CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE March/April 2021 | Page 15

Like many spices , turmeric has a long history of use in traditional medicine . This flavour filled spice is primarily cultivated from Southeast Asia . In fact , it ’ s been used as a culinary spice and in religious ceremonies in Southeast Asia for 4,000 years . Cur cumin is the actual phytochemical in turmeric that gives all the potent benefits . So aside from giving curry its vibrant yellow color it is also known for having potent antiinflammatory and antioxidant properties , according to research studies .
Turmeric ( cur cumin ) has a long history in Ayurvedic medicine to treat health problems like pain , swelling and fatigue . In the common era , it is now being used to combat and treat many of our western diet catalyzed diseases and symptoms of disease . of a powerful “ fat burning fat ” called brown fat ( iron rich hence the color ). We are born with a large amount of brown fat , about 5 % of our total body mass as babies . As we age we lose a huge amount of it , but we still have a small percentages left around our neck and shoulder area . So we need to stimulate what we have and build more !
Brown fat has a much higher concentration of fat burning mitochondria wherein fatty acids are oxidized to be used as energy .
For fat loss ( lipolysis ) to occur triglycerides must be broken from the glycerol backbone and mobilized as free form fatty acids and are then transported into the mitochondria in a process called beta-oxidation , converting to ATP a useable form of energy . Simply put more brown fat , more fat burning mitochondria , more fat burned . But wait now , it ’ s not exactly just that simple . We want our mitochondria to feed on our stored body fat . Our mitochondria will feed more readily on sugars than anything else , so yes that means you must eat clean , a diet rich in protein , low in refined and simple sugars and rich in good fats . Cayenne pepper ( absolutely incredible stuff ) satiety digestion and fat burning , absolutely wonderful to cook with .
A few on the list are heart health ( increased and improved circulation ) allowing your heart to have an easier job pumping blood throughout your body into all of its muscles . It has huge liver health benefits , by lowering liver enzymes alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase . It has shown improved liver function in people with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease . This is huge ! It heals the liver , non-alcoholic fatty liver disease leads to irreparable liver damage .
Turmeric helps in the fight against diabetes as it regulates and lowers blood sugar levels therefore increasing insulin sensitivity and lessening the demand on the pancreas to produce greater levels of insulin . Turmeric also decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes by lowering blood sugar and increasing insulin sensitivity and also decreases the demand for greater amounts of exogenous insulin use in type 1 diabetes . High blood sugars are linked to high cholesterol , so it not only lowers bad cholesterol but also very much helps burn fat .
There is a catch however , for turmeric ( cur cumin ) to do its job your body has to absorb this to a high bioavailability . How do we do this ? By adding black pepper anytime you use turmeric or taking a turmeric supplement that incorporates black pepper . There is a compound in black pepper called Piperine that actually helps to
Turmeric
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