Study Finds Turmeric Juice is Equivalent to 60 Minutes of Exercise

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Turmeric is known to be one of the most beneficial spices in the world, with more than 5000 studies confirming its beneficial effects on your health. The spice has been used mostly in Asia, but has only recently starting to gain popularity in the West.

According to a current study, turmeric can help reduce the risk of heart attacks in the same manner as, 3 60-minute of cardio workouts per week, which is good news for everyone.

Study

The eight-week long study involved 32 postmenopausal women participants, assigned to either a turmeric group, an exercise group or a control group that underwent no change in diet or exercise.

Researchers assessed the endothelium, (the inner lining of their blood vessels) of each woman participants by using an ultrasound device. More specifically, they measured flow-mediated arterial dilation to study arterial elasticity, which determines blood vessels health.

While the turmeric group received the equivalent of one teaspoon of turmeric a day, the exercise group practiced supervised aerobic exercise training for 2-3 times a week and an unspecified amount of home-based training, including walking and cycling. Each session lasted within 30-60 minutes and ranged in intensity between 60 to 75% of maximal heart rate.

Researchers discovered that the exercise group and turmeric group, both experienced significantly improved endothelial function. Moreover, their results were nearly identical, proving that turmeric ingestion everyday had the same effect as daily exercise in reducing, preventing or perhaps even reversing atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction.

Conclusion

This study followed another 2012 study conducted by the Chiang Mai University of Thailand. The Thailand study found that turmeric reduced the frequency of heart attack, after coronary artery bypass by at least 56% when turmeric was administered everyday, three days before surgery and five days post-surgery. The spice influenced the cardiovascular system by modulating plasma maondialdehyde, C-reactive protein and N-terminal pro-B-type naturietic peptide levels.

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The Thai researchers concluded that: “The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of curcuminoids may account for their cardioprotective effects which was shown in this study. Curcuminoids decrease the occurrence of cardiomyocytic apoptosis after cardiac reperfusion/ischemia injury in animal models and proinflammatory cytokines during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery..”

This means that, turmeric can reduce inflammation and protect endothelium cells against death and damage.

How to Add Turmeric Into Your Diet?

The best way to reap turmeric’s cardiovascular benefits is to add a teaspoon of turmeric powder into your everyday dietary regimen. You can also choose a glass of freshly squeezed turmeric juice daily. To increase the absorption of turmeric into your body, you should combine it with olive or coconut oil and black pepper.

Lastly, you can also make your own turmeric capsules, if you do not like the taste of turmeric.

Note:
When including turmeric into your diet, it is important to remember not to combine it with other medications.

Turmeric Juice Recipe

Ingredients:

5 Large carrots
3 inches Fresh turmeric root
2 inches Fresh ginger root
2 Oranges, peeled
1 Lemon, peeled
1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Method:
1. Combine all of the ingredients through a juicer, except for the pepper and coconut oil.
2. Once finished juicing, mix the coconut oil and black pepper.
3. Stir and enjoy!

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photo credit: pixabay

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