I completely agree with this article, based on my own experiences.
My wife acquired Bipolar 2 after a prolonged systemic infection at 30 years old. After years of hospitals, tests, virtual bankruptcy and little to no progress, I decided to do something.
I started by looking at human population studies which showed lower incidences of her mental illness, and based on differences in diet, exercise, and medicines I discovered a possible difference in India from WHO publications and .
After reviewing several PubMed and other academic papers on the subject, I thought perhaps that dietary difference may account for disease incidence differences. So, comparing the most common Indian food ingredients versus US diets, I came across turmeric.
Turmeric has shown strong anti-inflammatory properties, positive effects on astocyte cell regrowth, and may improve neural myelination. It is used in many Indian dishes but relatively few American dishes. It's used throughout the middle east and asia, but mostly for grilling.
So I purchased imported Indian turmeric, and started cooking it into all that I could every day, especially soups and other combinations with pepper and oil as it's done in India.
Inside two months and she started to sleep less than her typical 16 hours a day. She quit listening to music all her waking hours. Her mood made positive strides. She played with the children. It was a small, however exceptionally positive change.
Following five years of improvements, the outcomes have been great. She is again driving, teaching, and just needs her single medication at the most minimal measurement essential. She now has clear thinking, great memory, and no longer experiences the symptoms of side effects.
She has not been hospitalized since.
Take it as quackery, miracle, or however you like. Perhaps it may help someone, someday. I know studies are in being proposed, and perhaps it may improve the lives of others.
I've actually heard good things about turmeric. If you don't mind me asking, why imported Indian turmeric though? Is it different from what you would get in the States (aka what I've got in my pantry)?
I've had the opportunity to play around with turmeric in a medical/biological setting. Turns out, the compound most likely responsible for a lot of turmeric's biologically active properties (basically inflammation reduction/anti-tumor effects) is curcumin[1].
A lot of the spices used for cooking (especially ones sold cheaply and in bulk) may contain less curcumin[absolutely no citation here] because:
1. Spices and herbs grown for bulk may be grown in poorer conditions with higher stressors in the environment and growth accelerants added to the feed. This may result in a (non-processed) spice with a lower amount of nutrition relative to a spice grown with TLC. Empirically, there is a fairly significant gulf between the flavor (to me) of plants grown organically vs agriindustrial techniques. However, the community seems to be divided as to if the nutritional content significantly differs[2].
2. Industrial processing techniques may destroy or modify many of the taste-inactive compounds in an attempt to optimize for maximum flavor. It's interesting to note here that curcumin's coloration is what gives turmeric it's golden sheen. At home, my Safeway turmeric contains dyes. I sort of assume that the processing that the spice goes though removes/destroys some of the coloration compounds (curcumin likely included).
In conclusion, it's possible that the imported turmeric has come from a location where the plant is grown with more TLC, processed less harshly, and is more fresh.
However, to be perfectly honest, it's likely far more efficient to consume curcumin pills. Like most alternative medication (unregulated pills), it's fairly difficult to actually get any sort of guarantee. And though you can purchase lab-grade curcumin from Sigma Aldrich, it's fairly pricey (approximately 6 $/g). Also...it's lab grade so I'm very unsure if I'd be bold enough to try eating it. As a pure powder, it's also a pretty severe irritant. When was working with it, I worked with it wearing a full mask on.
Also, I'd also like to point out that while the compound itself has been shown to do a bunch of neat things, it's biologically tricky for it to actually become absorbed by the human body. (Side note, since my research, there has been apparently further work done documenting delivery mechanisms and bioavailibility of curcumin. It's actually pretty neat.[3])
It's interesting you say this. I took a similar approach to working on my anxiety disorder. Basically, found places with low anxiety instances and tried to emulate things that they did. Within a few months I went from daily, almost constant, panic attacks to weekly. Now three years later, I sit at maybe a panic attack a month and it's very manageable rather than debilitating.
My wife acquired Bipolar 2 after a prolonged systemic infection at 30 years old. After years of hospitals, tests, virtual bankruptcy and little to no progress, I decided to do something.
I started by looking at human population studies which showed lower incidences of her mental illness, and based on differences in diet, exercise, and medicines I discovered a possible difference in India from WHO publications and .
After reviewing several PubMed and other academic papers on the subject, I thought perhaps that dietary difference may account for disease incidence differences. So, comparing the most common Indian food ingredients versus US diets, I came across turmeric.
Turmeric has shown strong anti-inflammatory properties, positive effects on astocyte cell regrowth, and may improve neural myelination. It is used in many Indian dishes but relatively few American dishes. It's used throughout the middle east and asia, but mostly for grilling.
So I purchased imported Indian turmeric, and started cooking it into all that I could every day, especially soups and other combinations with pepper and oil as it's done in India.
Inside two months and she started to sleep less than her typical 16 hours a day. She quit listening to music all her waking hours. Her mood made positive strides. She played with the children. It was a small, however exceptionally positive change.
Following five years of improvements, the outcomes have been great. She is again driving, teaching, and just needs her single medication at the most minimal measurement essential. She now has clear thinking, great memory, and no longer experiences the symptoms of side effects.
She has not been hospitalized since.
Take it as quackery, miracle, or however you like. Perhaps it may help someone, someday. I know studies are in being proposed, and perhaps it may improve the lives of others.