The bad news is that doctors don’t bother with this problem and they avoid the turmeric’s role against heart diseases although there are many studies on how turmeric is efficient against the cardiovascular diseases. Actually there are three dozen abstracts on this theme which can be found- turmeric`s cardio -protective properties.
Turmeric extract reduces the heart attacks after bypass by 56%- is stated in a last year’s study in the American Journal of Cardiology. The study also includes another astonishing study from 2012 published in journal Nutrition Research. This study claims that the primary polyphenol in turmeric which gives the turmeric its golden color and is also known as curcumin is proven to be effective in improving the vascular function in women after menopause similar to aerobic training,.
This study was conveyed on 32 women after menopause and lasted for 8 weeks. The 32 women were divided in 3 groups: curcumin, exercise and non-treatment control. The researchers examined the health of the inner lining of the blood vessels which is known as endothelium. They used ultrasound to measure the flow-mediated arterial dilation which shows the arterial elasticity and endothelial function. If changes occur in the inner lining of the blood vessels than this changes can cause development of atherosclerosis. So we need to try everything which can reduce, prevent or reverse the endothelial dysfunction so we could prevent the mortality due to heart diseases.
Women in the curcumin group were consuming 150g turmeric extract every day for 8 weeks which equals 25 g of nanoparticle curcumin. During these 8 weeks they didn’t exercise or have changed their diet.
The other group was exercising aerobic more than 3 days a week. They had additional training at home besides the 2-3 supervised trainings. They were also riding a bike and walking for 30-60 long minutes. 60% of the participants had maximal heart rate in the first phase of the training and 70-75% maximal heart rate later.
The researchers found an increased flow-mediated dilution in the curcumin and exercise group so they said:
“The present study showed that regular ingestion of curcumin or regular aerobic exercise training significantly improved endothelial function. The magnitude of improvement in endothelial function to the same extent, suggesting that curcumin may prevent the age-associated decline in endothelial function in postmenopausal women.”
DISCUSSION
Although this research emphasizes the health properties of turmeric thus encouraging people to start consuming it, turmeric nor any other supplement should replace regular exercising. Additionally exercising cannot replace the turmeric’s role in maintaining the health and preventing diseases. The best solution is to combine turmeric and exercising as this combination has more health benefits than if you use just one of them. So the winning combination is turmeric together with exercising although the study was conveyed on them separately.
Another interesting study was also published by the same researchers in 2012 in the American Journal of Hypertension. This study was conveyed on the combined effect of exercise and curcumin together in women after menopause and how this combination improves the heart muscle stress tolerance. The study showed that “regular endurance exercise combined with daily curcumin ingestion may reduce LV [left ventricular] afterload to a greater extent than monotherapy with either intervention alone in postmenopausal women.” Chronic heightened left ventricular afterload is linked with aortic valve disease and high blood pressure and can cause pathological hypertrophy of the area. So this study as well concluded that the combination of turmeric and exercise is the best.
This combination is also perfect against pain and inflammation after workout. It also alleviates symptoms caused by osteoarthritis.
