blended in when you’re making dips such as hummous, baba ganoush or the dip below.

➞ Recipe: Butternut Squash & Tahini Dip

5. Make Indian Golden Milk: this variation (to make dairy free) of this amazing Indian, warming, soothing drink is just delicious.

➞ Recipe: Indian Golden (Almond) Milk / Turmeric Latte (courtesy of Choosing Raw)

6. Toss with Roasted Veggies: this is a beauty because you can both roast turmeric to make it soft and full of flavour, or you can just sprinkle powdered turmeric all over your roast. Easy!

➞ Recipe: Simply add turmeric, chopped, to root vegetables when roasting, OR, sprinkle powdered turmeric over the veggies (or BOTH!)

7. Grate into Salads: this is my super-trick for practically anything (works especially well with broccoli – if your kids won’t eat broccoli, try grating it into stuff. They won’t notice and you can put heaps in!).

➞ Recipe: Cool Quinoa Summer Salad

8. Add to Stir ‘Fried’ Greens: turmeric tastes fantastic in stir fries, especially with leafy greens like kale and chard.

➞ Recipe: Greens & Squash Stir Fry

9. Make Turmeric & Ginger Tea: this is a deliciously refreshing way to get this powerful spice in your life! Plus you can have cool in summer and warm in winter! Win-win!

➞ Recipe: Option 1: Turmeric & Ginger Refresher Tea & Option 2: Creamy Coconut & Turmeric Tea

SEE ALSO: Get Over 150+ Delicious, Easy Alkaline Recipes Here

HOW MUCH TURMERIC DO I NEED EACH DAY?

At this stage, there isn’t enough research or evidence to give us a specific daily or weekly intake of turmeric in food form; however, research clearly indicates that regular consumption of this spice may offer important health benefits.

My personal approach is to supplement daily with a turmeric supplement, and include it in my diet through the actual food at least 3-4 times per week.

TURMERIC SUPPLEMENT BUYERS GUIDE

From all of my research, it appears there are a couple of things to look out for when choosing a turmeric supplement it is important to consider bioavailability (i.e. your body’s ability to use the nutrient in the form you consume it).

The trouble with most curcumin ingredients is that they are extremely poorly absorbed.

However, there is one form of curcumin called the phytosome form which was developed by the researchers in Milan, and has been shown to be absorbed 29 times better than a standard curcumin extract.

So look for a curcurmin/turmeric supplement that is in the phytosome form!

(Thanks to Ben Greenfield for this tip)

Extra tip: piperine!

Awesomely, research published in the Journal Planta Medica (one of the leading international journals in the field of medicinal plants) has shown that a compound in black pepper called piperine can increase the bioavailability of curcumin by a whopping 2000% (research paper here)

Therefore, it wouldn’t hurt to crack a little black pepper on your turmeric-containing meals, and have a little black pepper when you take your curcumin supplement!

5 SIMPLE STEPS TO GET THE BENEFITS OF TURMERIC EVERY DAY

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Here are five simple steps to get more turmeric into your life:

  1. GO BUY SOME!: Make sure you just buy a heap of turmeric when you next go food shopping. You might not have your plan totally figured out just yet on how to cook with it – but simply having it in the house is the best first step
  2. GET IN THE JUICE & SMOOTHIE HABIT: not only is this the fastest, easiest way to get an incredible amount of greens and alkalinity in, but you can also add turmeric to practically any juice or smoothie
  3. GET GRATING: grating turmeric is a great way to sneak it into salads, stir fries, dips and practically any recipe, without anyone noticing!
  4. JUST CHEW IT: sometimes simple is best and if you’re struggling to remember to use turmeric or can’t seem to find the right recipes to add it to – just peel and chew on small chunks of it! It tastes great and you’re getting a great hit of it right then and there!
  5. SET A REMINDER: this could easily be one of those guides you read and think ‘Great, Ross, I’ll definitely do this!’ and then completely forget. Right now, set a reminder on your phone for seven days from now to buy some turmeric and your supplement if you haven’t already!

That’s it!

Enjoy and remember – I have got over 200+ alkaline recipes in my Alkaline Diet Recipe Books you can get right here!

get the alkaline recipe book here



Research Studies & References:

Amal S Abdel-Azeem, Amany M Hegazy, Khadiga S Ibrahim, Abdel-Razik H. Farrag, & Eman M. El-Sayed. “Hepatoprotective, Antioxidant, and Ameliorative Effects of Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and Vitamin E in Acetaminophen Treated Rats. Journal of Dietary Supplements. September 2013, Vol. 10, No. 3 , Pages 195-209

Aranya Manosroi, Warangkana Lohcharoenkal, Parirat Khonsung, Worapaka Manosroi, and Jiradej Manosroi. “Potent antihypertensive activity of Thai-Lanna medicinal plants and recipes from “MANOSROI III” database”. Pharmaceutical Biology. November 2013, Vol. 51, No. 11 , Pages 1426-1434 (doi:10.3109/13880209.2013.796391). Accessed October 17th 2013.

Balasubramanian K. Molecular Orbital Basis for Yellow Curry Spice Curcumin’s Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. J. Agric. Food Chem., 54 (10), 3512 -3520, 2006. 10.1021/jf0603533 S0021-8561(06)00353-0, Web Release Date: April 20, 2006. 2006.

Cruz-Correa M, Shoskes DA, Sanchez P, Zhao R, Hylind LM, Wexner SD, Giardiello FM. Combination treatment with curcumin and quercetin of adenomas in familial adenomatous polyposis. i>Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2006 Aug;4(8):1035-8. Epub 2006 Jun 6. 2006. PMID:16757216.

Dorai T, Cao YC, Dorai B, et al. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in human prostate cancer. III. Curcumin inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, and inhibits angiogenesis of LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vivo. Prostate 2001 Jun 1;47(4):293-303. 2001. PMID:16280.

Hidaka H, Ishiko T, Furunashi T et al. Curcumin inhibits interleukin 8 production and enhances interleukin 8 receptor expression on the cell surface:impacgt on human pancrreatic carcinoma cell growth by autocrine regulation. Cancer 2002 Sep 15;96(6):1206-14. 2002.

Khor TO, Keum YS, Lin W, Kim JH, Hu1 R, Shen G, Xu1 C, Gopalakrishnan A, Reddy B, Zheng X, Conney AH, Kong AN. Combined Inhibitory Effects of Curcumin and Phenethyl Isothiocyanate on the Growth of Human PC-3 Prostate Xenografts in Immunodeficient Mice. Cancer Research. 2006 Jan; 66(2): 613-621. 2006. PMID:16423986.

Lim GP, Chu T, Yang F, et al. The curry spice curcumin reduces oxidative damage and amyloid pathology in an Alzheimer transgenic mouse. J Neurosci 2001 Nov 1;21(21):8370-7. 2001. PMID:16240.

Nagabhushan M, Bhide SV. Curcumin as an inhibitor of cancer. J Am Coll Nutr. 1992 Apr;11(2):192-8. 1992. PMID:1578097.

Rhode JM, Huang J, Fogoros S, Tan L, Zick S, Liu JR. Ginger induces apoptosis and autophagocytosis in ovarian cancer cells. Abstract #4510, presented April 4, 2006 at the 97th AACR Annual Meeting, April 1-5, 2006, Washington, DC. 2006.

Srivastava KC, Mustafa T. Ginger (Zingiber officinale) and rheumatic disorders. Med Hypothesis 29 (1989):25-28. 1989.

Zhang L, Fiala M, Cashman J, Sayre J, Espinosa A, Mahanian M, Zaghi J, Badmaev V, Graves MC, Bernard G, Rosenthal M. Curcuminoids enhance amyloid-beta uptake by macrophages of Alzheimer’s disease patients. J Alzheimers Dis. 2006 Sep;10(1):1-7. 2006. PMID:16988474.

Risks and precautions:

According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, the use of herbs can interact with other herbs or medications.

Therefore it’s important to talk to your doctor before taking ginger or turmeric. You should not take ginger if you suffer from a bleeding disorder or take blood-thinning medications (such as warfarin or aspirin).

Also Note:

The information on this website is for informational and educational purposes only.

It is not an attempt by the writers or publisher to diagnose or prescribe, nor should it be construed to be such. Readers are hereby encouraged to consult with a licensed health care professional concerning the information presented, which has been received from sources deemed reliable, but no guarantees, expressed or implied, can be made regarding the accuracy of same. Therefore, readers are also encouraged to verify for themselves and to their own satisfaction the accuracy of all reports, recommendations, conclusions, comments, opinions, or anything else published herein before making any kind of decisions based upon what they have read.

If you have a medical condition, please consult your medical practitioner.

get the alkaline recipe book here

You Might Also Like:

Fresh vs Dried Turmeric
New Study: Alkaline Diet Protects Against Breast Cancer
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Ask Me a Question or Leave a Comment Here - I'd Love to Hear from You

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  1. Regina Mathis Reply

    very interested but have one important question, are we talking about a physical book or e books, I do not like e books, thank you in advance
    Gina Mathis
    http://[email protected]

  2. Rosa Aída Bissio Reply

    Ross:
    I would like to read your alkaline recipe book; But unfortunately I do not speak English. Do you have the version of your book in Spanish?
    Thank you
    Rosa Aída Bissio

  3. Anonymous Reply

    I applaud the work you are doing spreading the word about good nutrition.
    Have you considered doing television? Eg itv This Morning programme to spread the word further?
    W

    • ross Reply

      Hi Anon

      THANK YOU for your kind message 🙂 I’m actually based in Australia – so it would have to be the Today show 🙂

      R

  4. Tess Reply

    is it normal for turmeric to make all excretions yellow? including my poo? I have RA and really want this herb in my diet for inflammation… just need some encouragement 🙂
    ~Tess

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