Emerging evidence, including an extensive review by the European Food Safety Authority, suggests a wide range of health effects of curcumin, the pigment that gives the curry spice turmeric its yellow color. Robert A DiSilvestro, from Ohio State University (Ohio, USA), and colleagues enrolled 19 healthy men and women, ages 40 to 60 years, in a four-week long study. Subjects received a supplement containing 80 mg curcumin, daily; an age-matched group of 19 other subjects were given placebo and served as controls. The researchers found that curcumin supplementation significantly lowered plasma triglyceride levels, lowered salivary amylase while raised salivary radical scavenging capacities, raised plasma catalase activities, lowered plasma soluble intercellular adhesion molecule levels, and increased plasma nitric oxide. The study authors conclude that: Collectively, these results demonstrate that a low dose of a curcumin-lipid preparation can produce a variety of potentially health promoting effects in healthy middle aged people.”
